The birth-ed podcast

Episódios

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  Giving Birth In A High-Intervention System with Guests Sheena Byrom OBE and Professor Soo Downe 10.08.2026 50min

  Intervention rates have climbed so fast in UK maternity care that it is hard not to ask a blunt question: is all this doing what it promised to do? I sit down with Sheena Byrom, OBE and Professor Soo Downe to explore what has changed over the last decade, why fear now feels baked into the system, and how a laser-focus on a narrow set of outcomes can quietly create new harms such as birth trauma, postpartum haemorrhage, and worsening postnatal mental health. Stillbirth rates have fallen...
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  'Evidence-Based' Maternity Care: Limits, Bias, and How to Navigate It with Guest, Midwife Beth Russell 10.10.2025 47min

  Think scientific evidence is going to give you a clear a 'best' path forward in your birth decision making? Unfortunately, it's rarely that simple. With midwife Beth Russell, we explore the messy middle where numbers meet lived experience: why absolute risk matters more than scary “your risk doubles” headlines, how studies like the Big Baby Trial get misread, and why nuance changes everything. In this episode you will understand: How 'evidence' is created in the first place.What to cons...
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  Reconciling Caesarean Birth Stories Through Storytelling with Guest Hannah Marsh 03.10.2025 46min

  What happens when your birth experience completely contradicts everything you prepared for? For author Hannah Marsh, an emergency cesarean section after 30 grueling hours of labor left her feeling not just physically scarred, but emotionally devastated. Despite cesarean sections accounting for roughly 43% of UK births today, Hannah found herself woefully unprepared for this possibility – having focused exclusively on hypnobirthing techniques and natural birth preparation. In the years that f...
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  Celebrating the Power of Informed Birth with Guest, Davina McCall 26.09.2025 37min

  Davina McCall joins the Birth-ed Podcast to share her transformative journey from anxious first-time mum to empowered birth advocate. Celebrating the launch of Davina's new book "Birthing," co-written with midwife Marley Henry – a judgment-free guide that supports women through conception, pregnancy, birth and beyond. Davina and I explore what's missing from modern maternity care, celebrate the wonder of pregnancy and birth and empower you to navigate you rbirth choices with confidence and a...
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  SEASON 5 TEASER 23.09.2025 2min

  Season 5 of The Birth-ed Podcast launches THIS WEEK. On Friday 26th September (and every Friday thereafter), we are back with world leading expert guests, heart warming wisdom, fascinating science and the warm hug you need every week during pregnancy! Make sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode, and come join the weekly chats over on Instagram @birth_ed. Sign up to The Birth-ed Method Support the show
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  Optimal Cord Clamping, with Amanda Burleigh 05.07.2024 57min

  When to clamp the cord that leads from placenta to baby has become a contested issue in recent years. Today’s guest, Amanda Burleigh, has fought long and hard to introduce evidence-based practice and advocates delayed cord clamping for better baby health. Amanda talks openly about her personal journey to discover the benefits of delay and how it works in practice. We also bust some myths that women have encountered during delivery, including the facts behind cord blood donation and storage....
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  Positive Hospital Birth, with Lily Brockenhurst 28.06.2024 55min

  Some women choose to labour in hospital, others feel they arrive there through the course of their care. If you find yourself in a delivery suite or labour ward for your birth, this episode aims to help you feel the most comfortable and prepared to be there. I’m speaking to Lily Brockenhurst, a midwife who specialises in holistic care in a hospital setting, about what your expectations should be on a ward, what is in your control, and how you can make your birthing experience a positive one. ...
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  High BMI pregnancy and birth, with Alice Keely 21.06.2024 1h 5min

  Why is so much importance placed on how much you weigh in pregnancy? Is a mother with over 30 BMI really at a high risk of complications in birth? This week, I’m speaking to Alice Keely, the Heavyweight Midwife, about the stigma attached to plus size parents, what to expect in pregnancy and labour if you’ve been labelled high risk, and how to approach interactions with healthcare professionals so that you feel more cared for and in control. Find more from Alice at www.theheavyweightmidwife....
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  Postnatal exercise and bouncing back, with Hollie Grant 14.06.2024 50min

  Our culture surrounds us with pressure to look a certain way and be a certain way, and no more so than after pregnancy. The focus on whether you ‘bounce back’ after birth can be overwhelming. My guest this week challenges us instead to focus on postnatal rehab, functional movement and enjoyment. Hollie Grant is a Pilates PT and founder of The Bump Plan. Together we talk about when you can start moving your body after birth, where to start if it’s been a while, and what to look out for i...
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  Breathwork in pregnancy and beyond, with Carolyn Cowan 07.06.2024 45min

  If you’re a regular listener to the show, or you’ve done a Birth-ed course, you’ll know that I really value breathwork in labour, but I hadn’t realised the calm that breathwork can bring to pregnancy until I read today’s guest’s book. This week I’m talking to Carolyn Cowan, embodied psychotherapist, yoga teacher and author of Breathing for Pregnancy. Carolyn explains why and how conscious breathing works, gives a short breathwork demonstration and shows how to integrate the practice int...
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  C-Section recovery, with Clare Bourne 31.05.2024 58min

  C-section recovery is one of those subjects that is rarely mentioned before you experience it. So this week, I’ve got together with Clare Bourne, a pelvic health physiotherapist, to talk you through what you need to know to recover well. We cover everything from how to get out of bed in those first few hours, to exercise, to long term recovery and scar massage. For more information on Caesarean Sections, see Season 2 Episode 6 - Caesarean Birth with Consultant Obstetrician, Florence W...
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  Birth Centres, with Issy Bourton 24.05.2024 54min

  This episode is essential listening if you’re trying to decide whether to labour in a birth centre or midwife-led unit. I’m exploring everything birth centres, with my friend, midwife, Issy Bourton. Issy and I look at what a birth centre/midwife-led unit is, how your experience there can differ from a hospital birth, what you can expect to happen during your labour, how to request a birth centre labour if you are not low risk, and transferring to a labour ward. For more information abou...
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  Mixed Feeding, with Lucy Ruddle 17.05.2024 53min

  Many parents feel that they have to pick a side on the feeding debate - breast or bottle. But the reality is that often families find themselves a compromise, whether that is adding an occasional bottle to their routine, or switching to formula during the day, and breastfeeds when mum gets home from work. Despite this, information about how to go about mixed or combination feeding has been scarce, until now. My guest this week, Lucy Ruddle IBCLC, is author of a guide to mixed feeding, Mixed U...
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  Candid Birth & Connecting with Your Body, with Emma Armstrong 10.05.2024 51min

  With social media platforms increasingly censoring candid images of birth and women’s bodies, I got together this week with The Naked Doula, Emma Armstrong, to talk about why we need to see real women’s experiences online. Our wide-ranging chat touches on using the correct words for female anatomy in schools, how we set realistic expectations for birth, and how reconnecting with your body through periods, birth and the menopause is truly empowering. Emma Armstrong is a mother, a birth coach...
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  Continuous Foetal HR Monitoring, with Dr Kirsten Small 03.05.2024 1h 11min

  Continuous Foetal Monitoring can be uncomfortable, anxiety-inducing or misleading, but there’s plenty of evidence for its use, right? That’s the question Dr. Kirsten Small set out to answer after her long career in obstetrics. Her research led her to question everything about trace monitoring, from the case for low and high risk differentials to how centralised monitoring changes care in the birth room. In this episode, I’m speaking to Kirsten about her findings, and how you can make an inf...
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  The Birth-ed Method 26.04.2024 20min

  The Birth-ed Method is finally here. After years of supporting 10,000s of families preparing for their births using hypnobirthing, it’s time for birth-ed to wave that chapter goodbye, and introduce- The Birth-ed Method. The 4 pillars of the Birth-ed Method, Mind, Body, Choices & Communication provide you with a deep & holistic preparation for birth and early parenthood. There’s no point in knowing your choices, if you don’t feel confident enough to communicate what you w...
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  Preparing for the 4th Trimester with Host, Megan Rossiter 24.04.2024 20min

  Modern Maternity Care has a tendency to separate conception, pregnancy, birth, feeding & parenting. But there is a thread that runs from one through to another. The choices you make and experiences you have during and prior to birth have a direct impact on your postnatal experience. In this episode, we join the dots. What can we do or consider now, ahead of birth, to prepare for the 'fourth trimester' and beyond? An important aspect of the new Birth-ed Method, start here to get yourself...
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  7 Steps to Confident Decision Making 23.04.2024 19min

  Decision making is a guaranteed part of your pregnancy, birth and postnatal experience. But it can feel like a massive responsibility when you're not really sure where to start. It's often much easier to just 'do as you're told.. often, you don't even realise you've GOT a choice in the first place. This episode is one you can come back to, time and time again, any time you're feeling stuck, any time you're facing a big decision.. And use it to guide you to make confident choices that feel ri...
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  Sharing Birth Stories with host, Megan Rossiter 22.04.2024 23min

  I was once told that we should only be sharing with women 'positive birth stories'.. But as the years have gone by, I've supported 10,000s of families in their birth prep, I realised that perhaps it's not quite that simple. Dive with me into the nuances of this conversation, discover how to use birth stories as a way of deepening your understanding of birth, building your confidence and helping you to make choices for your own experience. Consider the clarity, processing and freedom sharing...
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  DUE 26th April: SEASON 4 15.04.2024 1min

  BIG NEWS. I'm expecting! Expecting a NEW SEASON of The Birth-ed Podcast (and hey, did you spot the new look?) A season that once again dives deep into the things you'd expect to learn in your antenatal appointments.. but don't! C-section recovery, fetal monitoring, mixed feeding, hospital birth.. there's so much incoming and it's going to be GOOD. Launching with a MINI series on Monday 22nd April and Season 4 launching proper on Friday 26th.. make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss ...