Birth Agni
This Podcast explores how indigenously Birth has always unfolded, among women - our tribe, where children could see how breastfeeding was done and how birth happened. This an attempt to fetch the stories of the past as well as bring out the new India’s Birth culture to expose the defining features in both. This shall join the dots to where the increasing problems of postpartum anxiety, rising rate of surgical births and poor breastfeeding outcomes are coming from.
Birth Agni - Agni meaning Fire, the Fire that brings us alive, transforms us and has the ability to burn. Birth is designed to affect a woman’s integrity. It is the fire of awakening that makes her life experience wholesome. Deep down her body knows what Birth is supposed to feel - a euphoria of bringing a new life on Earth. The cocktail of hormones are designed to give her a high.
However, birth today has quickly swayed away from a phase of joy to the one marked by Fear, the constant questioning of a woman’s capacity to Birth naturally and the ugly calculation of the odds of a healthy baby at the expense of the mother’s health. We forget that their health is interlinked and flourish as a dyad. In India, the urban rate of Cesarean Sections on an average until 2020 is a whopping 40% which is concerning.
Birth is linked to Patriarchy, Healthcare Politics and Women’s Rights. Respect in Birth is long due to women and it affects the core of who they are.
Join me Divya Kapoor, a Certified Birth and Lactation Counselor and aspiring Traditional Birth Attendant in the quest to shine light on what we can do as parents and a community to change the narrative.
Episodes
154 episodes
Announcement : Season 2026 - Home Birth | Pregnancy Series
Three weeks into February, in the soft glow of postpartum, our host, Divya shares a tender life update : welcoming her son in the quiet hours of December after a birth she deeply cherishes. Supported by her husband, daughter, and doula, this ex...
#152 - Surabhi 's Birth Story | Glucose IV | Self Acceptance | Placenta Birth
Note - This is the last episode of the year 2025We will be back in 2026! Happy festivities!Part II of Surabhi's birth story takes you through her journey of labor and birth. Discussion point...
#151- Surabhi and Darshan's Birth Preparation | Advocacy at a Birth Center
In this conversation, Surabhi Shekhar, founder Gubbi Gudu, women’s wellness specialist, prenatal/postnatal yoga guide, and do...
#150 - Pregnancy at 40: Myths, Facts, and Real Stories
Ever wondered why the age of 35 suddenly becomes this big red sign in conversations about pregnancy? In this episode, we discuss fertility and the age of a woman’s egg.We will understand biology of what actually happen...
#149 - Oxytocin and its profound role in Pregnancy , Labor, Birth and Breastfeeding with Dr Sarah Buckley
Oxytocin is a hormone whose effects on the body are hugely celebrated yet largely unknown. Dr Sarah Buckley's work on Oxytocin has extensive insights into how it affects women in pregnancy and birth.Focus pointsThe Oxy...
#148 - Traditional midwifery , regulations and midwifery care for plus sized women with Maryn Green and Margo from the Indie Birth Association
Series: Midwives around the worldWhat is traditionally midwifery and what do midwives have to say about Birth work, licensure and the shifting dynamics among birthworkers. As a pregnant couple listening to this episode you wi...
#147 - Birth and Inner Work for Parents and Birth Workers with Reba Daniel
Birth work is a complex territory. It is coming together of an expecting family with a birth worker and they work together with consistent dialogue about the changing desires and needs of a family and in Reba , our guest's words, the line or bo...
#146 - The road to Free Birthing with Sarah Schmid
Sarah Schmid is a medical doctor, author, and mother of ten children. Nine of her children, including a set of twins, were born in planned unassisted home births. For many years, she has been active online in various ways on the topics of self-...
#145: Our Gateway into menarche and essence of childbirth the spiritual container
What if we learnt that our menstrual cycles were a tool for growth. It is something that makes us women special and powerful. If we are looking at helping women see the Shakti or the power in themselves, the road begins at
#144 - Fertility and The Traditional Chinese Medicine with Nicole Lange, founder LifeHealingLife | IVF | PCOS
There was a news article recently that said India’s fertility rate is down , First dip in two years. Generally , we are all observing a rise in the need for fertility as well. More and more IVF clinics and centers are coming along.&...
#143 - Part II Kriti's Birth Story - the story of surrender to inner calling | Meconium | Self Directed Birth | Inner Strength
This is the story of Kriti's Labor and Birth and how they made the decisions moving through each phase. The highlight of the story is 'Self direction' . It is not important where you really birth, what is important at the core of it all is how ...
#142 - Part I - Why Kriti Chose a Home Birth – Her Pregnancy Story
Kriti and Ashish left behind a city life to build a farm and live in a remote village - all because it meant a slower life of connection. "We would not have had a baby had we been in the city", Kriti says and then goes on to share h...
#141 - Postpartum Depression - my experience - Retake
Postnatal Depression - My experience...This is a Retake of the first episode of Birth Agni, postpartum depression, because it is an important discussion area. It’s me, vulnerable, traumatised by the Birth experience , cornered i...
#140 - Releasing Fear in Birth - The Hypnobirthing Approach with Katharine Graves , founder KGhypnobirthing
Fear and birth—two words that often get tangled together. Katharine Graves, an internationally recognised hypnobirthing expert and trainer , founder of KGhypnobirthing takes...
#139 - Birth then and Now - 40 years of difference in the Indian Maternity Care with seasoned Birth Educator, author and former journalist Nutan Lakhanpal Pandit
Nutan L Pandit has been teaching birth preparation since 1978.Back then, the Indian birth scene was very different. Nutan aunty gave birth using breathwork taught by a foreigner —...
#138 - Best way to Interview your Doula, Birthkeeper, Midwife
Choosing the right doula, midwife, or birthkeeper for your birth journey is more than just credentials and experience — it’s about alignment. In this episode, we walk you through a heart-centered approach to choosing your birth team.
#137 - Aishwarya's VBAC Birth Story at a Birth Center
VBACs are often dreaded in the medical system. Birth Centers are open to supporting them. This story is about a successful VBAC in a birth center, yes, but its not just that. It is about a woman trying to find her way back to hersel...
#136 - VBACs - Do you have a choice? Risk of Uterine Rupture
Once a Cesarean , always a Cesarean - you must have also heard this common notion. Fortunately, this is far from truth. Yet , So many women feel cornered and helpless when they become pregnant again, like the decision ha...
#135 - Miscarriage and Preventive use of Progestrone
A Listener reached out sharing her regret over taking Progestrone the first time around, reason Age 35+Women are given progestrone in Pregnancy routinely for the following reasons:Bleeding in Current PregnancyHistory...
#134 - Natural Pain Relief - What they do not teach you in traditional Birth Classes - The Embedded Gift
The Embedded Gift of Pain Relief is the name I have given to the very foundation you need first in your laboring journey, without which no pain relief technique works efficiently.<...
#133 - The Painless Delivery Promise- Why it is not what you think!
Painless delivery’ sounds reassuring, but it’s often misleading. The truth is what’s sold as painless birth is often false advertising. Parents are rarely told about the downsides, or how numbing all sensation can actually interfere with birth....
#132 - The uncomfortable truth behind the current condition of the Indian Maternal System with Dr Uplabdh
What’s really driving birth practices in India today? In this episode, we pull back the curtain on the Indian medical system—where convenience often takes priority over physiology, and where C-sections are rising not always because of necessity...
#131- What No One Tells You About Ultrasounds in Pregnancy
Ultrasounds have become a routine part of modern pregnancy care — but how much do we really know about their origins, benefits, risks, and accuracy? We’ve all been told that ultrasounds are just a normal part of pregnancy — a way to “see the ba...
#130 - Shilpi's home birth story- meconium, true knot and a geriatric pregnancy.
Shilpi was guided into a home birth through various channels — one of them being how the medical system was too keen to label hers as a geriatric pregnancy and potentially schedule her into a surgery.Often, women over 35 are labelled as ...
#129 - Too Big to Birth, or too small a pelvis? The Truth About CPD in Indian Hospitals
In this episode, we discuss one of the most commonly used—and misused—reasons for cesarean in India: Cephalopelvic Disproportion (CPD), or the claim that a woman’s pelvis is “too small” for her baby’s head.We dig into:...