Shows
Healing Birth with CarlaBirth Trauma Aotearoa - Kate HicksIn this podcast episode I catch up with Kate Hicks of Birth Trauma Aotearoa, a timely episode during Birth Trauma Awareness Week, running from July 14-20.I last spoke with Kate around 2.5 years ago, so Kate will update us on the mahi (work) they've done over this time as well as plans for the future, including launching in-person support, developing research in the Aotearoa context, and the continual push for birth trauma prevention and improved support.Kate will also tell us about Birth Trauma Awareness Week, this year's theme, what the week aims t...2025-07-131h 03Healing Birth with CarlaThe Wise Women Network - protecting physiology & autonomy in birthToday I bring you a bit of a different episode. I’m joined by six women who, like me, are core members of the Wise Women Network. This is a fast growing movement that aims to protect physiological birth and champion women-led care through connections with birth-workers and mothers who are seeking our support. Tune in to hear more about our ‘why’ and be inspired by our fire, heart and passion.**If you want to be a part of the Wise Women Network, you can join us on the following social media pages**Face...2025-07-011h 51
The Forum with Jim FalkWhy The Peace Corps Matters: Looking back — and AheadThe vision of American volunteers serving abroad remains one of President John F. Kennedy’s most enduring and admired legacies. Since its founding in 1961, more than 240,000 Americans have served in over 144 countries through the Peace Corps, fostering cross-cultural understanding and development.As the federal government continues to explore ways to reduce spending, the Peace Corps faces the possibility of funding cuts. In this episode of The Forum, two New Mexicans reflect on their years of service and the lasting impact it had on their lives and communities. In the second half of the program, we’re joined by t...2025-06-0552 minHealing Birth with CarlaFrom Abuse & Trauma to Healing Work With New Mums - Naomi’s StoryPlease note that this episode includes discussions of domestic violence and suicidal thoughts. Listener discretion is advised. If these topics are distressing for you, you may wish to skip this episode or listen with support. Relevant Aotearoa/NZ helplines are accessible at the bottom of these show notes.Naomi’s story is a troubling, heart-wrenching listen. She bravely lets us in on the abuse and trauma she endured as a young first-time mum in a violent relationship with a manipulative man who would later become her husband. Together they had two more children, both healing home births, bu...2025-05-262h 01Healing Birth with CarlaMichelle’s Breech Home Birth and Breastfeeding Trials & TribulationsIn strong labour, birthing her first baby at home, Michelle was unexpectedly met with the news that her baby was breech. Supported by a trusted care team, she went on to confidently birth her big boy in her lounge. High on magical birth hormones, basking in the glory of what she’d just achieved and marvelling at the gorgeous human she’d created, Michelle was unaware that she’d sustained a decent tear. But that wasn’t a problem. It went on to heal naturally, without fuss. The real challenge came with breastfeeding. Michelle couldn’t make suffi...2025-04-161h 45Healing Birth with Carla“Not a fast food midwife, but a chef” - Sharon’s StoryIt was the following Suzanne Arms quote, that inspired my guest today, Sharon Robinson, to become a midwife:“If we are to create a nonviolent world where respect and kindness replace fear and hatred, we must begin with how we treat each other at the beginning of life, for that is where our deepest patterns are set. From these roots grow fear and alienation, or love and trust.”As a new grad, Sharon left her home in the US to practice midwifery in NZ because of our “gold standard” midwifery care. However, she was met with cha...2025-03-211h 45Healing Birth with CarlaThe Path to a Healing Home Birth - Millie’s StoryMillie’s father passed away just prior to her first pregnancy. She was consumed by grief and had no capacity to take birth preparation on board. Just shy of 42 weeks pregnant, Millie agreed to an induction and a sequence of disempowering, sometimes traumatising, events played out, including a 3rd degree tear which required 2.5 hours of surgical repair, separating her from her newborn at this critical time.Now, 6 weeks postpartum with her second baby, Millie has quite a different story to share of pregnancy and birth. Encouraged by her midwife, Millie chose a home birth this time, and sh...2025-02-181h 14Healing Birth with CarlaOvercoming Her Fears - Candice’s StoryCandice, a midwife, recently gave birth to her second baby. We worked together during her pregnancy, helping her to unpack the story of her first birth and to prepare for a different experience this time around. Mildred’s birth had been shockingly painful for Candice, and she exhaustedly made the call to abandon her home birth plans in order to have an epidural in hospital. This left her with feelings of shame and self doubt, especially given she was a midwife. But doing the self-work required to unravel her traumatic experience and find compassion for how she had coped, en...2025-01-301h 36Healing Birth with CarlaCurious Connections - Nathalie’s Home Birth in LAWhen Nathalie got married in her 20s, she and her husband were set on a life without children. They had met in an ashram in India, studying Vedanta philosophy, and were of the view that parenthood was a distraction from the spiritual path. But some years into their marriage, Nathalie developed a growing, undeniable urge to become a Mother.
With her biological clock ticking, and a marriage where needs were no longer aligned, Nathalie and her husband separated. He returned to NZ, and she went on a wild journey of self discovery, delving into the more feminine...2024-12-201h 23Healing Birth with CarlaKiki & Adam’s HBA2C - The Difference a Sisterhood of Support MakesFor someone who, like so many out there, had been under the illusion that their hideous cesarean births were ‘just the way birth was’ and not justifiably classified as traumatic, Kiki, having just birthed her third baby at home, has quite the story to tell! She and her husband, Adam, share about initially being under the veil of disempowering conditioning, and the journey they went on to achieve an undisturbed home birth just 6 weeks ago.
Kiki’s is a powerful story of courage and self-determination. The system had her labelled as ‘high risk’ due to multiple factors that Kiki...2024-12-122h 05Healing Birth with CarlaFrom Mandated Midwife to Sovereign Birth Keeper - Nell’s StoryNell was one of a number of wonderful, and sorely needed, home birth midwives who was mandated out of her job when the Covid epidemic swept the world. When she was legally allowed to re-enter her profession, she chose not to, instead asking the Midwifery Council to remove her from the register altogether.
Nell had not lost her passion for supporting women to birth their babies, their way, but she had lost trust in the professional midwifery bodies to enable her to work as a midwife, in the truest sense of the word. Instead, Nell became a s...2024-12-021h 32Healing Birth with CarlaClancy’s Path From Trauma to Free Birth and Healing Doula WorkClancy is an Australian based birth worker and mother of three. Although she had planned to birth her first baby at home, instead she ended up with a traumatic hospital birth experience.
In this podcast episode Clancy shares with us the terrain she has traversed in the 8 ½ years since Louie’s birth, including an early loss experience followed by a four years long journey to conceive her next baby. She talks about the solo bush retreat she went on for 4 nights with just water and a tarp, a life-changing ceremonial undertaking that enabled her to drop into full...2024-11-121h 31
The Positive Births NZ podcast#118. Kiki's HBACx2 (homebirth after 2 c-sections) to LaraIn her midwife’s words “that was a textbook f***ing birth”. This is a powerful story from a courgeous, fearless Kiki who was exceptionally determined to have her HBACx2 (home birth after 2 c sections) and she did!
To put her story into perspective we hear about her first traumatic birth, a crash c section in an Australian hospital (skip this part if you don’t feel up to hearing anything traumatic), her following elective c-section and then why it felt so important to claim her power to achieve a homebirth.
We cover her hunt for a mi...2024-11-121h 57Healing Birth with CarlaInto Hiding to Enable a Free Birth After Four Cesareans - Chaya’s Remarkable StoryThis podcast episode is such a potent mix of deep trauma, powerlessness, hope, faith, determination and sisterhood. Chaya carries us through the births of her seven children, starting with the cesarean birth of her twins and ending with the free birth of her newest baby, just a few weeks ago.
Among her sharing are stories of placental abruption and stillbirth, breech presentation, postpartum haemorrhage, unconsented to sedation, threats of labelling Chaya as psychotic as a means of forcing her to go to hospital, which I’ll just add at this point, she is not just perfectly sane in...2024-10-221h 32Healing Birth with CarlaFree Birthing her First Baby - Alexa's Path to Sacred Doula WorkAlexa’s six year old daughter was born in the water under the big Oak tree, just as she’d seen in her dream. This loving, gentle and oh so powerful free birth experience added further fuel to the fiery passion that Alexa held for working with the divine wisdom of birth.
In this heart-fuelled podcast episode, Alexa shares with us her path to becoming a birth doula and much of the philosophy surrounding the ways she navigates this role. She also talks about the birth trauma support she offers and the part that birth photography (another of Al...2024-10-031h 32Healing Birth with CarlaSarah’s Astounding Story of cPTSD, Resiliency, Survival & HealingThis podcast episode with Sarah is one of the most powerful stories of trauma, resiliency, courage, vulnerability and healing that has ever been shared with me… and over the years I have been privy to hundreds of stories of traumatic birth and healing. I feel it’s important to forewarn my podcast listeners of the, what will be for many, hugely confronting topics that we discuss in this episode, including rape and sexual abuse, suicide, cancer, early pregnancy loss, extreme postnatal depression, suicidal ideation, a near-death experience of early postpartum septicaemia, and complex PTSD.
Please take a momen...2024-09-201h 58Healing Birth with CarlaTraumatic Cesarean to Remote Rural Redemptive Freebirth - Hannah's StoryHannah, a mother to two daughters aged 3 and 6 months, joins me on the podcast from her rural home, a yurt, in a remote part of Northland here in Aotearoa. Her story is in equal parts, unsettling and inspiring.
She began her journey into motherhood with full trust that birth, as a healthy part of life, would happen naturally. But Hannah learnt the hard way that relying on the guidance of a midwife whose philosophy was a misalignment for her own, was not going to allow her to feel safe enough to get on and birth her baby. I...2024-09-121h 57Healing Birth with CarlaDefying Doctors’ Predictions to Manifest a Healing Birth - Gwen’s StoryGwen lives in Washington State USA after travelling the US for the past year in their RV and before that living in Australia, the place where she birthed her three babies who are now 1, 5 and 6 years old.
She has an honours undergraduate degree in Sociology, Masters in Teaching and she is certified by the International Coaching Federation as a Spiritual Psychology Coach and trauma specialist. Gwen is founder of her business Connecting Consciously Collective and is very passionate about supporting mothers to fully step into their power and create their intuitive desires.
She had two...2024-09-011h 12Healing Birth with CarlaPreparations for a “hard, but just so normal” freebirth - Ella’s StoryElla, a home-birthed, surprise breech baby herself, knew, before she was even pregnant, that she would be having an unassisted birth at home. In this podcast episode she shares with us the explorations she did before and during her pregnancy, including attending Radical Birth Keepers School, conversations with her man about “what if our baby dies?”, the decision to hire a virtual doula, and conversing with her baby when unsure about his quietness, in terms of movements.
Just shy of 42 weeks pregnant, Ella’s labour began. I love how she depicts the story of her son’s birth as...2024-08-151h 38
Out The Gate ParentingWhy Healing Birth Trauma Is So Important with Ex Midwife, Author and Founder Of Healing Birth - Carla Sargent.In this week's episode, I sit down with powerhouse Carla Sargent.
Carla trained as a midwife in her early 20s, she left the field after falling pregnant with her firstborn vowing never to return and be witness to the abuse and sabotage she witnessed as a student midwife in the hospital.
Carla went on to publish a book, Where The Heart Is: Stories Of Home Birth In New Zealand, and became a birth trauma healer. She also started her podcast, Healing Birth with Carla. Over the past four years, Carla has also been training others in the art and science...2024-08-151h 22
Journey - With Michael and Ryan#82 The Power of Healing Birth: A Conversation with Carla SargentIn this week’s episode we sit down with Carla Sargent, a passionate advocate for birth trauma healing and holistic birth support. Carla, a home birthing mother of three and an ex-midwife, founded Healing Birth in 2015, a groundbreaking business dedicated to helping families recover from traumatic births and prepare for empowering future experiences.
Carla shares her journey from midwifery to creating a holistic approach that has supported hundreds of families in finding healing and reclaiming the birth experience. She also discusses her work with birth workers, educating them on the causes and impacts of birth trauma, its pre...2024-08-141h 06Journey - With Michael and Ryan#82 The Power of Healing Birth: A Conversation with Carla SargentIn this week’s episode we sit down with Carla Sargent, a passionate advocate for birth trauma healing and holistic birth support. Carla, a home birthing mother of three and an ex-midwife, founded Healing Birth in 2015, a groundbreaking business dedicated to helping families recover from traumatic births and prepare for empowering future experiences.
Carla shares her journey from midwifery to creating a holistic approach that has supported hundreds of families in finding healing and reclaiming the birth experience. She also discusses her work with birth workers, educating them on the causes and impacts of birth trauma, its pre...2024-08-141h 06
The Slow Postpartum PodcastHealing Birth & Postpartum Trauma with Carla SargentWhat does it mean to truly heal from a traumatic birth experience, and how can both birthing individuals and their support networks better navigate this journey?
In this episode, I welcome Carla Sargent, a home-birthing mother of three, ex-midwife, educator, author, podcast host, and the founder of Healing Birth. Carla started her business in 2015 to support and educate families dealing with birth trauma. Through her unique Healing Birth framework, she has helped hundreds of families find healing after a traumatic birth and prepare for positive and empowering future births. Additionally, Carla trains birth professionals to understand the...2024-07-2646 minHealing Birth with CarlaTraumatic Transition to Motherhood to Empowering Home Birth - Elvisa’s StoryI first met Elvisa when, pregnant with her second child, she joined my online Soulful Birth course. Although she had planned to birth her first baby at home, she said she wasn’t mentally prepared and decided to transfer to hospital for an epidural. The birth of her first baby resulted in a big tear, and breastfeeding struggles and PND ensued.
In describing her experience, Elvisa says that the birth itself wasn’t traumatic for her, but rather it was the transition to motherhood that she grappled with. In this podcast episode Elvisa shares with us the ways...2024-07-251h 30
BIRTH LIKE A MAMMAL™Episode 16: Birth Trauma Affects Everyone with Carla Sargent, Healer and EducatorOn this 16th episode of the Birth Like a Mammal™ podcast, Lindsay is joined by Carla Sargent, a former midwife now birth trauma healer and educator. Carla is a true GEM in the birth trauma healing world. Her experience as a midwife and many years supporting Mothers healing from birth trauma bring an incredible dialogue to this discussion today.Carla hosted Lindsay on her podcast, Healing Birth with Carla, last November where she and Lindsay chatted about Lindsay's doula work, her advocacy work with Exposing the Silence Project, and how women can best set themselves up for a...2024-07-161h 11Healing Birth with CarlaLet Go and Magic Happens - Olivia’s StoryIn today’s episode I interview Olivia about her two very different birth stories that, in some key ways, looked set to head down the same path. It’s hard to fathom how she maintained the self determination and belief that she could birth vaginally with her second when, like her first birth, which was a cesarean, Olivia’s second baby remained very high, not seemingly keen or able to drop into her pelvis, and she was in early labour for many, many days with very little sleep.
Olivia’s story of the birth of her second baby is...2024-07-041h 24Healing Birth with CarlaShellie - The Serenity Doula - Protecting Birth By Honouring Physiology & RightsToday I dive into a passionate conversation with UK-based Shellie, aka The Serenity Doula. Shellie caught my attention with the Instagram reels she creates, depicting some of the many ways birthing women’s bodies and rights are undermined, and challenging a lot of mainstream narratives and maternity system practices that contribute to so much unnecessary birth trauma.
We talk through the importance of understanding and respecting birthing physiology, something Shellie has a very in-depth knowledge of, about the impacts of birth place and birth companions, about informed consent in birth care (or more accurately, the lack thereof), ab...2024-06-131h 46Healing Birth with CarlaReclaiming Her Power After a Traumatic Birth - Chloe’s StoryRural living saw Chloe choose a sight unseen birth centre as her birth place and she anticipated she’d do just fine, like the thousands of animals she and her man had seen giving birth on the farm. A hideous car ride during labour to what turned out to be an incredibly unappealing birth space, followed by a lack of attentive support and meconium in the waters, meant that Chloe ended up being transferred to hospital… by helicopter and without her man or midwife by her side. What is more, she was terrified of heights. Her girl was born via...2024-05-281h 52Healing Birth with CarlaThe Journey to Free Birthing Her First Baby - Tessa’s StoryToday’s episode is a bit of a different one and quite possibly my favourite interview to date. Tessa gave birth to her first baby just 4 months ago. I met her during her pregnancy when she did my Soulful Birth course and then she also went on to do my Healing Birth Practitioner Training in the final months before she gave birth. Tessa shares with us the path she walked to prepare herself for a truly wonderful home birth experience, with just her man, her doula and her friend present for support.
If, as you listen to Te...2024-05-091h 34Healing Birth with CarlaHaemorrhage, Epidurals & Induction to a Peaceful Rural Home Birth - Abi’s StoryAbi is Mum to 4 year old Bill, 2 year old Freya, and 8 week old Ida, living on their rural property 2.5 hours drive from the nearest hospital. Her first two births were medical affairs, involving epidurals, induction and a large postpartum haemorrhage. Her most recent birth, however, was a gentle water birth experience at home, an utterly ordinary, yet simultaneously extraordinary occasion.
Abi shares with us the journey she went on to confidently prepare for a rural home birth, and the buzz of ordinary delights like climbing into bed together as a family after a wondrous birth at day b...2024-05-021h 52Healing Birth with CarlaPlanned Home Birth Ends in C Section & Breastfeeding Trauma, Then a Healing HBACPregnant with her first baby in Australia, Grace did her doula training and was planning a gentle home birth. She had an epic support team who she fully trusted, but then at 36 weeks of pregnancy Grace had to make the excruciating call to move to NZ for her partner’s work.
Aside from the struggles with leaving behind her wonderful home birth midwife and having to find a new match, Grace was also met with a few other challenges during her labour, the key one being a swollen lip of cervix and having the near impossible instruction to...2024-04-181h 17Healing Birth with CarlaTraumatic First Birth & PTSD to a Life Changing HBAC - Donna's StoryDonna takes us on quite the journey, vulnerably sharing the stories of her two very different birth experiences. Her first birth was a harrowing time, fraught with abandonment, labouring in a motel room, meconium stained waters, a terrifying hospital transfer, exhaustion, a delayed epidural, and then finally culminating in a cesarean section. In stark contrast, Donna’s second was an incredibly empowering, healing and triumphant water birth at home.
It’s quite something to imagine Donna having gone from the devastating fall-out of her first birth, including a deep sense of failure and confusion surrounding it all, PTSD...2024-04-042h 01Healing Birth with CarlaLong Labours, Sovereign Birth & Māori Tikanga - Aroha & Tihikura’s StoriesIn this episode I speak with Aroha and her partner, Tihikura, about the home births of their two children, 5 year old Te Rangimoeke and 4 month old Rangiāniwaniwa. We hear about the challenges of having a long labour, including the influence of other people and their energies within the birth space, as well as a sense of abandonment when labour dragged on.
Within the conversation, a lot of Māori words and practices are shared. I have included many of the words and their definitions in the shownotes, so hopefully you don’t feel too lost with the...2024-03-211h 49Healing Birth with CarlaHyperemesis, Scan Trauma & Bonding Struggles, Then a Healing Home Birth - Sarah’s StoryToday’s guest, Sarah, vulnerably shares about the various struggles and traumas associated with her Mothering journey, including horrific Hyperemesis in her first pregnancy, numerous ultrasound scans which involved a lot of professional misconduct and needless fear mongering, being medicated for perinatal depression, feeling completely disconnected from her baby girl, amongst other medically managed challenges.
She talks us through the grief and rage that resulted from her first birth and how she chose to navigate her next pregnancy. Sarah was faced with further systemic challenges nearing the end of that pregnancy, but ultimately decided that birthing at hom...2024-03-071h 59
Nutritious ConversationsNC 12: Heal Birth Heal the Earth – Calling the Power of Birth Home – Carla SargentHeal Birth Heal the Earth – Calling the Power of Birth Home – Carla Sargent
“Carla is New Zealand’s leading authority on birth trauma. Her background in midwifery & her many years of experience in helping people heal from their birth trauma, combines to offer you reliable, compassionate and trusted support.” https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/
To encounter the mindset that, for a woman, her body is broken and needs to be outsourced to a model of “care” for her to birth, is creating an epidemic of disempowerment. The catch phrase “We’ll you’ve got a healthy baby” is the...2024-03-031h 48Healing Birth with CarlaFrom Cesarean to Midwife-Attended Home Birth to Plans a For Free Birth - Chelsea's StoryChelsea is a young mum of two littlies, Bindi and Wolf, and has another bub blossoming in her womb. Although she had hopes for a birthing centre water birth with her first, like so many, Chelsea found herself pushed down an interventionist path that culminated in a ceserean.
In this episode of the podcast, Chelsea vulnerably shares the impacts that this experience had on her and how determined she was to ensure her next birth was a more gentle and respectful experience. Her birth with Wolf took place at home with midwives present. Although Wolf’s birth wa...2024-02-222h 00Healing Birth with CarlaNot All Home Births Are Created Equal - Elsie's StoryElsie is the host of the Birthing at Home podcast, a mission that was inspired after the empowering home birth of her second baby. Both of Elsie’s children were born at home, but not all home births are created equal, and in this podcast episode she shares with us the various ways she was negatively impacted during her first birth, comparing them to the ways she stood in her power in her second. We also discuss medicalised midwifery training, as Elsie was once a student midwife herself, and how restrictions of their licence limit the ability of midwives to...2024-02-081h 28Healing Birth with CarlaA Tale of 2 Very Different Cesareans & Kate's Path to Training With MeKate’s story is a bit of a different one to those that are typically shared on here, not because she didn’t have a traumatic first birth, she did, and not because she didn’t have a healing next birth experience, she did. But, Kate’s second birth went nothing like the peaceful home birth she had hoped for and dreamed about.
Thankfully, the self work and birth preparation that she did during her second pregnancy, part of which involved us working together, meant that Kate continued to experience her birth as empowering even when it appeared...2024-01-251h 39Healing Birth with CarlaTraumatic Induction to Healing Home Birth With Two Posterior Labours - Nicola's StoryNicola is Mum to 3 year old Skye and 6 week old Luca. Her first birth was a traumatic 5 day long ordeal that involved a posterior baby, an excruciating induction of labour, and an epidural that took far too long to be administered. During her next pregnancy, Nicola sought my support to unravel her trauma and to make plans for a healing birth experience. She talks us through how that 1:1 guidance encouraged her to have an empowering home birth, despite it being another long, posterior labour. In listening to others’ stories on this podcast, Nicola hadn’t been convinced that the desc...2023-12-071h 28Healing Birth with CarlaPoppy's Story - an Honest Share on Many Taboo Birth TopicsThis episode is a deeply vulnerable share which delves into all the taboo topics surrounding birth and new motherhood. Poppy, a home birthing mother of two, one of which was a free birth, speaks frankly about herpes, about miscarriage, about radical responsibility, about being confronted with the potential for death in birth, about vaginal wall prolapse, about healing ourselves, and about postpartum sex. We leave no stone unturned with this wildly honest conversation that gets right to the heart of things most are too confronted by to ever really face.
Covered in this episode:
home birth
...2023-11-301h 40Healing Birth with CarlaPippa - Birth Trauma & Mother Wound Healing For Ourselves & Our ChildrenPippa is Mum to 5 year old Greta, whose planned home birth ended in cesarean, and 8 month old Flora, whose empowering home birth involved an unexpectedly healing postpartum transfer to hospital due to a third degree tear.
In this episode, Pippa shares various dimensions of the healing that becoming a mum has encouraged her to delve into. She talks about how peeling away the layers of the mother wound has supported her to find her voice and be her authentic self, and she shares the journey she has been on to offer her own daughter the opportunity to h...2023-11-231h 08
Postpartum University® PodcastThe Impact of Birth Trauma on Postpartum Recovery with Carla Sargent EP 139Send us a textWhen 1 in 3 women in the U.S. are experiencing birth trauma, I knew we had to have this important conversation with Carla Sargent. Carla Sargent is a home-birthing mother of three, an ex-midwife, an educator, an author, a podcast host, and the founder of her birth trauma support and education business, Healing Birth.Through her holistic and unique Healing Birth work, Carla has helped hundreds of families find healing after a traumatic birth and prepare for a positive and empowering next birth.She has also worked with a...2023-11-2137 minHealing Birth with CarlaLindsay Askins on Birthing Like a MammalAs humans we are also mammals, and like all other mammals, evolution has ensured that we are well equipped to birth in safe and rewarding ways with a very rare need for outside interference. In fact, disturbing our innate birth design in the countless ways us humans do, often creates a lot more difficulties and harm than safety.
Today’s podcast guest, Lindsay Askins, knows a lot about mammalian birth. She shares with us how her decade long experience as a vet tech, witnessing untold births of horses and other mammals, led her to understand that birthing at...2023-11-091h 27Healing Birth with CarlaCarla's Healing Journey & Path to Becoming a Traditional Birth KeeperToday’s guest, Carla, is an Australian traditional birth keeper and healer. She shares with us the deeply moving story of birthing her first baby just days after the passing of her own mother. This planned home birth ended in hospital transfer and provided the lessons for Carla to have a redemptive home birth with her second child. She now works with others supporting them on their own journey traversing the motherhood initiation.
Carla describes herself beautifully on her website bio which reads:
Birthing my two children has changed me, and I have grown to de...2023-11-021h 36Healing Birth with CarlaBekki's Breastfeeding Trauma & Healing JourneyAfter the birth of her first baby, Bekki experienced intense fear and anxiety surrounding whether her baby was getting enough milk from her, or not. She hadn’t addressed the fears she held onto with regards to the breast reduction surgery she had had years earlier and what this might mean in terms of her ability to produce sufficient milk.
Through good support, expert advice, generous offers of donor milk, many tears and sheer determination, Bekki’s breastfeeding journey became a very successful one. In fact she is still breastfeeding her daughter even after having birthed her son...2023-10-261h 41Healing Birth with CarlaBirthday Celebrations - Sophia Shares the Story of Her Sister's Powerful BirthIn celebration of ONE YEAR of the Healing Birth with Carla podcast, including 45 episodes and 4.6k of downloads in 30 countries, I invited Sophia Paskell to join me on this episode.
Sophia was one of my first podcast guests and her episode #3, titled Sophia Paskell - on Grief, Loss, Birth & Death, has been the most listened to episode of them all.
This special celebratory episode has Sophia sharing the intimate story of the birth of her niece, a particularly touching birth for her to have attended. She was given the honour of receiving her sister's baby...2023-10-131h 04Healing Birth with CarlaMidwifery, Matrescence & Birth Trauma Healing - Emma's StoryLike me, Emma is an ex midwife who now works primarily in supporting new mothers to find healing after a traumatic birth or who have struggled with the transition into motherhood. She shares with us about her midwifery experience and why she quit not long after starting; about her own two birth experiences and the crucial impact that her positive first birth had on navigating major breastfeeding challenges; and about the path she has travelled in her birth work.
I love that Emma shares about her experience of doing my Healing Birth Practitioner Training programme and the...2023-10-051h 23Healing Birth with CarlaVictoria - How to Be Free to Birth Your WayIn this episode I interview free birth mentor and podcast co-host, Victoria whose instagram page is titled @freetobirth. Victoria shares with us the stories of her own two births, 4 and 2 years ago. Her first birth was planned to be a home birth but ended up being a hospital transfer for meconium stained waters. During her second pregnancy, Victoria went on a bit of a journey of self discovery that ultimately saw her declining midwifery care partway through and opting to have a free birth.
In this interview Victoria also shares her thoughts on who free birth is...2023-09-281h 53Healing Birth with CarlaMieke - Free & Autonomous Birth AdvocateIn this episode I interview Mieke, a Canadian mother of two, whose Instagram page, @takeyourbirthbystorm, captured my attention and sparked a desire to dive a little deeper with her. After training as a birth doula Mieke went on to birth her first baby at home with a midwife in attendance. Her second birth ended up being a free birth. She shares with us why this was the path she chose and how this ultimately led to her becoming a free and autonomous birth advocate.
Mieke shares her love for birth story podcasts and how they were her...2023-09-211h 38Healing Birth with CarlaBonnie's Healing Lotus Birth in a House BusIn today’s episode I talk with Bonnie… and her newest little sidekick, Tilly, also apparently has quite a bit to add to the conversation! Tilly was born in their house bus, a beautifully healing experience for Bonnie after Eddie’s birth having gone nothing like she’d planned and hoped for.
I love the openness with which Bonnie shares her stories and the various challenges she worked through. Eddie’s birth involved artificial breaking of the waters, coached pushing, an episiotomy and a time of disconnect with her newborn.
In contrast, Tilly’s birth was fully led...2023-09-141h 36Healing Birth with CarlaKate's Journey to a Life Changing Hospital VBA2CIn this episode I speak with Kate about her three birth experiences. The first was a traumatic induction with the, all too familiar, cascade of interventions that ensued and a birth that ended in an emergency cesarean. With her son being whisked away to NICU for breathing troubles, Kate didn’t get to meet her baby for 24 hours. And if that wasn’t devastating enough, she was essentially told that her anxiety was the cause of her baby needing to be born via cesarean.
Following that experience Kate sought support to find healing and to prepare for the b...2023-08-311h 09Healing Birth with CarlaSharna's Story - Healing after Miscarriage & Founding The Institute of Healing Through Pregnancy LossToday I’m joined by Sharna Southan, a Melbourne mama to one angel baby and one rainbow child. After Sharna’s traumatic miscarriage experience, she struggled to find the support she needed to work through overwhelming feelings of confusion, guilt and grief. In this podcast episode Sharna vulnerably shares with us how she navigated this, and the strategies she utilised to make it out the other side of that dark time.
Since then, Sharna made it her mission to ensure that others weren’t so alone in journeying through their baby loss experiences. To that end, she founde...2023-08-241h 15Healing Birth with CarlaTransitioning From Hospital Midwife to Doula and Free Birther - Sarah Giannetta's StoryIn this episode, Sarah who, like me, is an ex midwife, and I discuss all sorts of birthy goodness. Sarah shares about how she came to the realisation that the maternity system is seriously flawed and why being a hospital midwife was no longer her calling. She talks about her own birth experiences, from a medicated hospital birth to a jumping-through-hoops midwife-supported home birth, and then to a magical yet simultaneously oh-so-normal free birth. We discuss the vital self work that is required in preparation for an empowering birth experience, and so much more. Sarah is now working as...2023-08-171h 07Healing Birth with CarlaFrom Trauma to Free Birth - Stacey's Path to EnlightenmentToday’s guest is Stacey, an Australian mama of two. She shares about her traumatic first birth where there were unnecessary time constraints, threats of cesarean, pressure to agree to have Syntocinon to speed things up, episiotomy, ventouse, and unnecessary separation from her newborn. Stacey’s next pregnancy involved a lot of soul searching, self discovery, trauma healing and communication with her baby. She describes the potent work she did with an amazing doula and ultimately decided that a free birth was the right path for her and her baby. Get ready for the powerful and emotional journey that Stac...2023-08-101h 15Healing Birth with CarlaMāori Midwife & Activist, Joanne Teina, on Trauma & Healing Through Traditional Māori PracticesThis deeply moving podcast episode takes us on an emotional rollercoaster. I’m not in the habit of providing trigger warnings, but Jo’s raw sharing about the many significant traumas she endured, especially during the early years of her mothering life, are quite frankly, extremely difficult to hear. She shares about the postnatal psychosis she developed after 5 months of sleeplessness when her twins, babies number 6 and 7, were in and out of hospital after their births at 32 weeks. The voices in Jo’s head were convincing her to take her children’s lives, and it was only thanks to the insi...2023-08-031h 36Healing Birth with CarlaHealing From PTSD & Planning an Empowering HBAC - Wikitoria's StoryIn today’s podcast episode Wikitoria, or Wiki for short, shares about the traumatic birth of her first-born, an experience that culminated in an emergency cesarean and time separated from her baby during his SCBU stay, and one which left Wiki with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Wiki accessed a number of avenues for support during her incredibly trying postpartum journey, but it wasn’t until she had a therapeutic Havening session six months down the line that her PTSD was healed. Wiki also shares about the beautiful support she received from one of my Healing Birth practitioner trainees, and...2023-07-271h 03Healing Birth with CarlaBella's Free Birth - the Healing & the Grief (#3 in the series)In previous episodes with Bella, she shared about her foiled plans for a gentle home birth with her firstborn - a traumatic way to learn some tough lessons about birth space support and energies; about early loss experiences she had been through; about the wild pregnancy she was embarking on; and about her plans for a free birth.
In this interview, the final in the three part series, Bella opens up about her free birth experience - its teachings and its healings. She talks through the unexpected grief she was confronted with in early postpartum, and she...2023-07-201h 18Healing Birth with CarlaSarah's Preparation For Her Healing Home Birth After a Traumatic Posterior LabourToday I speak with Sarah while she holds her little 3 week old daughter, Chloe. Chloe’s was a positive and healing home birth, a far cry from the traumatic experience Sarah had had with her first born, Ollie. He had been posterior, something that Sarah’s midwife had instilled fear in her around, and that fear ultimately led to a very painful and long labour which ended with an epidural and then a ventouse delivery.
Through working with me, listening to inspiring stories on this podcast, and doing the self-work required to prepare for her daughter’s birth...2023-07-131h 13Healing Birth with CarlaFrom Newborn Stroke to Healing Body Work, with Alina KomnatnayaAfter her 40 days old first born had a stroke, Alina developed a growing understanding of brain growth and function, and the part that movement plays in this. She now helps people to move without pain and discomfort, including in pregnancy or after giving birth, using her Feldenkrais® training, and the additional skills she developed from the Explain Pain course she did with the Neuro-Orthopaedic Institute Australasia.
For the last two years, Alina has been collaborating with a local Waikato OBGYN and a pelvic health physio, Bev Hampton, so that her clients can be sure that nothing important i...2023-07-061h 20Healing Birth with CarlaImke's Harrowing Start to Motherhood, Then Healing Home BirthIn this episode of the Healing Birth with Carla podcast, Imke shares with us about her harrowing start to motherhood. Her traumatic birth experience was followed by an incredibly trying time postpartum, including severe mastitis, a breast abscess that required surgical drainage, an overwhelmed comment to her midwife that resulted in the police turning up at her door, and finally, some recognition that what she was experiencing was not normal and deserved some support and healing.
Imke’s next birth was a healing experience at home, with a Labrador and a trusting midwife at her side. We al...2023-06-221h 03Healing Birth with CarlaHannah's Brain Tumour Diagnosis 10 Days Postpartum with Baby #4Hannah is a spiritually minded, home birthing mother of four littlies under the age of five. When her newest baby, Awena, was just 10 days old, Hannah received a horrifying diagnosis. In this episode of the Healing Birth podcast, I sit down with Hannah to discuss how she navigated this incredibly overwhelming time, and how she is managing to recover with such remarkable ease. We also talk about severe morning sickness, prenatal depression, free birth, breathwork, spirit guides, you name it… it’s probably on this episode! So sit back with a cuppa and soak it all in.
Topi...2023-06-091h 18Healing Birth with CarlaKayla's Story - From Trauma & Addiction to Womb Doula & Solo MotherIn today’s episode Kayla (the Womb Doula) vulnerably shares her personal story of trauma and her path to healing. Her journey involves baby loss, meth addiction, home detention, surgery and the questionable fertility that ensued, menstrual cycle awareness, an unexpected pregnancy, becoming a womb doula, a healing home birth, and the challenges of solo motherhood. It’s a lot to encompass in a 90 minute interview and pieces sit heavy on the heart, but Kayla’s is ultimately a story of hope and courage, and the power we have to heal ourselves.
Included in this episode:
Turners...2023-06-011h 36Healing Birth with CarlaJenny Johnston - a Midwifery Practice Rooted in Service, Heart & TrustToday you get to hear me dive into conversation with a truly wise ‘with woman’ midwife who has devoted the better part of 46 years of service to her midwifery role. Jenny Johnston is a self-proclaimed introvert who loves books almost as much as she loves birth, so it was a great privilege and honour to have her open up about her wealth of experience and knowledge regarding midwifery, birth, and the system that undermines them both much of the time.
We talk about all manner of things… midwifery training in the ‘70s, rising rates of medical interventions, twin hom...2023-05-181h 50Healing Birth with CarlaHannah's Story - Placental Abruption, PTSD & the Healing She Was Denied For 6 MonthsToday I’m joined by Hannah, who shares with us about the traumatic experience she encountered when she was nearing the end of her pregnancy with her second baby. Having had a very straightforward first birth in a birth centre, Hannah had opted for a home birth with her second. But when she began haemorrhaging at 36 weeks, her plans for a peaceful, gentle home birth were foiled. She was experiencing a placental abruption which ultimately resulted in a very rushed emergency cesarean.
The final moments before Bradley was born were the source of Hannah’s PTSD symptoms that...2023-05-111h 18Healing Birth with CarlaTania's Journey as a Solo Mum - Home Birth After 2 CesareansTania is Mum to Dylan who’s 16, Ava who’s 12, and her little freshy, Osian, who’s just two months. In this episode, she shares about the challenges she was met with when she found out she was unexpectedly pregnant last year, and how she navigated them with a healthy dose of determination and self work, and the help of friends, family and an awesome midwife.
Given that Tania had had caesareans with both of her older children and was wanting to plan a home birth with her next one, alongside being a solo mum, and unanticipated time s...2023-05-041h 44Healing Birth with CarlaWith Nemah - Traditional Full Spectrum Midwife & HealerNemah is a travelling traditional full spectrum Midwife, from fertility and conception to passing, and everything in between, specialising in traditional home births. She has travelled the world with her children, and has assisted in over 2,000 births worldwide over the last 15 years. Currently Nemah is working on an aboriginal birthing documentary in over five countries which has given her a wealth of experience.
Her background includes growing up with the guidance and teachings from her grandmother who was a traditional healer born in Mexico. Nemah takes pride in being a mixed ethnic woman, which has given her t...2023-04-271h 44Healing Birth with CarlaLala's Story - Part 2 - Remarkable Home Birth & a Healing CesareanIf you haven't already listened to episode 24 - part 1 of Lala's story, I suggest you do so before cracking into this one.
In part 2 of my interview with Lala, we learn about the surprising circumstances surrounding the home birth of her 4th baby, about her traumatic ectopic pregnancy loss and about her last birth experience - a healing home birth-esque cesarean with her fifth child. After two previous traumatic cesareans, Lala’s third was described by her, as being ‘home birth like’ and an important source of healing for her. Lala also talks in this episode about what s...2023-04-201h 15Healing Birth with CarlaLala's Story - Part 1 - a Vast Array of Birth ExperiencesToday I speak with Lala about the first four of her five births. She has experienced the whole plethora of births, from a traumatic cesarean when she was a single teen mum, to an empowering home birth of her very large and awkwardly positioned baby. And everything in between!
In this episode we hear about the early loss of one twin, about the 10 years it took to properly bond with one of her children, about a beautifully supported hospital VBAC, about Lala’s desperate act when she was terrified and powerless - biting a doctor’s arm, about...2023-04-131h 10Healing Birth with CarlaFrom Intense Grief & Trauma to Healing & Empowerment - Hannah's StoryHannah’s beginning to motherhood was not only tainted with the recent passing of her sister, her birth experience was in a different city, took place in a different birthing facility (hospital instead of a birth centre), and with different midwives, than she had spent the previous nine months planning for and excitedly anticipating. She was also subjected to unconsented procedures that were unnecessary, abusive, painful and frightening. Needless to say, it was an extremely traumatic time.
In this podcast episode, Hannah shares with us the path she walked on her healing journey, and how she set he...2023-04-0658 minHealing Birth with CarlaDenée's Redemptive Birth - From Trauma to Healing & EmpowermentIn this episode I interview Denée about her two very contrasting birth experiences and the work that she did between them both, to heal and plan, and to find the courage and self-determination to birth her second baby her way.
Denée’s first birth resulted in vaginal tears, one of which was initially missed, and a postpartum haemorrhage, requiring a blood transfusion. Consequently, Denée was met with extreme anxiety, panic attacks, fear and isolation in the early months of parenting her newborn.
Today she shares her story of how she found healing, and w...2023-03-301h 10Healing Birth with CarlaWith Rhea Dempsey - birth educator, doula, author, trainer & counsellorToday I am privileged to be speaking with renowned Australian birth worker, Rhea Dempsey. Rhea is an Independent Birth Educator, Doula, Trainer, Counsellor and Author. Her understanding of birth has been gained over four decades. She has presented nationally and internationally. She is recognised as an insightful commentator on the difficulties women, who have a yearning for normal physiological birth, face in navigating present birth culture.
Her book Birth with Confidence: savvy choices for normal birth, explores the issue of physiological pain and the importance of experienced support. While Beyond the Birth Plan: getting real about pain...2023-03-161h 05Healing Birth with CarlaUnravelling Trauma, Transforming Lives - Diana Forsell Interviews MeTwo women on a similar mission, both with a business named Healing Birth, and both sharing aligned messages about finding healing after a traumatic birth on their similarly named podcasts… Diana Forsell interviews me, Carla Sargent, on this episode of her Healing Birth podcast, which I’m now sharing here, on my own Healing Birth with Carla podcast.
Find out how Diana (from Hawaii) and I (from New Zealand) met, and hear about my journey into midwifery, then later into birth trauma healing. I share about the abuse I witnessed as a student midwife, my take on what...2023-03-091h 00Healing Birth with CarlaWith Jennifer Summerfeldt - Founder of ASK Therapy for MomsYou’re in for a treat today! In this episode I speak with renowned birth trauma specialist, Jennifer Summerfeldt. Jennifer holds an MA in Counseling Psychology (MACP) and is a Certified Canadian Counsellor (CCC). She is the CEO (Chief Empathy Officer) and Founder of ASK Therapy for Moms. With over 20 years of experience within the fields of maternal health, childbirth and psychology studies, she uses her expertise and voice to help advance the dialogue on trauma-informed care, maternal mental health, and healing in general.
Today we discuss how Jennifer came into the birth healing role, and what sh...2023-03-021h 07
Healing Birth with CarlaAta's Home Birth After Four Traumatic CesareansToday’s guest is Atarua, who hails from the Waikato, and is of Ngāi Tahu and Ngāpuhi decent. She is a strong Māori wahine, adored by her tane and a loving Māmā of five ātaahua tamariki. To translate for those who aren’t familiar with te reo, Ata is an awesome Māori woman whose man adores her, and she is a loving mum to her five beautiful children.
In this episode of the Healing Birth Podcast, Ata shares her mothering journey through four traumatic cesarean births and then the powerful home birth experience...2023-02-021h 03Healing Birth with CarlaBella's Wild Pregnancy & Plans for a Free Birth (#2 in the series)This is the second episode in a pregnancy and birth podcast series with Mother, Doula and Healing Birth Practitioner, Bella. We first met Bella in Episode 7 of the Healing Birth Podcast when she shared her journey through loss and trauma, and into the early months of her current wild pregnancy.
In this episode, as she enters the third trimester of her pregnancy, Bella describes what lies at the heart of her preparation for a free birth, the lifestyle changes this has led to and the tools she is utilising to support this season of family life.
2023-01-191h 12Healing Birth with CarlaMāori Birthing with Dr Naomi SimmondsDr. Naomi Simmonds (Raukawa, Ngāti Huri) works as an independent researcher with a focus on land-based learning, women’s land-based knowledges, Māori maternities and whānau (or family) wellbeing. Her most recent research involved walking 378km, re-tracing the journey of her pregnant ancestress, Māhinaarangi, to understand the transformations, knowledges and rituals for women that are embedded in the footprints of her ancestors. Naomi’s PhD research, awarded best Doctoral Thesis 2015 by the New Zealand Geographic Society, looked at Māori understandings and experiences of pregnancy and childbirth. Naomi also has a part time role working with Māori com...2022-12-221h 03Healing Birth with CarlaAuthentic Living & Owning Our Sh*t with Sarah NobleSarah is a Mindset Coach, Energy Healer and Healing Birth Practitioner who supports Mums to manage their mind and, in Sarah’s no-beating-around-the-bush words, own their shit. She helps others to work through past traumas, limiting beliefs, self-sabotaging behaviours, and people pleasing ways so that they can live an aligned and AUTHENTIC AF (Sarah’s business tagline) life as thriving individuals AND Mamas.
Sarah is passionate about normalising the conversations around everyday motherhood, and mental, emotional and physical health. She is a real-talking embodiment of that which she teaches… Sarah’s also prone to a little swearing, so if yo...2022-12-151h 20Healing Birth with CarlaBecoming a Birth HealerIn today’s episode, I share with you about my own journey into birth trauma support work and becoming a birth healer. I’m Carla Sargent, founder of Healing Birth and the Healing Birth Podcast, home birthing mother to three, ex midwife and Biology teacher, and all ‘round passionate birth keeper whose primary focus is on supporting others to heal after birth trauma, and educating other birth-passionate people about how to competently and confidently offer holistic birth trauma support to others.
If you’re intrigued about my journey into birth work and my unique style of offering birth tr...2022-12-081h 12Healing Birth with CarlaJojo Hogan - Preparing for a Positive Postpartum ExperienceToday’s guest is Jojo Hogan, a maternal postpartum care specialist, doula coach and founder of the Slow Postpartum Movement; an international movement that educates and inspires as to the importance of the weeks following birth. She believes that the postpartum period is a time when new mothers, parents and families need and deserve to be nurtured, supported and celebrated so that they are able to offer the same to their new babies.
In today’s talk we discuss what a positive postpartum experience requires and the importance of preparing for this during pregnancy. Jojo shares the five...2022-12-011h 10Healing Birth with CarlaMaria - Finding Strength, Love & Hope After Early Loss & Two StillbirthsIn this moving episode I spend a heartfelt couple of hours on the couch with my dear friend, Maria. She shares her undulating journey of motherhood, one that involves early pregnancy loss, as well as two stillbirths. Maria speaks to the challenges of birth and death, grief and shame, and how she found hope, love and strength streaming through the murkiness of it all.
Maria lost her daughter, Brooke, at 38 weeks of pregnancy back when she was a solo Mum. She later birthed her boy, now 16, via an induced, hospital birth. When he was eight she met...2022-11-241h 54Healing Birth with CarlaAn interview with Kate Hicks - Founder of Birth Trauma AotearoaThis episode of the Healing Birth Podcast has a particularly Aotearoa, New Zealand focus. It delves into the work of a Kiwi mama whose passionate drive and determination is making positive changes to the New Zealand landscape of birth trauma support. Kate Hicks is a Manawatū-based full-time mum to two. She is also the creator of Aotearoa's key birth trauma support website called, My Birth Story, which she developed following her own negative birth experience and which she launched in 2018.
More recently, Kate founded Birth Trauma Aotearoa, a new charitable trust working in the birth trauma s...2022-11-171h 11Healing Birth with CarlaLynley's Journey - Traumatic Initiation into Motherhood to a Healing Home BirthToday we welcome Lynley to the podcast. Lynley’s first birth was a traumatic experience. Her planned home birth ended in an emergency cesarean, and she was devastatingly separated from her precious boy for 14 hours. When Lynley found herself pregnant again, she was determined to do the inner work in order to prepare for the healing birth that she so desperately desired.
In this episode of the Healing Birth Podcast, Lynley shares with us her discovery of the inherent wisdom in working through fears and allowing grief to surface. These things are vital aspects of the healing jo...2022-11-101h 11Healing Birth with CarlaAmanda's Journey From Trauma to HealingPrior to conceiving Charlee, Amanda had struggled with infertility, miscarriage and the devastating suicide of her brother. Although her pregnancy was mostly positive, nearing her due date, Amanda developed pre-eclampsia and needed to be hospitalised. She was determined not to be induced and spent 2 weeks being monitored and on bed rest. When she did finally go into labour, her experience became traumatic. This was largely due to short staffing, meaning that Amanda wasn't being shown the care, patience and support she needed to feel safe.
Following her traumatic first birth, Amanda sought support via me and a...2022-11-031h 25