Reclaim your power: inspiration and reflections for pregnancy, childbirth and beyond
Giving birth is one of the most sacred experiences a woman can have and yet this time is often filled with anxiety and fear. Fear of the unknown and the known. How can we as women transform this experience and take back the arena of pregnancy and childbirth that has become constricted and heavily medicalized in many places? This podcast is a series of my reflections and insights about pregnancy, birth, and beyond, as well as other things pertaining to being a woman. It is based on my experiences, the experiences of women I have supported as a doula, and books written by midwives, doulas, and doctors who believe in a woman's right to birth her way. My aim is to inspire and challenge the way we are being socialized to give birth and to remind us that the power lies within us. To challenge us as women to take back our power by informing and educating ourselves so we understand the processes of pregnancy and childbirth. To awaken us to the possibility of having an empowered birth experience. To remind us that our bodies are ours and should be treated with reverence and respect. Podcast artwork: Photo by Kumaran Pondicherry Photography; Styling by Become
Episodes
32 episodes
Season 3 Ep 3: Guilt
In this episode I reflect on parental guilt and how our need to be perfect parents gets in our way.
Season 3 Ep 2: Control
In this episode, I reflect on how the issue of control influences our parenting and our ability to experience parenthood. I share my struggles with my tendency to want to control my children and how I am slowly learning to let go.
Season 3 Ep 1: Parenting vs Parenthood
In this first episode of season three, I define parenting and parenthood and explain how I understand and plan to reflect on these concepts throughout the season. Podcast artwork: Photo by Kumaran Pondicherry...
Season three trailer: Reflections on parenthood and parenting
This is a short introduction to the third season of my podcast which will focus on parenthood and parenting.Featuring the poem 'On Children' by Khalil Gibran From The Prophet (Knopf, 1923). This poem is in the public domain
Season 2 Ep 5: A conversation with Johanna Dyngeland
My conversation with Johanna is a bit different from previous conversations because not only do we talk about her experiences of pregnancy, birth and the postpartum phase but she also shares her struggles with endometriosis. This is a very info...
Poetic interlude 4: We heed you call
A poem about my connection to my ancestors, identity and belonging.
Season 2 Ep 4: A conversation with Anne and David Darling
This is episode is the first where I have a conversation with a couple. Anne and David share their experiences with me with such open-heartedness and candor. In our conversation, they share their experience of Anne having a cesarean section, an...
Season 2 Ep 3: A conversation with Chisom Udeze
In my conversation with Chisom Udeze, an entrepreneur who works with diversity, equity and inclusion, we discuss issues of control and self care. Chisom shares her vulnerability during pregnancy and poignantly reflects back on her experiences a...
Season 2 Ep 2: A conversation with Mavhu Farai Hargrove
Mavhu Farai Hargrove is a Zimbabwean American mother, grandmother, wife, postpartum doula, and educator. In this episode, she shares about her hospital and home births, and during our conversation, Mavhu's passion and commitment to sharing and ...
Poetic interlude 2: Madzitete
This poem is a tribute to my paternal aunts, the strong women who were an example to me and who I now honour. It is a reminder of how we as women need to support each other, how we are torch bearers from generation to generation and how we have...
Season 2 Ep 1: A conversation with Sarifa Moola-Nærnes
My first guest in this second season of my podcast is Sarifa Moola-Nærnes, a South African mother, wife, Anti-racist, Afrikan feminist, Relationship, Teams and Individual Coach, Speaker, Facilitator and Trainer. Sarifa is the founder and ...
Trailer Season 2: Conversations with phenomenal women
The second series of my podcast will build on the reflections I had in the first series, but this time I am having conversations with women I admire and respect. I am not speaking to well-known celebrities, but to women like you and me, women w...
Episode 16: Keeping your baby close pt 2: Baby wearing
This is the last episode in the first series of this podcast. I continue my reflections on the importance of keeping our babies close and cover the topic of 'baby wearing' - or carrying our babies close to our bodies. I discuss the importance o...
Episode 15: Keeping your baby close pt1: Co-sleeping
Getting our babies to sleep or sleeping with our babies is something that I am sure every parent has had to grapple with at some point in their parenting journey, especially in those early postpartum weeks. In this episode, I reflect on c...
Episode 14: Honouring midwives, the unsung heroines
Midwives do a great job to support women during pregnancy and birth, and we often criticize them when things go wrong, or when they do not act as we expect them to. In this episode I reflect on the role of midwives, the challenges they face and...
Episode 13: Celebrating the mother
In this episode, I reflect on the celebration that we have during pregnancy called the baby shower, why we do this, and what it has become. I present an alternative way to celebrate the mother or mother-to-be, the mother blessing ceremony or ri...
Episode 12: Dealing with loss during pregnancy
In this episode, I reflect on a difficult topic - loss. Losing a baby during pregnancy or birth is one of the most difficult and painful things we can experience. It is also something that is not much talked about - women tend not to share thei...
Episode 11: What do we do now? The postpartum period
The postpartum period, that time from when your child is born to up to when he or she is about 8 weeks old, can be challenging. Usually, we focus so much on pregnancy and birth and assume that once we have made it through labour everything else...
Episode 10: Falling in love...
In this episode I reflect on what happens in the third stage of birth with the delivery of the placenta and the cutting of the umbilical cord. We dont often think about or pay too much attention to these processes because once our baby's ...
Episode 9: Birth your way III: The Grand Finale
As I celebrate publishing my 10 episode, I conclude the short series of episodes that I called 'Birth your way' with what I call the grand finale! This, as you may guess, is about what happens as your baby is about to enter the world. My ...
Episode 8: Birth your way II: Let go and let flow!
Birth is often characterized by images of pain and tension, especially based on what is portrayed in movies or on TV. How we can transform this narrative for ourselves and learn to let go and flow with this natural process? In this episode, I w...
Episode 7: Birth your way I - preparing your body
In this episode, I reflect on how we can prepare our bodies for birth. I present the analogy of labour as similar to running a marathon and how we should not approach this transformational but challenging undertaking unprepared. I share some of...