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Today, I’m in conversation with mother, doula, herbalist and activist, Julie Bell. Julie is the heart behind Blissful Herbs, and if you’re a homebirthing mama in Australia, chances are you already know exactly who Julie is, and you’ve probably even got a Blissful Herbs tea or tincture sitting in your cupboard somewhere. If you haven’t come across Julie and her beautiful work yet, then you’re in for a real treat in today’s episode!

We talk about:

Julie’s childhood experience of trauma and disruption, and how this experience led her on a path towards, and shaped her work as, a herbalist and doula.

The wisdom and kindness of plants, and how so many plants offer support and healing especially to women and women’s needs.

The history of misogyny and racism that continues to undermine women’s birthing choices, and how women will always intuitively come back to birthing our babies at home, in safety.

The importance of sharing candid stories and images of birth, as well as other aspects of the experience of being a woman, and how Julie’s refusal to accept Instagram’s “community standards” led to her account being penalised.

The relationship between spirituality and motherhood, and the role that Julie’s Christian faith plays in her life, her work, and her service in the world.

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Jane is a grandmother, former homebirth midwife for 30 years, a teacher, writer and menstrual educator. She gives workshops on mother and daughter preparation for menstruation, the spiritual practice of menstruation, and the sacred dimensions of pregnancy, birth and menopause. Jane founded and runs The School of Shamanic Womancraft, an international Women’s Mysteries School.

Jane and I talk about:

The shamanic dimensions of pregnancy, and how the things that show up in our lives and bodies during pregnancy are information to support us to transform into a new version ourselves and to become “the mother our babies come for”

How we have the birth we need to teach us what we need to learn about ourselves to take us to the next place on our journey, and how the quality that we need to learn about ourselves in how we birth our babies, is the quality we need to bring to mothering them.

How to learn from and begin healing from a traumatic birth - the questions Jane offers to ask yourself are life changing.

The difference between midwifery and obstetric care, and how the single most impactful decision a woman will make that will influence her birth outcome is who her primary carer will be, and her place of birth.

How we can prepare for birth before we’re even pregnant, through healing trauma stored in the body, opening to a relationship with our spirit baby, connecting with our menstrual cycle, looking into our previous experiences of rites of passage, unhooking from the medical model of birth, and bringing consciousness to our fears.

And so much more.

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This is the second half of my conversation with the incredible Dr. Melanie Jackson. In this episode, Mel and I talk about her research into why women choose to birth outside the system.

We get pretty raw and real in this conversation. We talk about:

 Mel’s research into why women choose to birth outside the system (hint: it ISN’T because they’re reckless risk-takers - quite the opposite actually!)

What this choice tells us about the state of maternity services and the prevalence of obstetric violence

And what we as women, as consumers of maternity services, can do to support homebirth midwifery (because despite it being the gold standard, this model of care is only available to a small percentage of women, and is increasingly under threat).

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If you’ve ever toyed with the idea of having a homebirth but you’ve wondered 1) where on earth to begin and 2) what it’s really like to birth at home with the support of a privately practicing midwife, then this is the episode for you!

Dr. Melanie Jackson, who you might know better, from her brilliant Instagram & Youtube channels, as Melanie the Midwife has been a privately practicing midwife, & providing homebirth services, for 13 years since 2009. Alongside her work as a midwife, she completed her PhD, called "Birth Outside the System", in 2015, and she has held positions in midwifery research, midwifery lecturing & National Policy development at the Australian College of Midwives. She also runs a brilliant Youtube channel where she breaks down research relevant to pregnancy & birth, amongst many other incredible offerings. Safe to say, Mel is an absolute gift to women, families & birth workers, and it’s my privilege to have her on the show.

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Briony Goodsell is a doula, yoga teacher, intuitive bodyworker, women’s circle facilitator, photographer and mama. She is a weaver of the womens’ mysteries, gatherer of ancient feminine wisdom, holder of sacred spaces and a guide for reconnecting women with their sacred womb wisdom and power.

Briony’s experience of eating disorder and infertility, and how this led her on a journey to learn about her body’s wisdom and to find her calling as a yoga teacher, body worker and doula

Briony’s experience of postpartum depression in early motherhood, and how she gradually found her feet as a mama by learning to stop looking to external experts, to get out of her head, and to trust her own intuition as a mama

The link between connecting with and understanding our menstrual cycles, and trusting our bodies in birth

The concept of "matrescence", and how having an awareness of the transformation a woman goes through during the transition into motherhood before it happens can help to alleviate overwhelm and confusion

The challenges of mothering in our modern times and the pressures this places on women and on relationships

The relationship between the health of mothers and Mother Earth, and how rituals like burying our baby’s placenta can help to heal the earth and restore the balance of the Divine Feminine in all of us

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Maha Al Musa is a true elder and wise-woman of birth and women’s rites of passage. Of Palestinian and Lebanese origin, Maha is an independent childbirth educator of twenty-five years. She is the author of Dance of the Womb: The Essential Guide to Belly Dance for Pregnancy and Birth, and is the founder and creator of BellydanceBirth® and EmbodyBirthᵀᴹ, her signature childbirth education and preparation programs for mothers-to-be and birth professionals who care for them. Maha is an international speaker and a vocal advocate of natural birth and natural-term breastfeeding, and has been featured in worldwide media including the Discovery Channel, CNN, New York Post, Sunrise and Marie Claire to name just a few.

Maha is a true gift whose insights and teachings have profoundly shaped my own thinking about birth and motherhood, and it’s my pleasure to share her wisdom and experience with you here on The Wild Mother Podcast.

 We talk about:

The opportunity that pregnancy and childbirth offer to women to heal our personal and ancestral wounding, and to connect with our deepest truth

How undisturbed physiologic birth offers the energy of love and connection that humanity needs to raise consciousness and heal the earth

How the fears and beliefs of birth professionals can circumvent or shut down a woman’s spiritual processing in childbirth, and the trauma that this interruption causes to women

Maha’s inspiring story as a Palestinian/Lebanese woman growing up in Australia, her journey to reconnect with her mother and her ancestral lineage, the personal healing and expansion that each of her pregnancies offered, and her recent rite of passage through menopause.

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