Surrendered Birth Stories: Your Christian Birth Story Podcast
Let’s explore the amazing world of birth together! Listen for inspiring birth stories and intriguing teachings to expand your knowledge surrounding pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and postpartum life. Each soul-stirring episode is full of heart, passion, and practicality. Join me in this diverse mix of teachings and interviews with real moms and professional birth workers as we seek to more fully understand how God has designed early motherhood and the beginning of life!
Episodes
162 episodes
159: Rejecting The Enemy's Lies About Birth (Home Birth, Natural Birth, Postpartum Complications) [with Patricia Eastman]
Growing up Patricia said she would never get married and never have children. Living in the secular world she had bought into the enemy’s lies that childbirth was scary, that children were a burden, that they would hold you back, cost a lot of ...
158: When Postpartum Is Harder Than Giving Birth (Birth Center Birth, Wrongful Diagnosis, Meconium Aspiration) [with John & Makenzie Payne]
As a first time mom, Mackenzie’s pregnancy and labor were relatively smooth. A long early labor, yes, and a later gestation, but a quick active labor and a very quick pushing stage, although that part was forced upon her. For Makenzie and John,...
157: God Will Lead You Through The Tough Stuff - Part 2 (Home Birth, Natural Birth) [with Rebekah Watkins]
After a very poor experience at the hospital with her first baby, Rebekah would be choosing home birth from this point on. She did not want a repeat of her first birth and especially her first postpartum. Thankfully, she was able to find a home...
156: The Birth Was Painless But The Experience Wasn't - Part 1 (Hospital Birth, Natural Birth, Shoulder Dystocia) [with Rebekah Watkins]
When your husband is a paramedic and you watch lots of birth videos, what else is there to need going into your first unmedicated birth, and a hospital birth at that? Well, while Rebekah’s first labor went quickly and smoothly, the actual deliv...
155: Miscarriage Support Is a Lost Art, But It Doesn't Have To Be (Miscarriage, Infant Loss, Faith Journey) [with Abigail Johnston]
Have you ever experienced a miscarriage or know somebody who has? What do you do? What practical support options are out there? Today, we talk about just that! Unfortunately, in this day and age, miscarriage is a common occurrence, over 1 in 4 ...
154: God's Will For Your Birth Can Look Different Each Time (Hashimotos, Natural Birth, Hospital Birth) [with Miriam Jussila]
When your mom has had six natural births, five of which were in the hospital, and one home birth that wasn’t actually a great experience, it’s only natural that you’d want to have a hospital birth. SO when Miriam got pregnant with her first, th...
153: Navigating the Surprises of Pregnancy with Grace (Hospital Birth, Home Birth, Twins) [with Kelli Ford]
Kelli was anticipating a beautiful, unmedicated hospital birth for her first, but an assumed diagnosis of cholestasis would have her being induced on pitocin and change all of her plans. Next time she was anticipating the same outcome, but than...
152: How Postpartum Complications Strengthen Your Faith (Hospital Birth, Natural Birth, Infant Illness) [with Scotlyn Harrison]
A lot of second time moms think they have a longer labor ahead of them than they actually do…and it was no different for Scotlyn when her labor zoomed by and nobody made it to the labor and delivery room before her daughter was born, not even S...
151: Prepping For Birth Physically and Spiritually (First-Time Mom, Natural Birth, Healthy Living)
When you’re planning on getting pregnant in advance, making sure your body is healthy and nourished can truly be to your advantage. That’s what Susan did before attempting to conceive her son, and the Lord blessed her with a quick conception an...
150: DOULA DIARIES -- 3rd Edition (Crazy Birth Soundtracks, OB Drama, and Beginner Doula Mistakes)
What did you listen to when you were in labor? What calmed you down? Or...what pumped you up?! Also...today we dive into a story of the ridiculousness of some OB's, but also the supernatural power of God! And lastly, inductions. So many of them...
149: Discovering That Motherhood Is Ministry (Home Birth, Breech Birth, Natural Birth) [with David and Tesia Hoffman]
Can you praise God in the storm? Can you praise God when thing after thing after thing is going wrong, or not going how we wanted or thought it would go? Will you still praise Him? Will you trust Him? Be inspired in your faith as you listen to ...
148: How Your Faith Can Reduce Stress In Pregnancy (Home Birth, First-Time Mom) [with Mitch and Angeline Bestenlehner]
When you get to marry a chiropractor…you’re going to want to have a home birth! And that’s just what happened for Angeline when she married Mitch. Thankfully she didn’t have to convince him to get on board with a home birth like a lot of other ...
147: The Joys and Difficulties of Becoming A Mom (First-Time Mom, Hospital Birth, Breastfeeding) [with Emily Kelly]
As a first-time mom, things were going very smoothly for Emily. After getting pregnant quickly, she wanted and planned and prepared for an unmedicated hospital birth. She took a great in-depth class, read books and hired a doula. Then during a ...
146: The Hidden Consequences of Trying To Control Your Birth (Infertility, IVF, Endometriosis) [with Inara MacKay]
Sometimes it takes several births to learn what God has been trying to teach you all along-that His ways are above our ways, that His plans are better than our plans, and that if we would just sink into that promise and let go of the reigns, th...
145: Defeating Anxiety in Pregnancy, Postpartum, and Motherhood [with Taylor Hayes]
Have you ever been anxious about having a miscarriage once conceiving? What about the results of an ultrasound that said something other than what you expected to hear? Have you ever been anxious approaching labor, unsure how you were going to ...
144: Make Sure You Trust Your Birth Care Provider (Natural Birth, Home Birth, Water Birth) [with Aileeah Colgan]
At 18 years old, before you’re ready to start a family, you’re told that you have cancer and that you’ll have a very hard time getting pregnant one day so you should just plan on doing IVF. Then, you find out that your test results got mixed up...
143: Labor and the Fruit of the Spirit (Infertility, IVF, Hospital Birth) [with Morgan Mathis]
What would it be like to hold your baby girl in your arms for the first time after 6+ years of struggling with infertility? Nothing short of a miracle! While Morgan and her husband were so incredibly grateful for God’s gift of their daughter, t...
142: How First-Time Parents Can Be Best Equipped For Birth (First Baby, Natural Birth, Hospital Birth) [with George & Emily Sandridge]
Most first-time moms who are planning a hospital birth arrive at the hospital too early, and some of them even get sent home, which can be incredibly defeating as a laboring woman wanting so badly to meet her baby. Thankfully, Emily made some r...
141: Hold Your Birth Plan Loosely, But Not Your Convictions (Home Birth, Hospital Transfer, Natural Birth) [with Jennifer Plemmons]
When you’ve already had 3 babies and 2 home births, you plan to have your next baby at home as well. But what do you do when your water unexpectedly breaks and there’s thick meconium in it? You have a decision to make. Do you decide to stay at ...
140: You Should Marry a Husband Who... [with Kayla Heeter]
This episode is dedicated to my husband, Chris Heeter. He's legitimately the GOAT (and he also taught me what the GOAT meant)! He turned 40 this weekend and I wanted to take the time to celebrate HIM! So this episode is all about how amazing of...
139: A Godly Perspective Leads to a Surrendered Birth (Hospital Birth, C-Section, Postpartum Euphoria) [with Kayla Steele]
How do you know you’re pregnant without taking a pregnancy test? How about God simply tells you that you are. That’s the kind of trust and faith that Kayla had with the Lord from the start of her pregnancy, and it would carry her throughout the...
138: A Birth Advocate In A Hospital Setting Is A Must (First-Time Mom, Hospital Birth, Induction) [with Amelia Williams]
Sometimes all it takes is one person’s recommendation and you taking it to change your perspective on everything. That’s what happened to Amelia when she read Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth. So she went on to hire a doula and plan a natural chil...
137: Triumph Over Trauma & the Power of Birth Support - Pt. 2 (Hospital Birth, Natural Birth) [with Kathleen Jones]
When Kathleen was pregnant for the second time, she was understandably anxious about the impending delivery, but this time, per her therapist’s recommendation, decided to hire a doula and went to a different hospital to deliver, and her journey...
136: Keeping Faith Amidst A Traumatic Birth - Pt. 1 (Hospital Birth, First-Time Mom, Birth Trauma) [with Kathleen Jones]
When you get sent home from the hospital during your first labor because you're only 1.5cm dilated and told you’re in early labor, it can be quite confusing to know when to come back. Poor Kathleen ended up laboring all alone, all night long, t...
135: DOULA DIARIES -- Volume 2 (Delayed Cord Clamping, Amnio Infusion, Unplanned Home Birth)
Today we'll dive into three more birth stories from my time as a doula. I'll walk you through what it was like for me to support these moms during their labors. First up is the story of the very first birth I ever attended as a doula in trainin...