ROCKCAST! The new podcast!… Welcome to another empowering birth journey. We are joined in this podcast with fellow podcaster Shalome from Rockstar Birth Mag, podcasts and TV. I found the magazines just before I was about to birth my daughter and loved the collaboration, beautiful imagery informaiton and stories from all over the world. Shalome is inspiring many families through her work to find avenues to empower their experiences, so I thought it was time to hear her three birth journeys and the story of the rockstar mamma! I loved litening to Shalome, her enthusiasim is catchy and I left the podcast feeling bouncy and ready to make more babies… Perfect .. Enjoy this uplifting episode with light and love!
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Shalome starts the rockcast with talking about her first experience of birth being with her friend as support person, she describes going into the birth with her friend having no idea of what was to come from that. From that she received a deep ‘quick dive’ into what a hospital birth could be like if not informed and ready, her friend ended up having a cesarean which left Shalome wondering how could this be better, how could have she suppourted more…
Not long after this, Shalome became pregnant. She thought that she could trust her body and would be right for the process to happen as is. She first engaged with the hospital and realised that this was not the right fit for her, she then found a connection with a birth centre. 42 weeks arrived and she was told that she would need an induction, she went through the full induction process and recalls the OB unwrapping the scissors and attempting an episiotomy, telling Shalome that she was not birthing fast enough.. Shalome managed to birth her daughter in time and describes the flood of love hormones, then not long after the feeling set in ‘what just happened’.
Five years later, with a wonderful new blended family, Shalome become pregnant again. Approaching this pregnancy Shalome rocked up to the local hospital, during the conversation with the midwife Shalome explained her wants and desires and then quickly in her mind realised ‘what am I doing here?. She left her appointment with the Midwife and decided that this was not the right place for her. Enter the world of home birth. The last half of the pregnancy was described as a wonderful and bonding experience. After engaging in a CalmBirth class her partner and daughter were on board and ready to support Shalome in this decision. Shalome talks about how important the continuity of care was for her and how excited she would get prior to each midwifery appointment where she felt love and connected and in a safe space to unpack her fears and talk about the processes surrounding birth. At 41+1 Shalome went into labour and describes how fantastic it was to feel her first real contraction (not labour induced). After she stopped timing her contractions she instantly went into labour land, the midwives arrived and Shalome laboured in different positions with the midwifes listening quietly. Not long after Shalome birthed her beautiful boy, she describes the incredible feeling being snuggled on the couch with baby and family. The neighbours visited not long after and they ended up having dinner together! There was a great energy in the house and this is where Shalome has never felt so feminine in her life.
Shalomes third homebirth was only 2.5 hours long, she describes the experience as fast and intense with high peaks and low troughs. Shalome had to dig deeper in this birth and found pleasurable and orgasmic moments in the birth experience.
You will hear during these stories about the creation and growth of Rockstar Birth after the feeling of needing to connect and find an avenue for families to help find the tools they need to empower their experiences in birth and beyond.
From Shalome –
“You deserve to have a fabulous transition to motherhood, you can have a inspiring, empowering birth, I am all now about sharing with women the things they can do to have that positive and incredible experiences by simply choosing to be responsible for their own births. “
“You are absolutely born to birth.. Everything you need is already inside you..”
“If you could just do just one little action a day, taking that time to invest in your birth…. YOUR birth vision. Those are the steps that are going to get you to your positive birth.”
“I want you to just sit quietly and close your eyes and just take a deep breath and go inward… Remind your self that you are born to birth that everything you need is already inside you.”
Resources
- Calm Birth Course – http://www.calmbirth.com.au
- Positive Birth Movement – Find one near you or start one up! – http://www.positivebirthmovement.org
- Rockstar Birth – 4 week rock your birth adventure – https://rockstarbirthmagazine.com/are-you-ready-to-rock-your-birth/
- MAMA Midwives and Mothers Australia – https://midwivesandmothers.com.au
- Home Birth Queensland Magazine ‘Down to Birth‘ – http://www.homebirth.org.au/product-tag/magazine/
Connect with Shalome
Websites: https://rockstarbirthmagazine.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockstarBirth
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rockstarbirthmag/?hl=en
I’m Shalome, creator of the Rockstar Birth Magazine.
Let me start by telling you a little story about my birthing journey…
It was the moment the obstetrician gloved up and started unwrapping the episiotomy scissors that I thought, ‘Mmm… this is not cool’. The midwife-on-duty whispered in my ear ‘Honey, you do not want her coming near you with those things. Push that baby out NOW’.
It was the moment the obstetrician gloved up and started unwrapping the episiotomy scissors that I thought, ‘Mmm… this is not cool’. The midwife-on-duty whispered in my ear ‘Honey, you do not want her coming near you with those things. Push that baby out NOW’.And so I did. With gritted teeth and an almighty push, my baby girl was born. And she was amazing, fantastic, breath-taking. But it was hardly the drug-free, water birth I had dreamed of. Strapped to a hospital bed, bright lights bearing down, feet in stirrups, catheter & epidural & foetal monitor & syntocin & antibiotics all tubing into me, a stranger between my thighs threatening me with scissors.
This didn’t feel natural and blissful. What was going on here?
Surely there has to be a better way
A way that isn’t surrounded by horror birth stories, wrapped up in fear and loneliness, and so heavily influenced by hospital protocols defining ‘how’ we will birth.
And yet when I look around, pregnant women everywhere are being inundated by friends, family, and strangers on the bus, all describing how (for them) giving birth was ‘the worst pain ever!’. Friendly neighbours ask heavily pregnant women if they are ‘getting scared yet?’. And TV shows consistently depict birthing women as a shrieking, screaming, out-of-control mess. Everyone seems to have a traumatic birth story to share.
And so your knees involuntarily come together, your cervix tightens, the fear factor rises, joy evaporates, and you then start to wonder exactly HOW are you going to get a baby’s head out of your lady bits?
We live in a world where we are taught that birth is to be feared. Is it any wonder that you are terrified at the thought of giving birth?
And so I started investigating. And I discovered that there is another way. An alternative to the scary view of birth. Less fear, more trust. Less pushing, more flowing. Less focus on risk, more on self-belief. I found a way to approach your birth with excitement and awe. And I want to share it with you.
I created the Rockstar Birth Magazine – a 12-issue digital magazine full of empowering information, positive birthing experiences, and rich expert insights – to help you focus on the empowering steps YOU can take towards creating the birth YOU desire. I want you to know that you can birth your babies AND feel like a total bloody Rockstar whilst you do it.
When it comes to birth, you have a choice
In fact you have many choices, and each of them will help create your very own unique birthing adventure. Let me be really clear, YOU are in charge of your own birth experience.
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