Ireland's Birth Stories

This week, I share my chat with Ciara, who talks me through each of her three pregnancies and births. Ciara welcomed all three of her boys via C-section, and she speaks very honestly about the guilt she felt for not giving birth “the natural way,” as she describes it. After her first son was born, Ciara experienced a post-dural headache, which was eventually treated with a blood patch. We then discuss the birth of her second son, who was also born via C-section. During her third pregnancy, Ciara suffered from severe sickness and vomited daily. We talk through that challenging period, the birth of her third son, her experience of motherhood, and lots of bits and pieces in between.Thanks so much Ciara

This week, I share my chat with Anna, who talks me through each of her four pregnancies and two births. Anna revisits her first pregnancy, where a routine scan revealed a blighted ovum. She speaks openly about the physical and emotional impact of that miscarriage.We then move through her two birth stories the first, an unplanned emergency C-section after progressing to 8cm, and the second, a planned C-section that offered a very different experience. Anna also shares the heartbreak of her fourth pregnancy, during which she experienced another miscarriage and underwent a D&C. Throughout all four pregnancies, she was supported by her consultant, whose care she recalls with deep gratitude.We also talk about the moment you recognise your family is complete and how complex and emotionally challenging it can be to reach that place.Thanks Anna

This week, I share my chat with Michele, who talks me through her two birth stories from the 1990s. Michele takes us on the journey from meeting her husband and buying their first home together, right through to welcoming their two children.She chose private care under the same consultant for each pregnancy, and she reflects on how different maternity care looked at the time with little to no birth preparation, no conversations around birth preferences, and very few postnatal supports.Michele also shares the next stage of her life: welcoming her much-loved dad into their family home. It was a beautiful chapter for everyone under their roof a united family in every sense. Thanks Michele x

This week, I share my chat with Lisa, who talks me through the past nine years of her life. Together with her husband, she faced years of fertility struggles enduring IVF, tests, appointments, surgery and the heartbreak of negative tests, month after month, year after year.Eventually, they received the long-awaited positive result, which thankfully led to a healthy, full-term pregnancy. However, when Lisa was 27 weeks pregnant, her family received devastating news her mum had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.We talk about grief, navigating motherhood through loss, continuing on the path of growing her family. Lisa went on to conceive again but sadly experienced a missed miscarriage. In her third and most recent pregnancy, she welcomed her baby just shy of 35 weeks via emergency c-section due to placenta abruption. I’m so grateful to Lisa for sharing so openly and honestly about her journey.Thank you, Lisa.

This week, I chat with Susan, who takes us through her five pregnancies and births.She looks back on each experience fondly, reflecting on the kindness and support she received along the way. Tragically, five months after the birth of her first baby, Gillian, Susan faced the loss of her daughter. We chat through how few services were available to help mothers begin to process such profound grief.We then move on to discuss her subsequent births, how she managed life with a growing young family, and the role of community support then versus now.Very grateful to Susan for sharing her stories with me.

I love this episode. Becky revisits each of her three, very different birth stories. Her first birth was an induction at 41+ weeks, second birth just shy of 37 weeks and her third experience an unplanned homebirth. Her outlook throughout each of her experiences is so amazing. She remained incredibly positive and she got to experience that rush of oxytocin on each occasion too which is what we wish for every woman. At 24 weeks pregnant with her third baby Becky experienced symptoms relating to cholestasis. She was later diagnosed which meant lots of blood tests, lots of hospital visits and even more uncertainty. Again, Becky seemed to go with the flow but still very much keeping in mind her desires birth plan if all was well. Becky welcomed her third child at home with the support of her husband. Baby was coming and there was absolutely no waiting around. I love this part of her story, I know you will too. Thanks so much @beckynidhuill 

This week I share my chat with Danielle who talks me through her four pregnancies and births. Danielle revisits processing an unplanned pregnancy, the changes that brought to her life and discovering her baby had a rare genetic condition at 4 months old. We chat through each of her four births, two tough experiences both with epidurals followed by two really positive, healing, unmedicated births. There is so much in this episode from navigating unplanned pregnancies at two very different stages of life, balancing pregnancy, work, family, life and feeling the powers of that healing birth. Thanks DanielleSupport the podcastBuy Me A CoffeePatreonInstagram Give A Little Grub

This week I share the first birth story under the new title "Birth Back Then". Mairead revisits each of her three miscarriages followed by her two birth stories. Mairead worked as a nurse all her life so gives us an insight into what that looked like along with how life looked in the 1980's as a working women trying to build her family. She gave birth to her first son unmedicated with the support of her husband within the hospital setting. We then move onto her second birth story which was very different. She was blighted with constant sickness and crippling pain. It was discovered at 26 weeks gestation that Mairead infact had a huge cyst along with other diagnosis and underwent emergency surgery.Mairead then takes us through life post surgery and the remainder of her pregnancy. It's so hard to her how after such a short space of time her life returned to "normal", working for as long as she could until she went into labour while still very much feeling the impact of her surgery.Mairead's story is precisely why I decided to make this addition to the podcast and open the space up for women to share their historical births.Thank you so much MaireadThis episode is brought to you by Mother DragonW: www.motherdragon.ieE: hello@motherdragon.ieInstagram: @motherdragonireland  TikTok: @motherdragon.ie Pinterest: @MotherDragonIreland WhatsApp: Mother Dragon