Nina Spears talks us through her two vaginal home births and how her experience in attending over 300 births as a doula shaped her own birth preparation and decisions around birth. She also explains exactly what a doula does, and why you should consider having a doula regardless of the type of birth you are planning. Nina reflects on how her own birth experiences have positively impacted her work, and her passion for creating positive birthing experiences.

Nina's compassionate, quirky nature comes through in this honest, open conversation about motherhood and the decisions we make surrounding birth.

Find Nina at: https://https://www.baby-chick.com or connect with her on instagram https://www.instagram.com/thebabychick?psln=MWkxNzU1NDE2MDRtNg==

Find Birth Stories Mzansi at: https://birthstoriesmzansi.com or connect on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/birthstoriesmzansi?xtok=ZWk3d2M1c2MwZWVh

Get in touch to share your story. Follow for new episodes. Share with someone on their journey to or through motherhood.

Bianca completes her beautiful story in Part 2.

Her reflection includes the healing process of having a home water birth and comparing this experience to her previous vaginal delivery in hospital. We talk about how good birth can be, and how healing it can be for previous birth trauma. Bianca also talks us through dealing with pregnancy loss whilst parenting, and her final pregnancy - dealing with the nonchalantly made diagnosis of 'incompatible with life' and the journey it created for her and her partner. She closes the episode with how they reached the decision that their family was complete, despite pregnancy loss.

Bianca shares knowledge with the wisdom of having lived it. That alone is something rare and beautiful.

Find Bianca: https://biancajohnson.me/

Hypnobirthing course: https://birthstoriesmzansi.base44.app

Share this to support motherhood in South Africa

"Parenting after loss comes with anxiety I didn't ask for and joy I didn't know I'd get to have." -Bianca Johnson

In today's episode I sit down with Bianca Johnson; pregnancy loss coach, author of "All these lines", and mother to two living children. Over two episodes she takes us through her journey to motherhood (which spans 8 pregnancies, one elective termination, four miscarriages, one termination for medical reasons, and two vaginal births). We discuss joy, grief and anxiety. Bianca's open, genuine and positive tone in reflection is truly a rare and precious resource for parents dealing with loss and hope. We end this episode in the early post-partum after her first vaginal birth. In her next episode we use the story of her home birth to discuss the true healing that autonomy in labour can achieve after loss and birth trauma.

Bianca is also the founder of the Baby Bryce foundation, and an online community for loss moms in South Africa ☎️ Get in touch with Bianca at: https://biancajohnson.me/bianca-johnson-pregnancy-loss-coach-south-africa/ Or on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/i.am.biancajohnson?stkn=MXdwdWV3MnRzcGk2Mg== 🔊 Birthing course and Birth Stories Mzansi platform: https://birthstoriesmzansi.base44.app

Like and follow for part 2 of Bianca's story

This is part 2 of Amy’s story. In this honest, thrilling account of unexpected turns on her road to becoming a mother again, Amy lays out what it took. After a cardiac arrest during fertility treatment she decided to take a break from her IVF journey before finding out she was pregnant. She went from an unexpected, miraculous and uncomplicated pregnancy, to an unexpectedly complicated birth and an NICU stay. Amy takes us through the tension of struggling to breastfeed, and how she finally let go without judging herself. Amy is passionate, engaging, and opens her heart to moms in this season.

If you missed part 1 you can find it here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0ijqZK3bMRSopwWS7JIrgC?si=myUAqY45SFa2SugX-P8crg

Birth Stories Mzansi platform and Birth counselling: https://birthstoriesmzansi.base44.app

Follow along for more:

https://www.instagram.com/birthstoriesmzansi?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsi=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Amy shares her journey to motherhood through her first pregnancy and caesarian section after induction at 38 weeks. This story is deep, honest and contains a wealth of wisdom. Amy shares her journey through IVF after having a miscarriage She outlines step by step her process as well as the emotions throughout. She also tells us about losing one of her twins in her pregnancy and the grief - joy conundrum that ensues. She details the process of finding out her baby had a lung growth during her pregnancy, and preparing for the birth. She then had an induction which lead to caesarian section, however in her operation she nearly died. She takes us through each heartfelt and intense moment, and we can use this incredible story to laugh, grow and celebrate the wonder of life and motherhood.

Part 2 coming soon!

Follow along on instagram @BirthStoriesMzansi

Birth Course and Birth Counselling: https://birthstoriesmzansi.base44.app

You weren't just having a baby. You were becoming someone new.

What if the hardest part of motherhood isn't the sleepless nights... but the fact that no one tells you that **you are changing too**?

We prepare women for pregnancy. We prepare them for birth. We even talk about postpartum.

But almost no one talks about matrescence.

Matrescence is the profound physical, emotional, psychological, social and identity transformation of becoming a mother. It's as significant as adolescence—yet most women have never even heard the word.

Maybe that's why motherhood can feel so confusing.

One moment you're overflowing with love. The next you're grieving your old life. You feel stronger than ever, yet strangely unfamiliar to yourself.

You're not doing motherhood wrong.

You're experiencing one of the biggest human transitions there is.

When mothers understand matrescence, they stop asking, "What's wrong with me?" And start asking, "Who am I becoming?"

That shift changes everything.

In this episode, we unpack what matrescence really is, why every mother deserves to know about it, and how understanding this hidden transition can replace guilt with self-compassion.

Because motherhood isn't just about raising a child.

It's also about the birth of a new version of you.

Follow along on Instagram @BirthStoriesMzansi

Find outlr platform here: https://birthstoriesmzansi.base44.app

Anea shares her journey to motherhood, and the process of finding out that her second child has West Sydrome (a rare form of infantile epilepsy). She talks through the balance of working through pregnancy, as well as working full time with a child who has unconventional needs. She details the highs and lows and what has kept her mind, and her marriage strong through it all. This story is honest, inspirational, and well worth the listen.

Birthing course: https://birthstoriesmzansi.base44.app/audiostore

Follow on Instagram: @birthstoriesmzansi

Check out our other podcast: https://90310-wellness-cast.base44.app

See you next week

Anne's story shares the depth of a lived experience through pregnancy loss that you may never before have heard so openly shared.

Anne takes us through her turbulent journey to motherhood: after planning a pregnancy through PCOS, she takes us through the decision to terminate the pregnancy due to extreme fetal anomaly. Being in faith based circles, she highlights the tensions and conflicts in this process as well as her subsequent miscarriage. She then describes her turning point to healing before two spontaneous pregnancies and caesarian sections. Her summary, and the healing experience of C-sections after two deliveries of miscarried babies in hospital, is truly worth the listen.

Let her story bring you to your own turning point of healing, and find common ground when it feels like no one knows what to say.