In this episode, I sit down with Charlotte - a former client (and now close friend) whose birth unfolded in the most instinctive, powerful way imaginable. After navigating trauma from her first birth, Charlotte spent her second pregnancy rebuilding trust in her body, questioning the system, and reclaiming her voice.

What began as a plan for a home birth with midwives became an “accidental” (but not so accidental) freebirth - a calm, intuitive experience that showed just how deeply a woman’s body knows what to do when she feels safe and supported.

We talk about debriefing birth trauma, the illusion of control in the maternity system, what it means to birth in full autonomy, and the quiet strength that comes from doing the internal work - not just learning techniques, but truly believing you can do it.

Charlotte’s story is one of reclamation, power, and pure physiological birth - the kind that reminds us why women deserve to be trusted.

✨ Download the My Pocket Doula App® – your go-to guide for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum support

👩‍🍼 Work with me 1:1 or explore birth prep options

📸 Follow on Instagram: @journeyaheaddoula

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What if your body already knows how to grow, carry, and birth your baby - and chiropractic care simply helps you remember that?

In this episode, I’m joined by Sally, The Pregnancy Chiropractor, to talk all things alignment, balance, and body connection in pregnancy. We dive into what chiropractic care actually involves (it’s gentler than you think), how it supports your pelvis, ligaments, and nervous system, and why so many pregnant people notice improved comfort, better sleep, and even smoother births after regular adjustments.

Whether you’re navigating back pain, pelvic tension, or just want to feel more at home in your body as it changes, this conversation will give you insight into how aligned structure leads to easeful function — and how your spine and nervous system can be your secret superpower for birth.

Tune in to learn:

• How chiropractic care supports the body through pregnancy
• The connection between alignment, comfort, and optimal foetal positioning
• Common myths (and what’s actually true) about seeing a chiropractor in pregnancy
• Practical ways to work with your body, not against it

👩‍🍼 Book treatment and sessions with Sally

📸 Follow on Instagram: The Pregnancy Chiropractor

✨ Download the My Pocket Doula App® – your go-to guide for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum support

👩‍🍼 Work with me 1:1 or explore birth prep options

📸 Follow on Instagram: @journeyaheaddoula

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I sit down with Chloe to talk about her intuitive freebirth - a powerful, grounded, and deeply self-led experience. Chloe shares how she prepared for birth by protecting her energy, following her instincts, and embracing her neurodivergence as a source of wisdom rather than a challenge to overcome.

Together, we explore what it means to find true safety in birth, how intuition can guide decision-making when logic runs out of road, and the quiet power of saying “no” to what doesn’t feel right. Chloe’s story moves from careful preparation to a semi-planned freebirth - and the calm, instinctive trust that carried her through it all.

This conversation is a reminder that birth doesn’t need to look one way to be powerful. It’s about self-trust, sovereignty, and the unshakeable knowing that you and your baby already have everything you need.

✨ Download the My Pocket Doula App® – your go-to guide for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum support

👩‍🍼 Work with me 1:1 or explore birth prep options

📸 Follow on Instagram: @journeyaheaddoula

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this powerful episode of The Journey Ahead, I sit down with the legendary Dr Sarah Buckley - GP, researcher, author, and one of the most trusted global voices in the birth world. We dive deep into the hormonal blueprint of labour and birth: what it is, why it matters, and how it’s often disrupted by well-meaning (but poorly evidenced) interventions. Dr Buckley shares the science behind oxytocin, the cascade of hormonal physiology, and how to support this process, even when the birth you planned takes a different turn.

We explore:

• The role of hormones in labour, birth, and bonding
• How interventions (even common ones) can shift the physiological flow
• The long-term impact of disrupted birth experiences
• What you can do when you’re navigating birth in a system that doesn’t always honour physiology
• How knowledge, advocacy, and environment can help you reclaim your power

Whether you're planning a home birth, navigating hospital policies, or just want to feel more connected to your body's innate wisdom - this episode is a must-listen.

Dr Sarah Buckley is a globally renowned GP/family physician, academic researcher, and author known for her groundbreaking work on the hormonal physiology of birth.

She is the author of the bestselling book Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering, and the lead author of the landmark report Hormonal Physiology of Childbearing, widely considered one of the most influential publications on maternity care to date.

Her work bridges science, anthropology, and intuition, encouraging women and birthing people to be fully informed, trust their bodies, and reclaim their innate power in pregnancy, birth, and parenting. With over 25 years of experience writing and speaking on pregnancy, birth, and early parenting, Dr Buckley’s work has been published and translated worldwide. She is currently completing a PhD on oxytocin and the impact of interventions on hormonal physiology at the University of Queensland.

To explore more of Dr Buckley's work:

🌐 www.sarahbuckley.com

📖 Get the book: Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering

✨ Download the My Pocket Doula App® – your go-to guide for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum support

👩‍🍼 Work with me 1:1 or explore birth prep options

📸 Follow on Instagram: @journeyaheaddoula

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Having avidly listened to every episode and completed both Katie's lactation courses, when it came to creating a breastfeeding preparation episode I knew who would be the perfect expert to bring into the room.

In this week's episode we chat about the importance of real support and community when embarking on your feeding journey, the basics we can go back to when we're finding things challenging, and how we can stand in our power when things don't quite go to plan. Katie is a wonderful guest and had me chuckling several times (sorry to your ears about that) and I feel like this is a must-listen episode for those who are pregnant and preparing to breastfeed.

Katie James has been a midwife for 25 years, an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) for 18, she’s also the host and creator of the podcasts The Midwives’ Cauldron and The Feeding Couch.

Katie has worked in a variety of settings from hospital, homebirth, and community midwifery. Katie has worked supporting all areas of breastfeeding and lactation including with families of small and vulnerable babies in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Katie has a passion for education and has enjoyed teaching students, midwives doctors and doulas; as well of thousands of pregnant women and parents; basically, anyone who will listen to her talk about the marvels of breastfeeding, lactation and human milk!

(Katie currently spends her working time creating two podcasts, hosting online lactation and breastfeeding courses for birth workers or parents-to-be, and providing lactation consultations globally.)

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The Feeding Couch Podcast

The Midwives' Cauldron Podcast

Katie offers courses and one-to-one consultations.

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Resilience

Disappointment

Worry

Intuition

Medicalised birth

and everything in between.

It's no secret that there's a whole lot of fearmongering in the birth world, abut every person's story deserves a voice. There's a lot of power in people's stories and I'm passionate about keeping things real. Serious medical complications are rare, but when they happen how amazing that we have so many talented specialists at our disposal.

Placental abruption is an incredibly rare complication in pregnancy and birth, impacting between 0.4–1% pregnancies, based on the data that does exist. It is the early separation of the placenta from the lining of the uterus before the baby has been born. Its etiology is still not fully understood yet, and because it happens rarely, it is hard to predict.

But what happens when you're in that 0.4-1% of people, how do you act? How does it feel? What do you do?

Kirsten generously shares her experience today of her dream homebirth turned c-section, and the factors that proved invaluable as she moved through this experience. We discuss the feelings of disappointment and grief when our birth experience doesn't follow the path that we really wanted it to, but also the powerful and life affirming things we can take away from these experiences. The key one... maternal intuition.

See this as a further sign to connect with your instincts, the feelings in your body and start that process of connecting with your gut. Maternal instincts and intuition are a consistent theme that comes up in people's stories time and time again, and ultimately was Kirsten's biggest tool in her birth tool box.

A huge thanks for Kirsten (and indirectly her partner John) for sharing their experience.

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When I say how much of this podcast I had to edit out before we actually got to our chat, I’m not joking when I say I had to cut out half of it. From CBD lube chat, Dubai life, grief pep chats and so much more – there’s nothing that doesn’t come up when I’m chatting to this wonderful human.

Sara and I met through Lisa Sykes – a business coach in the birth and early parenting world. Sara is an absolute powerhouse of a woman, and I feel so grateful to have met her on this journey of building our businesses and supporting expectant and new parents.

Sara is a play therapist, psych teacher, mum, entrepreneur to just name a few of the strings to her bow. She founded The Lifestage Lab in the last couple of years, which offers no-nonsense tips, tools & strategy to help parents and educators manage challenging behaviour & fuel kid’s social and emotional growth with expert precision. In the episode we explore what happens to an infant brain in those all important early years, and bust some myths about how to best support your little one.

With foundations structured in psychological, therapeutic & educational insights, The Lifestage Lab approach is dedicated to empowering adults to unlock new perspectives & find their inner powerhouse to not only tackle those life-stage challenges, but propel the development and wellbeing of kids and young people.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone who will be spending time with your baby – it’s a brilliant opportunity to relearn what is biologically normal behaviour for babies and little ones, and how our adult world makes us doubt what is driving us on a deeper physical and emotional level.

A big thank you to Sara for her knowledge, expertise and time. If you’d like to explore more about working with Sara (which I’d HIGHLY recommend), you can catch all of her links below.

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When I worked with Cesca and her husband Ed last year, I knew the chances of them having a positive experience were highly likely. After sadly going through a miscarriage prior to this pregnancy, Cesca was more determined than ever to be present, make informed choices and work with her body. Her experience of giving birth in her local hospital was just that - one which she felt powerful and positive.

We also explore her decision to decline augmentation of labour after her waters went and labour didn't start immediately, as well as how she handled a 'long' early labour phase. Only two weeks into her early motherhood journey, Cesca sadly lost her dad suddenly and this sent her world into unchartered territory. In this podcast episode, she open-heartedly shares how breastfeeding was a huge source of comfort as she navigated her baby blues, postpartum recovery and those early days of grief.

I'm very grateful that she (and Ed, indirectly) has been so open in sharing her experience and the ways in which antenatal preparation and hypnobirthing helped her achieve an experience which she feels positive about.

It's just how powerful working with your body and trusting your instincts can be! This story is also a testament to how it is possible to have a positive experience within the hospital environment, and how knowledge can help you feel calm and in control during moments of perceived 'emergency'. Cesca also felt the support she received from her caregivers was really positive, how her choices were respected, and this again may be of comfort to those who are choosing to have a hospital birth.

Thanks again to Ed and Cesca for giving me the trust to share their story with the wider world.

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