12 | SPECIAL: You deserve a village. We built it!

13 | Catharina Ooijens - how to speak up in birth room, from a doula who spent 15 years inside one

Did you know that having the same person support you through your entire pregnancy, birth and postpartum dramatically reduces the need for interventions? Fewer C-sections, less medication, shorter labour. Not because of a medical procedure, but because of one person who knows you and stays. Catharina Ooijens spent over a decade proving exactly that. As the first clinical doula in the Netherlands, she guided almost nine hundred births inside one of the largest academic hospitals in Amsterdam. She did the research, she collected the data, and she changed the way an entire hospital thought about birth support. In this episode she shares the BRAINS method, a simple decision framework you can use in any moment during your pregnancy or birth when something is being proposed to you. She also talks about what she learned from those nine hundred births, why women withhold information from their doctors and what to do instead, and how to write a birth plan that actually works in your favor. This episode comes with one clear message: you are allowed to ask questions, you are allowed to take your time. And you are allowed to say, can we discuss this first? Born to Be Wild: https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/ [https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/] Website Catharina Ooijens (Mama bevalt goed) (ENG): https://mamabevaltgoed.nl/doula-catharina-english/ [https://mamabevaltgoed.nl/doula-catharina-english/] Instagram Catharina Ooijens: https://www.instagram.com/mamabevaltgoed/ [https://www.instagram.com/mamabevaltgoed/]

12 | SPECIAL: You deserve a village. We built it!

You deserve a village. But in Portugal, finding the right people around you during pregnancy and birth can feel overwhelming. Where do you even start? In this episode, Aviva shares what she wished she had known when she was pregnant in Portugal, and why she decided to build the thing that should have existed all along. Borntobewild.pt [http://Borntobewild.pt] is a directory of verified perinatal practitioners in Portugal, built entirely on real recommendations from parents who have been there. No algorithms, and definitely no ads. Just the voice of parents! We also connect this to something that happened last week at the International Congress of Midwives in Lisbon, and what the latest research tells us about the one thing that changes birth outcomes more than almost anything else: being well surrounded. Because the first step to a respectful birth is knowing who to call. Borntobewild.pt [http://Borntobewild.pt] launches July 1st!  www.borntobewild.pt [http://www.borntobewild.pt]  Born to Be Wild: https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/ [https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/] Facebookgroup Positive Pregnancy, Birth and Postpartum in Portugal: https://www.facebook.com/groups/positiveperinatalportugal/ [https://www.facebook.com/groups/positiveperinatalportugal/] The Great Birth Rebellion Podcast by Dr Melanie Jackson: https://open.spotify.com/show/3gQRikeOcaHkJjWTtcT1B1 [https://open.spotify.com/show/3gQRikeOcaHkJjWTtcT1B1] The Golden Month, by Jenny Allison: https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Month-Caring-Mothers-Childbirth/dp/0995142327 [https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Month-Caring-Mothers-Childbirth/dp/0995142327] Another book we can recommend about the golden month: The First forty days, by Heng Ou: https://www.fnac.pt/The-First-Forty-Days-The-Essential-Art-of-Nourishing-the-New-Mother-Heng-Ou/a1089608 [https://www.fnac.pt/The-First-Forty-Days-The-Essential-Art-of-Nourishing-the-New-Mother-Heng-Ou/a1089608] https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/ Do you want to advertise in this podcast? Send an e-mail to info@borntobewild.pt [info@borntobewild.pt]

11 | [birth story] Mara Liz - frozen eggs, an Uber discovery, and motherhood at 45

Mara never planned to become a mother. At thirty she was living in New York, chasing her career, with motherhood nowhere on her radar. Then her partner gifted her something she never asked for: egg freezing. The morning after the procedure, he still hadn't called. So she checked his Uber account. That is how she found out... well, listen to the podcast! It took her a year to rebuild. Then she met Sebastian. At 44, they used the eggs she had frozen years earlier. And then things happened quickly. In this episode, Mara talks about conscious motherhood, choosing the right partner, and the postpartum that broke her in ways nothing prepared her for. "If I can have it, you can have it." Mara Liz Meinhofer: https://www.instagram.com/maralizmein [https://www.instagram.com/maralizmein/] Born to Be Wild: https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/ [https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/]

10 | [birth story] Isabel & Pepe - a homebirth plan, pre-eclampsia, and taking back control

Isabel had a plan. Home birth, the right midwife, months of preparation.... Then, at 36 weeks, pre-eclampsia changed everything. What she did next is what makes this story so powerful. Because even inside that hospital, Isabel stayed in charge. She refused interventions she didn't need. She vocalized through every contraction while the nurses asked Pepe to keep it down because the dad next door was getting scared. And when Agostinho was born and didn't cry, she knew exactly what to do! This is a story about what becomes possible when you trust yourself, even when nothing goes according to plan. "It is possible to be in the hospital and have a respectful birth. But you need to be prepared." --> Isabel and Pepe initially asked midwife Raquel Cajão to be present at the birth of their son. Listen to episode 5 for her story. 🎙️ Born to Be Wild: https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/ [https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/]

9 | Sara Arruda - three premature births, from trauma to empowerment, self-care as a radical act

Sara Arruda is a nurse, a midwife, a health coach, and the author of Cuida-te. She is also a mother of three boys. All three born premature. And all three completely different births. Her first started with a helicopter evacuation at 26 weeks. She woke up after the C-section not wanting to open her eyes. Because she did not know if her baby was alive... Twelve years later, she tried again. And again! Until her third birth went exactly as she had visualized it, every single day of her pregnancy. In this episode, Sara also talks about the postpartum of postpartum. The long stretch after the six weeks that officially marks the end, where so many women are still quietly struggling, and where nobody is really looking anymore. And about self-care that has nothing to do with spa days. Self-care as the foundation of everything, including the way you show up for your children. "This will pass. I got you and you got this." Sara Arruda: https://www.instagram.com/enf.sara.arruda/ [https://www.instagram.com/enf.sara.arruda/] Book Cuida-te: https://www.wook.pt/livro/cuida-te-sara-arruda/33415138 [https://www.wook.pt/livro/cuida-te-sara-arruda/33415138] Born to Be Wild: https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/ [https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/] Irene Jaspers: https://www.instagram.com/irenejaspers [https://www.instagram.com/birthmode/]