Most parents have heard that breastfeeding is beneficial. What far fewer understand is why those first feedings matter so much, what colostrum does beyond nutrition, and how early feeding choices shape the gut microbiome, immune system, and long-term health.

Today, we’re joined by Dr. Rhonda Trust, PhD, registered dietitian, professor of health communication, and longtime breastfeeding educator, for a conversation about newborn gut health, colostrum, skin-to-skin contact, formula supplementation, and the larger systems influencing infant feeding decisions.

We talk about what happens when babies receive formula in the hospital before breastfeeding is established, why nutrition education is still surprisingly limited in conventional medical training, and how formula marketing continues to shape the messaging parents receive.

We also get into donor milk, birth mode, bacterial transfer, and why the newborn microbiome is about far more than digestion.

We discuss:

• What colostrum actually does in the newborn gut
• Why the first feeding matters differently from feeding decisions made later
• How skin-to-skin contact helps establish a healthy microbiome
• Why formula is so often introduced before breastfeeding is fully supported
• The connection between gut health, immune development, and chronic illness
• Why many pediatricians receive limited breastfeeding and nutrition education
• The role of donor milk when breastfeeding isn’t immediately possible
• How modern infant feeding culture became so disconnected from biology

If you’ve ever been told “a little formula won’t hurt,” or wondered why the first few days matter so much, this episode provides much food for thought.

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In today’s episode, we take on a question many women think about but don’t always say out loud: should your mother be at your birth?

We share listener voicemails from women who made very different choices. Some had their mothers in the room, some kept them close by but not present for the birth, and others chose not to include them at all.

It’s a candid, interesting conversation that gets into what shapes that decision and why it can feel more complicated than you might expect, even in close, supportive relationships.

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Access our workshops: Have a Physiologic Birth in the Hospital and Ultrasound: The Research vs Rhetoric

Needed <-- for 20% off
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Call 802-GET-DOWN.
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In today's episode, we sat with Ontario couple Jessica and Aaron, who share the birth story of their first child. Jessica's pregnancy included several key decision points, including whether to accept RhoGAM and how to approach care and manage the expectations of their loved ones as they moved well past their due date -- nearly 3 weeks past!

They describe how they evaluated risk, navigated recommendations, and remained aligned as a couple under increasing pressure, while working with a midwifery team that respected informed consent.

This episode examines how risk is framed in pregnancy, how provider–patient dynamics influence decision-making, and what it looks like to stay grounded in your choices through the final weeks of a post-term pregnancy.

Access our workshop: How to Have a Physiologic Birth in the Hospital

Access our workshop: Ultrasound: The Research and the Rhetoric

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Send us Fan Mail

Access our workshops: Have a Physiologic Birth in the Hospital and Ultrasound: The Research vs Rhetoric

Needed <-- for 20% off
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Primally Pure Skincare: Use code DOWNTOBIRTH
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Call 802-GET-DOWN.
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Happy Spring! And welcome to the May Q&A!

We start with a listener email we loved, followed by a discussion on creativity and why it matters, especially in the early years of motherhood when it can feel completely out of reach.

Then we get into your questions.

We talk about postpartum hemorrhage and how it’s defined, including whether 500 cc of blood loss is truly cause for concern, and the use of Pitocin and Cytotec in that context, particularly for VBAC mothers. We also revisit RhoGAM and walk through when it may or may not be necessary, especially if you’re not planning future pregnancies.

One listener asks how to handle being the only one in the family making different choices around birth and parenting. We share our thoughts on boundaries, restraint, and when saying less is often the stronger position.

In quickies, we cover induction at 42 weeks, complete placenta previa, vitamin D for breastfed babies, pelvic floor therapy access, low libido in pregnancy, newborn weight checks, birth combs, and how to get through the third trimester in the summer.

Finally, when one fan asked our opinion on which of us may be the better driver, one of us shares an old story of getting a reckless driving ticket!

Access our workshop: How to Have a Physiologic Birth in the Hospital

Access our workshop: Ultrasound: The Research and the Rhetoric

**********

Send us Fan Mail

Access our workshops: Have a Physiologic Birth in the Hospital and Ultrasound: The Research vs Rhetoric

Needed <-- for 20% off
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Primally Pure Skincare: Use code DOWNTOBIRTH
Postpartum Soothe: Use code DOWNTOBIRTH
ENERGYBits Superfood<--for 20% off
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Call 802-GET-DOWN.
Watch us on YouTube! Please note we don’t provide medical advice.

In today's episode, Kristina shares her breech birth story following a long journey marked by cycle irregularities, miscarriage, and difficulty conceiving. At 40 weeks, she learned that her baby was breech and was scheduled for a C-section, despite having been told throughout pregnancy that the baby was head down.

Unwilling to move forward with surgery, Kristina sought out an alternative and ultimately found a physician in Connecticut willing to support a hospital-based vaginal breech birth. She describes the pressure she faced from both her care team and loved ones, the process of transferring care late in pregnancy, and the decisions she made to stay aligned with her instincts.

This episode offers a detailed look at late breech diagnosis, informed refusal, and the realities of navigating hospital-based breech birth. Kristina also shares what she would do differently and what this experience taught her about trust, decision-making, and preparation.

Send us Fan Mail

Access our workshops: Have a Physiologic Birth in the Hospital and Ultrasound: The Research vs Rhetoric

Needed <-- for 20% off
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In today’s episode, Cynthia and Trisha are joined once again by Nancy Wainer, award-winning author, longtime home birth midwife, and the woman who coined the term VBAC in her 1980s book Silent Knife. With decades of experience supporting women through vaginal birth after cesarean, Nancy brings clarity to a conversation that is shaped by fear, false information, and shifting medical standards.

This episode is part free-flowing conversation and part Q&A, where we take listener questions and explore them in depth. We cover topics including delayed postpartum hemorrhage after cesarean, uterine rupture, scar thickness, “uterine windows,” closely-spaced pregnancies, doulas in a home birth setting, and VBAC with twins or breech babies. We also look at the common reasons women are given for repeat C-sections and where those claims hold up and where they don’t.

We wrap with Quickies and a personal question Nancy's never been asked.

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Access our workshops: Have a Physiologic Birth in the Hospital and Ultrasound: The Research vs Rhetoric

Needed <-- for 20% off
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In today's episode, we speak with Stephanie about her stillborn daughter, Penelope, who arrived at 39 weeks and 6 days. After two healthy births and a completely uneventful third pregnancy, Stephanie found herself facing the unthinkable: an awareness of no fetal movement, confirmed by a silent Doppler and finally a hospital ultrasound. What followed was labor induction, birth, and the impossibility of leaving the hospital without her baby, riding home with her innocently cheerful toddlers in the car.

Next came shock and denial, pleading with God, managing her milk coming in, and experiencing an isolation so extreme that even a friend of fifteen years told Stephanie she couldn't handle maintaining a friendship in the face of something so grave. Stephanie also reflects on the impact to her equally-devastated husband, the family members who ranged from phenomenal to absent, and facing the disorienting task of caring for her two children while grieving a third. To this day, Stephanie grapples with how to answer the question mothers usually enjoy: "How many children do you have?"

Our conversation later turns to grief, faith, 'God winks' that seem to show up everywhere as signs of her daughter's love and presence, and Stephanie's evolving sense of peace, even hope and eagerness, as she looks toward continuing to expand her family.

**********

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Access our workshops: Have a Physiologic Birth in the Hospital and Ultrasound: The Research vs Rhetoric

Needed <-- for 20% off
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Call 802-GET-DOWN.
Watch us on YouTube! Please note we don’t provide medical advice.

Welcome to the April Q&A with Cynthia and Trisha! Today, we begin with a conversation about one of the most personal questions women face: is there a best age to have children? We talk about the pressures around timing, fertility, career, and spacing, and why this is one of those decisions that depends entirely on the individual woman, her life, and what feels right to her.

Next, we get into your questions, starting with a mother who experienced a very fast labor and wants to know if precipitous birth can be prevented and how to better handle it mentally if it happens again. Another listener shares her experience of a difficult pushing stage that resulted in ruptured blood vessels in her eyes and a long recovery from an anal fissure, and asks what she may have done wrong. We talk about why women so often assume fault in these situations and what actually influences outcomes in the pushing stage. We also address pregnancy weight gain, how much control women really have over it, and whether calorie restriction or tracking has any place in pregnancy.

As always, we close with a round of quickies covering the purple line in labor, nursing to sleep, deciding whether to have a second child, ways to reduce the risk of preeclampsia, tips for managing morning sickness, hand pumping while breastfeeding, long first labors, frequent night waking, evening milk supply, shoulder dystocia, and more.

Thank you for your excellent questions and please continue to call them in to our hotline at 802-438-3696 or 802-GET-DOWN.

**********

Send us Fan Mail

Access our workshops: Have a Physiologic Birth in the Hospital and Ultrasound: The Research vs Rhetoric

Needed <-- for 20% off
DrinkLMNT <-- for FREE 8-day supply
Primally Pure Skincare: Use code DOWNTOBIRTH
Postpartum Soothe: Use code DOWNTOBIRTH
ENERGYBits Superfood<--for 20% off
Join Patreon here
IG @downtobirthshow

Call 802-GET-DOWN.
Watch us on YouTube! Please note we don’t provide medical advice.