Healing Birth with Carla

Today I speak with blossoming birth worker, and mother of two, Libby, from Birth Liberation. Her story reveals the lessons and growth her mothering journey has brought about, especially in trying to plan a reverent and undisturbed second birth. Libby birthed both of her babies at home, with the second being a free birth.
Tune in to hear about the challenges Libby faced in trying to achieve her desired birth, the reasons why her free birth was not the experience she had hoped for, but was the one she’d needed, and how the work that we did together helped Libby to unravel her trauma. Part of that work was training with me to become a certified Healing Birth practitioner so that she is now equipped with the skills and tools to help others to find healing after a traumatic birth experience.
If this podcast episode piques your own interest around my Healing Birth Practitioner Training course, you might want to explore joining my next training round, beginning on February 23rd, 2026. It’s an online course with both self-paced lesson content, and a weekly interactive Zoom session. This course is open to anyone with an interest in holistic birth trauma support, no matter where in the world you are based. A link to further details is posted below.
But for now, enjoy this enlightening journey that Libby takes us on, in sharing her story.
Follow Libby’s work on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/birthliberation/
Learn more about the Healing Birth Practitioner Training course: https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/hb-practitioner-training
And more on an ‘Unravelling Your Trauma’ session: https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/unravelling-your-trauma
Follow Ella’s work on Instagram to find out when upcoming Freebirth Circles are happening: https://www.instagram.com/earth.mama.wellbeing/
Take a look at Sophia’s offerings on her website: https://www.motherscircle.co.nz/
Libby’s postpartum doula, Leeya’s, Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/leeya_essence/

In this podcast episode I chat with Aleisha Black. She and her sister co-founded Miscarriage Matters, a charitable organisation whose aim is to improve the experiences of families who are met with the heartbreak of an early pregnancy loss. 
Tune in to hear about the compassionate work that Miscarriage Matters is undertaking, and the campaigning they’re doing to ensure maternity services are better meeting the needs of women who experience miscarriage.

Just a wee note first, since recording this podcast, Aleisha brought to my attention that in March this year, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) released new 'Miscarriage, Recurrent Miscarriage and Ectopic Pregnancy Clinical Guidelines'. Within the document RANZCOG defines recurrent miscarriage as the loss of two or more intrauterine pregnancies of up to 20 weeks gestation, whereas in our interview, Aleisha defines recurrent miscarriage as being the old definition of 'three or more consecutive miscarriages' since she was unaware of the new guideline at the time.

Check out the Miscarriage Matters website, and sign up to be a supporting member: [email protected]
Follow Miscarriage Matters on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miscarriage_matters_nz/ and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/miscarriagemattersnz

In this podcast episode I speak with Emma Perks, a pelvic health physiotherapist. Emma is not only incredibly talented in her work, she has a heart of gold and a trauma informed approach, vital pieces of the puzzle when it comes to birth trauma prevention and healing.
In talking with Emma, I learnt that our pelvic floor is basically the bottom of our nervous system. In other words, what is going on with our pelvic floor will pretty much tell us how safe we are on the planet. Through this lens she explains why those who have a history of period problems, or PCOS, or endometriosis, or painful sex, or recurrent UTIs, anything related to the pelvic region, would do well to work with a pelvic health physio before giving birth.
So much of what Emma and I discuss highlights the powerful mind-body connection, and how key a subjective experience of safety is in preventing needless birth trauma and pelvic floor damage. Among much else, we talk about perineal massage, prenatal movement, pelvic girdle pain, reducing the likelihood of bad tears in birth, and what postpartum physio support entails.
I hope you find this podcast episode as informative, enlightening and encouraging as I did.

To connect with Emma, head to the Full Circle Physiotherapy website: https://fcphysio.co.nz/
Find Emma on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fullcirclephysio/
And on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FullCirclePhysio
Purchase Emma's Pregnancy Prehab course for a reduced price: Health Practitioner Discount Prehab

This isn’t Chloe’s first podcast episode with me. I interviewed her back in May 2024 after learning about her traumatic first birth when she requested a debriefing session with one of the trainees from my Healing Birth Practitioner Training course. At that stage, Chloe hadn’t yet become pregnant again, so she didn’t have a story to share of a healing birth experience. Instead, she talked about Olivia’s difficult birth, and the journey she had travelled over the time since, including the healing work she’d done, and readying herself for the conscious conception of her next baby.
Today’s interview is all about that ‘next baby’ of Chloe’s - her pregnancy with him, his birth, and their early postpartum weeks. The two birth and new motherhood experiences Chloe has had couldn’t be more contrasting. Throughout Ruben’s pregnancy and birth Chloe chose to have no medical or midwifery input, not even a pregnancy test to confirm that the signs her body was giving were indeed due to a little bub growing in her womb. She so generously shares her powerful story of tuning in, trusting, asking for what’s needed, and surrender.
I highly recommend having a listen to Chloe’s first interview with me before diving into this one, if you haven’t already done so. Links to watch or listen are found below.

YouTube link for Chloe’s 1st episode: https://youtu.be/w39KiuTGx-k?si=m0DgbHfs4O4kipVy
Podcast link for Chloe’s 1st episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6CzZtHBlPdK16JZnSf86xM?si=BknUK9quRGaegVFkrQ46iA

Also discussed in this episode:
* partner's hesitations with unassisted birth
* Mother Blessing
* Reconciling a positive birth and postpartum after a traumatic first
* postpartum preparation
* community postpartum support
* naturally healing a tear

Georgia’s first baby was 5.1kg (that is, 11lb, 5oz), something that curtailed her initial home birth plans and saw her birthing in the hospital. This, along with feeding into a narrative which convinced Georgia that she shouldn’t feel pain in her birth, led to a less than ideal experience and a second degree tear. As well, Georgia and her man were sent spiralling down a postpartum anxiety hole, in part because of poor preparation, unhelpful expectations and a lack of support. This was all exacerbated by the Covid lockdown restrictions at the time.
Hear about how Georgia and her man navigated their relationship as struggling new parents, and how they set themselves up for an incredibly healing, beautiful and empowering home birth with their second, along with a peaceful and joy-filled postpartum. 
By the way, Georgia’s second baby was 4.6kg (10lb, 2oz), and was born after just 2.5 hours of labour, something she forgot to share during our interview.
Also discussed in this episode:
* Stretch and sweep
* Irregular contractions
* Artificial rupture of membranes
* Maternal and paternal postnatal depression and anxiety, including panic attacks
* Intrusive thoughts
* Counselling
* Postpartum preparation
* Birth planning process - birth mapping
* Home birth with sibling present
* Fast labour
* Birth photos
Check out Georgia's website: https://www.alightbeheld.com/
Follow Georgia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alightbeheld/
And here's the link to the Manawatu Home Birth Association Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MHBAInc