Guts and Girl Bits Episode #53

In this episode I share the rest of Brooke Blair’s journey to conception, her pregnancy and we discuss her home birth. We touch on some of the difficulties she faced with endometriosis, her miscarriage, and her home birth.

We also mentioned the documentary Birth Time which you can view via this link with a 20% discount (use this link and enter discount code CICADA20) www.birthtime.world/a/2147503089/XDFWnAKo (this is an affiliate link which provides me a small comission at no extra cost to you).

Listen to the audio:

Transcript

Alison Mitchell  00:00

Hi, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Guts and Girl Bits. It’s been a long time coming, I’ve had a lot going on personally with renovating my house. And I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to live with my parents while this has been happening. And so it’s not really the most conducive atmosphere to record any podcasts or really get anything of anything done at all. So that’s one of the reasons why I haven’t released a podcast episode for a long time. But now I am moved back home. So we’ve had our renovations done, and they’re beautiful. I’m now working from home in a little space, does that let go to external door to it. So I’ve got my massage bed, and I’m building my herbal dispensary. And it’s just absolutely beautiful. And I love coming into this room and doing work and being able to see people and I’m always so grateful for any of my patients that have come and seen me in this space as well. And now that I have this space, it’s also a lot more easy for me to do the things that I used to have a lot more time to do, such as write blog posts, and create podcast episodes. And so I have a few podcast episodes ready to go. Now almost ready to go. But this one here is something that I’ve just recorded recently. And it’s something I’m really happy to share with you because it’s a beautiful retelling of the birth of baby Byron, who is the son of Brooke and Adam Blair. Now, if you’ve listened to previous episodes, then you’re probably familiar with Brooke. She’s a women’s health physio, and I’ve had a lot of episodes with her previously, which I do encourage you to go back and listen to because they’re actually really good information in there. So some of the ones we talked about was hypertonicity. So when pelvic floor muscles are too tight, and what you can do about that, how your body changes during pregnancy, and also spoke about mastitis as well. So there’s some great things that you can go back and listen to. But for now we get to hear about her birth story. And also, this actually follows up from a previous episode that we did where we talked about her health journey, overcoming some issues with her digestive health, as well as talking about why she wanted to become a women’s health physio, and some of the issues that she was having with her periods. And so this kind of wraps that story up to a certain extent, because we’re talking about you know, what happened with her endometriosis and what some of the things we were doing with that, as well as her journey to conceive. And the her pregnancy and her birth. So I hope you enjoy today’s episode. So Brooke is, just a pleasure to chat to you. I had such a lovely time interviewing her. And I hope you guys enjoy. Please leave a review if you enjoyed it. And let me know if there’s any other topics that you’d like to cover in the future. Hi, everyone, you’re listening to Guts and Girl Bits. I’m Alison Mitchell, a practicing Naturopath. And I hope to share with you all sorts of information about women’s health and digestive health to educate to empower you to make informed choices about your own health. Please remember that all information is general and does not replace consulting with the healthcare practitioner.  So I’m joined again with Brooke Blaire. She’s a women’s physio extraordinare. And she’s been on the podcast a few times previously discussing her health journey. And so we’ve got a bit of an update about where we’re up to now. So we’re currently in February 2022. And Brooke has in her lap at the moment have beautiful baby boy.

Brooke Blair  03:47

Yes. It’s my little 10 week old baby Byron,

Alison Mitchell  03:51

and he is his divine, currently sleeping peacefully.

Brooke Blair  03:55

Yes, hopefully it stays that way.

Alison Mitchell  03:57

We’ll see how we go. But I’ve had so many episodes in the past where Lara has been chipping away. So I think it’s just like a staple to my podcast episodes.

Brooke Blair  04:06

The last podcast, I think we had the dogs and the birds in the background. So maybe we’ll have Byron in this one.

Alison Mitchell  04:13

And I think last time we were on the podcast together, we were talking about how you were going with digestion and like a bit about your period journey. And so I guess I’d like to start off there and say like, had How did everything go since then? And how did you go with trying to conceive?

Brooke Blair  04:30

Yep. Um, so I think it would have been before our wedding, maybe I can’t remember if it was before or after our wedding that we caught up last, but it was after after. Okay, so two days after our wedding, we went into COVID lockdown. So we had spoken about me coming off the pill after the wedding, but then we thought we’d locked down. Probably not the best time to do that because we didn’t know what we would be doing with work and where we’d be at we just bought a house. So we waited until the August of 2020 which is when I then came off the pill. And so I’d started working with you when with all of our herbies, and we’d already worked on getting my gut health right, which was going so so well, because I’d been having my SIBO, which was causing me to feel short of breath and heart palpitations. Soon as I did the SIBO diet, cut out red wine, reduced my cheese and my sugar. I was perfect, which was good. That’s great. So I came off the pill. And my first period came, I think, nine weeks later, which was like, I never had a period. It was so easy. I had no pain whatsoever. I was going, Oh my God, have I just been on the pill for no reason this whole time. Um, and then I got my next period, maybe six weeks later, just before Christmas, and it was horrendous. It’s probably the worst period I’ve ever had. I had so much pain, I couldn’t go to work the first day of it. I had shooting rectal pains. I couldn’t sit down because of it. I was constipated. It was horrendous. So yeah, that was fun. And then at that point, so that had been what maybe three. So that was August. I don’t remember that was four months after coming off the pill. So we then went to my GP because I thought I can’t have another period that is that horrendous. Maybe I need to get my endo looked at again by the specialist. So we then go on in the January to see my doctor to look at getting a referral to the endo specialists to see maybe I need to have another laparoscopy to get my endo cut out again, before we could then fall pregnant. Maybe unbeknownst to us, I was pregnant at that time, but then a few weeks later miscarried. then, and so this whole time I’d been tracking my cycles, like we’d spoken about. So I’d been measuring my basal body temperature every morning. And so I think I knew straight away that first time that I was pregnant, because that day that my periods should have come. It was still up high. And I messaged you, and I was like, Oh my gosh, what is going on? Yeah, we just had an appointment as well, I think. And then I took a pregnancy test like two or three days later. But anyway, so I didn’t end up going to see that endo specialist, because obviously I could fall pregnant despite my endo being horrendous.

Alison Mitchell  07:21

And I think you were concerned about that at the time as well. Like, apart from having a hellish period. You also were like, wondering if it was going to affect your chances of conceiving?

Brooke Blair  07:30

Exactly. That was my big thing. I thought I don’t want to leave this too long. And I think the appointment the first appointment that I could get to that was in the Feb, the January in the first appointment I could get was the November of that year was going oh mygod,

Alison Mitchell  07:45

it’s been a terrible time for people trying to get specialist appointments.

Brooke Blair  07:48

Yeah. COVID has made things very tricky. But yeah, so we had the miscarriage which sucked. But he’s life that happens to a lot of women. And then

Alison Mitchell  07:59

one in four?

Brooke Blair  07:59

yes one in four. Yep. And so I like being at work with so many pregnant women and women trying to conceive, I was chatting with all of my women about it. And so many women would tell you that they’ve had miscarriages that they’ve never spoken to someone about, which I think is a bit sad, because we told we told both our parents and, and it would told we told all of our families actually that we were pregnant, because we thought you know what, my family members have had miscarriages before and they didn’t tell us at the time. And I think that would have been really tough. So we told all of our family that we were pregnant thinking, if something does go wrong, then everyone knows and they can support us. And it was really weird. It was like I knew that I wasn’t going to stay pregnant because I was talking about the sack of cells. Like that’s what I was calling and I wasn’t calling it like my baby.

Alison Mitchell  08:51

So you you didn’t form an attachment to it.

Brooke Blair  08:53

No, yeah, yeah, it was it was really bizarre like and I kept saying, you know, if this sticks and just words that I was using, it was like, deep down, I knew that I wasn’t going to stay pregnant.

Alison Mitchell  09:03

I think that’s it’s, I mean, it could have been like an aspect of intuition, but it’s also not uncommon, like when it’s your first conception to have that sort of fear always. Yeah, that element of disbelief. Yeah. And because you also had the Endo. Yeah, it would have been like, almost like, this doesn’t sound right? Yeah, exactly.

Brooke Blair  09:25

But I’ve spoken to other girls since we’ve had miscarriages and they’ve said the same thing. Like they were just waiting for the news that it wasn’t gonna like that there had had a miscarriage or that the baby hadn’t grown or there was no heartbeat so it was really bizarre. Didn’t make it any easier when I had the Miscarriage Of course. But yeah, so we did that. Then I started tracking my temperatures again, straight away. And through that miscarriage actually we found that I had Hashimotos so I’d gone and had blood tests to check my HCG levels. And we found out that my now you’ll have to correct me on this because I too high or too low

Alison Mitchell  10:02

Hashimotos usually expresses with low TSH. Yes. Okay. Oh sorry, no it’s high TSH. Also a high TSH and low T3 T4? And antibodies.

Brooke Blair  10:10

Yes, that’s what I had. So my GP said, stop trying, Let’s sort this out first I don’t want you didn’t fall pregnant because if you do then thyroids really important for baby’s brain and development and could contribute to the miscarriage. But I was also frustrated because I was like, Well, I’m having six to nine week long cycles, how long am I going to have to wait to fall pregnant? Again, it’s been six months at this stage since I’d come off the pill. So I was working with you on reducing all of I think we reduced my gluten, dairy and sugar came off all of that. And then I’d had some acupuncture as well to try and help me like to get rid of all of the leftover blood and stagnation and all that sort of thing. Yep. And then I started some thyroid medication. And six weeks later, I was pregnant again. And that was our little Byron.

Alison Mitchell  11:09

And how did you feel about at that time, like, did you connect during the pregnancy?

Brooke Blair  11:16

I didn’t want to get excited at all. So I kind of like I knew straight away that I was pregnant, because it was March of last year. So we were away on our wedding anniversary. And I’d started to have similar symptoms to what I’d had when I was pregnant the first time, which was like random heart palpitations, really vivid, bizarre dreams and tingling. And so I’d started experiencing those again. And I thought no, like, I haven’t even had another period. Surely I wouldn’t be pregnant this soon. And so then, like, we came home, I took a pregnancy test. I messaged it to you, because I was like, I’m sure there’s a line here. But I could be making it up and you were like, I don’t really see a line. I was like, No, deep down. I know there’s a line. And there really wasn’t I’ve looked back at photos. There wasn’t a line. But you were the first person that I told that I sent this photo to.

Alison Mitchell  12:09

I think I looked at your temperatures. I was like, actually, yeah.

Brooke Blair  12:13

You said maybe wait another two days. And so I didn’t every day after that. I checked and

Alison Mitchell  12:20

gradually got a line.. definitely understandable. Yes.

Brooke Blair  12:24

But I told Adam, I think that night, I still told Adam so we had friends over. And he hadn’t seen him by himself that whole day. And so he’d gone to the bathroom was doing a poo. And so I chased him in there. And I said, Hey, he’s like, can you just like, Give me a minute? And hey, if if I was pregnant, what do you want to know right now? He was like, Yes, but why are you telling me like this? So I pulled out the pregnancy test. And I showed him and he was like, I’m really happy. But I’m doing a poo. Give me a minute.

Alison Mitchell  12:58

Oh, my God. He’s going to love that this is on the episode.

13:03

classic classic. I thought to myself, you know, of course, I would do it when he’s doing a poo, not like in a cute way that everyone else does it with their partners. But yes,

Alison Mitchell  13:11

like, you know how you’re pushing something? Yeah.

Brooke Blair  13:15

In nine months time I will be too. So we had friends over for dinner. So that was sitting at our dinner table. And I’d gone in and told him that we had a little cuddle in a case and we were like, we’re not going to get excited. So we were both kind of guarding ourselves. I think we didn’t really talk about it that much straightaway. But we’re still excited that have the possibility.

Alison Mitchell  13:37

And also just that, like you could conceive again. Yeah,

Brooke Blair  13:40

yeah. And the fact that it happened quite quickly was nice. Like it felt like eternity. But it was only really six weeks after we’d miscarried. So it was really quite lucky. I think.

Alison Mitchell  13:52

I mean, I guess, depending on the reason for miscarriage women can conceive again in the next cycle.

Brooke Blair  13:57

Yeah, yeah. Which had heard but didn’t think it would happen to us. So we felt very lucky. And then I think a few days later, I’d had a bleed. And so we just assumed straightaway, okay, well, this is we’re miscarrying again. So I’ve messaged both our moms to say, hey, just letting you know, we’re pregnant, but now we’re probably not we’ll keep you posted. So that was how they found out this time that I was pregnant, which was not all that nice. And I’d actually had an appointment with an obstetrician that day, because I was going to talk about maybe going on um. not progesterone, we thought that I wasn’t ovulating frequently. Clomid, yes, yes. So that was what the appointment was about to look at. Maybe I need to help me to ovulate a little bit more frequently to fall pregnant. And so I went in there and I was like, Okay, well, I took a positive pregnancy test last week, but I’ve started to bleed and I had a miscarriage and this is exactly what happened last time, can you tell me what’s going on? And he did an ultrasound. And he said, I can’t see anything in your uterus. So it could be, but maybe go and get a blood test in a couple of days. And I did that. And a few days later got a call from my GP saying, I’ve got some results on my desk here that says you are pregnant. So maybe give me a call back. And we can chat about that. And I was like, Oh, my gosh, amazing. And so then I think that would have been at maybe five or six weeks. And then a few weeks later, I had another bleed, which was terrifying. Again,

Alison Mitchell  15:36

how much were you bleeding?

Brooke Blair  15:38

the first time it was probably only spotting, which like that brownie kind of spotting color. The second time was a bit more. Yeah.

Alison Mitchell  15:48

And would that have been around eight weeks?

Brooke Blair  15:52

Possibly, yeah, seven or eight weeks? It would have been

Alison Mitchell  15:54

because often, like when we’ll have a bit of a bleed when their periods would have been due. Yeah. Okay. So like he’d get it could have

Brooke Blair  16:01

been related to that, which I think I’d messaged you. And I think you had said that as well. Yeah. Thankfully, at that point, though, because I have an ultrasound at work. I’d been scanning myself really every day. And so became a bit of an obsession very obsessed. It was unhealthy. But I saw I think it was about maybe five weeks and five days that I could start to see his heart beating, which was the most wonderful thing to see. So when I had the bleed, I went to work, and I was still terrified. But I could scan myself and say that there was still a heartbeat there, which made me feel a lot better. I’d still then scan myself before I went home that night, because I thought it’s all well and good that there was one this morning, but that could have changed in the last 10 hours. So yeah, very unhealthily scanning myself all the time. And then it was kind of around that time that we started to get more excited and started to kind of prepare for what our birth could look like. Yeah. So yeah, I’d always loved birth, love birth, in general. It’s just amazing. And working with so many women going through pregnancy and birth, I’d heard so many different birth stories and different ways of going about birth. And so I’d always said to Adam, like, oh, we’ll put the birth pool in the living room? Or should we have it in the bedroom like thinking we’ll have a home birth? And Adam just always was like, Whoa, you’re crazy. Yeah. And so I’ve never actually fully believed that we would ever have a home birth, I was just saying it to rile him up while thinking that would be really cool. And I’d love that, but I don’t think I’ve got, like the confidence in myself to be able to do it. But it was also around that time, that birth time, the film came out. And so it was hosted at Richmond. So I made Adam come with me and watch it. I’d already watched it. I think it was in the February I’d watched it for the first time

Alison Mitchell  17:51

where it was at Castle hill.

Brooke Blair  17:53

Yeah, when it first came out. And then yeah, we had it at Richmond. So I brought him to watch it with me. And at the end of that, so I would have been nine, eight or nine weeks pregnant at eight weeks pregnant at that point. And so Adam watched it and he was like, that was really cool. I can understand why you want a home birth, because if anyone hasn’t seen it, it’s all about midwifery led care and empowering women to birth the way that they feel most comfortable. And there’s lots of homebirths featured on it. Yeah,

Alison Mitchell  18:24

it is amazing. I’ll put a link in the show notes. If anyone does want to have a look, because you can stream it online now.

Brooke Blair  18:30

Exactly. It’s amazing. I love it. And so yeah, I brought him to watch that. And he said, maybe we’ll consider home birth as an option. So I think that week was when I started calling around home birth midwives. And because we would do my due date was the 10th of December.

Alison Mitchell  18:51

So it’s a bit awkward with Christmas,

Brooke Blair  18:53

close to Christmas.

Alison Mitchell  18:55

Which you were not happy about

Brooke Blair  18:57

No I was not I always said to Adam, I don’t want to be pregnant in summer. So we didn’t plan that very well. But that’s okay. Couldn’t couldn’t really work around that.

Alison Mitchell  19:09

I guess. Like it’s not like you had the liberty of like going well, let’s just wait like a little while you wanted to get pregnant? Now.

Brooke Blair  19:16

I well. I wanted to be pregnant three months prior yesterday. Um, so yeah, so I’d started calling around midwives and everyone was either fully booked because I’d waited until I was nine weeks or and they booked out basically, as soon as you pee on a pregnancy test people book them. Or they were the midwives weren’t working over Christmas because they worked the previous Christmas being that it was COVID and no one was going away anywhere or doing anything. But thankfully got on to my midwife whose name was Cara, and she was lovely. So we had a chat with her and we booked her straightaway because we just found her amazing and really supportive. And that was kind of where we started our little home birth journey which was exciting.

Alison Mitchell  20:00

So when you’d done all your work as a women’s physio, had you, like ever envisaged having birth, like differently, like being in terms of what you knew about potential complications of birth?

Brooke Blair  20:12

Yeah. So I, I’d had lots of women who’d had birth trauma. And so I think I’d taken on a lot of that trauma in terms of thinking, Well, you know, maybe I shouldn’t have a vaginal birth, because what happens if I have a postpartum hemorrhage, or what happens if, you know, like, my cervix doesn’t dilate, and then I end up needing an emergency cesarean, knowing all about pelvic floor, what happens if I have a third degree tear, we’ve just covered that at work. We’re talking a lot about third degree tear and rehabilitation and everything like that. And so that kind of scared me a little bit. And I remember when I’d first done my women’s health training, and learning all about tearing and all of the complications that can happen with a vaginal birth. I remember saying, Well, that’s it, I’m definitely having a plan to this area. And because I definitely do not want to tear my pelvic floor. But I was lucky enough when I was a student in my final year of uni, to be on the maternity ward. So I actually got to watch three caesereans into vaginal births. And watching that I specifically asked to watch te caesareans  because I thought, well, that’s how I’m giving birth to save my pelvic floor. So I watched these three caesereans and I, I enjoyed watching the babies be born, but it didn’t. I don’t know. It didn’t excite me. I kind of was like, oh, okay, there’s the baby. Like, that’s really lovely. Had a bit of a cry. Also, I didn’t like the staff that were on at the day. So that probably didn’t make it nice, either. They were just a bit rude. And kind of like it was a production line. Like, right, oh, next person, while someone was already on the table being stitched up. But yeah, it wouldn’t have been pleasant. Yeah, it wasn’t. It wasn’t the like lovey dovey experience that I thought it would be. And so then the next day, I watched two vaginal births. And I was with this woman, it was her first birth, I was with her for the last little bit of her labor before she started pushing. And I was with her as she was pushing. And as the baby was born, like, they let me like, touch the baby’s head. She was amazing. And so the baby was born and I just burst into tears crying, her family was in the room, we were all hugging and crying together. And she let me hold her baby. And I remember leaving that and calling my mom crying, saying I just watched the most amazing thing. Like it was so incredible. And even though she torn like and I watched the tear happen, but it was just the most incredible thing to watch. And so I think after that point, I was like, Okay, no, I’m not having a planned caeserean  unless medically necessary. I really want to try and have a vaginal birth. And then I’ve had so many birth dreams after that point. And I’d always given birth, either at the beach, being in the water and pushing a baby out, or I’d been on the sand and push the baby out. Or I’d been in a hotel looking at the beach. And once I’d given birth, we used to live in a rental property and one of my dreams had given birth beside the bed. And I got back into bed after giving birth to this baby girl. And Adam said to me, God, you did so well doll. I said, I did didn’t I. And I went to sleep. And I was like that would just be ideal. So I think deep down I’d always be pictured having a home birth. Yeah. But I hadn’t really let myself think that that was a possibility up until we’d like agreed on it and booked the midwife and everything like that.

Alison Mitchell  23:32

I think anyone’s decision in having home birth is going to be very dependent on how their partner feels about it as well. Yeah. So like, the fact that you were able to have Adam be so supportive towards it was amazing. Yeah. Yeah, he, um, I was super surprised, because he always said to me, Oh maybe for the first one, like, let’s just do it in hospital, let’s, you know, make sure we’ve got all the safety around us that just in case knowing like with my Endo, and everything, I think he thought that could have maybe caused complications with the birth. And so we’d always said, Okay, for the first we’ll have it in hospital. And then if everything goes well, for the second, we’ll talk about home birth. Until I’ve had booked in my booking an appointment at the hospital and everything, we’re just going to go with the local public hospital. And I wasn’t excited. Yeah. Like, I didn’t look forward to having that appointment. And so I couldn’t get excited about the birth. It just didn’t feel right. And so I kept pushing Adam, and that’s why he came in watch birth time with me. And then after that, I just kept pushing it. I was like, can I contact a home birth midwife? Will you let me like, Come on, let’s just look into it. And so as soon as we booked her, and he said, Yep, let’s do it. That sounds great. I was excited for birth again. So I think we both knew and he was excited for birth, too. Yeah. So I think we both knew it was the right choice. And we did that. And how did you Mum and Adam’s Mum feel about it? They were nervous. So we weren’t going to tell them that that’s what we had planned on doing. Because I’d mentioned that As like same as what I mentioned to Adam, like, just just like a throwaway comment as a bit of a laugh, and they’d both gone oh, well, you wouldn’t, you wouldn’t do that. And I was like, Oh, okay. So when we booked it, I kind of thought I don’t really want them to be concerned. So maybe we won’t say anything. But then, the day that we booked in my our midwife, I had gone up on a trip with my mom, and I said, Oh, you know, we’ve contacted a private midwife, just thinking, I’ll just say we’re just having a private midwife, but let me think we’re birthing in hospital. She said, Oh, okay, is that to organize a home birth? And I said, Yep, she was like, Okay, fair enough. And she was kind of fine. I said, you know, are you okay with that, like, that’s what we’re gonna do. And she said, you know, you, you know, this space, you understand it, I trust you. And I trust that you know, what you’re doing by making this decision. So that’s fine, as long as it’s safe, when you’re going to be safe and looked after that’s okay. And so I kind of went, Oh, okay, cool. She’s okay with it. I knew my dad would be freaked out. So we didn’t really talk about it all that much. And then a few weeks later, we had a discussion with Adams parents, and they kind of it was when COVID had just kicked off again. And they said, oh, like, you know, it’s a bit a bit scary that you’re doing that, because we’ve obviously never experienced that before. But maybe at the moment with COVID. And it being in hospitals, maybe that is a good idea. You’ve probably worked in your favour.

Brooke Blair  26:26

Yeah. Yeah. So then they kind of came around and they were yeah supportive of it. They still kept saying, No, we’re nervous. But they were supportive.

Alison Mitchell  26:35

Yes, good. Well, that’s great. Yes, I know. Like I’d originally wanted to home birth, but I had not much support. They are not much encouragement. Yeah, that way. But home birth, for instance, wasn’t like, I mean, birth time, maybe it wasn’t there. And yeah, I would have definitely dragged my husband to see it too.

Brooke Blair  26:55

Well, I think up until that point, because I’d had clients, the last three years, a few clients sprinkled throughout each year, who’d had home births. And it was funny when they when I’d say, you know, where are you giving birth, and they’d kind of go or, and almost be a little bit like, anxious to tell me that they were having home births. And so I think there was always this stigma that home births were for, like hippie weirdos, who don’t care about their health and who don’t care about their baby’s health. And it maybe wasn’t until birth time came out that people went Oh, actually, like, that’s really cool. And it’s not this hippie woowoo thing. It’s actually like a really safe option for people who are low risk in their pregnancy.

Alison Mitchell  27:36

So yeah, I actually attended a home birth. Back when I was just starting out in naturopathy. And that was just, it was amazing. It was the most wonderful experience there was in her home and birth pool. And I really sort of just like, was excited for birth after that as well. Yeah, it’s amazing. It’s yeah. So good. If everyone I always say now, having experienced the birth that we did, I said to Adam, a few weeks after it, I said, it’s crazy that only the five people who were there know how incredible it was. Because I would have loved for our Mums to experience it because they not had traumatic births, but hadn’t had such a in credibly positive experience that we had with our birth. And it’s almost like we just wanted to like spread the joy to everyone and be like, we want you to have this intense feeling of like, joy and happiness that we experienced with our birth. And it’s so wonderful that you were able to have that experience. Yeah, I think back to what birth must have been like when, like your whole family would have been involved. And like you’d have the young kids there, they’d be watching. And nowadays we have people not have any real knowledge about birth apart of what’s shown in Hollywood. And so like going like back to old times, and having people there all the time and just seeing it as a normal thing. Yeah. Yeah, it would, it would probably help to reduce interventions and fear about birth as well.

Brooke Blair  29:05

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. We keep talking about now that we’ve got Byron, we keep saying to him, whenever we look at our birth photos, but like and for the next one, you’ll be there watching if you want to. And we’ve said we’ve got our birth photographer, Beth, she was amazing. So she photographed our whole birth. And I said to her, maybe I should invite our moms to come and watch the next one. Adam said, I don’t think you really want more people watching you go through it. And she said, How about we film it? And then you can show everyone how great it was. And so for our next birth Byron will hopefully be there watching if he wants to, and then we’ll have it on video. I

Alison Mitchell  29:40

love the video. I actually really liked the ones with the kids are there and it’s standing at the edge of the pool. Yeah, but like in the edge of the room where they’re going. Wow. Yeah, yeah, I still remember this. getting off topic now. But I remember there’s one particular video I watched and there was a little girl and she said, I think there’s two in there and then they didn’t know they were having twins. They had this totally like un-monitored pregnancy. Yeah. And they say when there’s home birth, and all of a sudden she’s just like, placenta is really hard to get out at class and actually having another baby. Wow. But the little kids was just like, I told you how funny. That’s crazy. So real family orientated. Stick in their minds for sure.

Brooke Blair  30:21

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So that’s, that’s hopefully our plan for the next one.

Alison Mitchell  30:25

Yeah, yeah. And during pregnancy, did you have any, like, moments where you thought, I’m not going to be able to do it, or any fees or challenges like that? Definitely.

Brooke Blair  30:35

Um, so we. We did our Hypno birthing course, when I was maybe 28 weeks. And so with that course, we did it with a one of my clients. Her name’s Jamie, and she’s beautiful. She’s a doula and a hypno birthing instructor, but she’s also had home births. And so that’s why we went with her. And so a lot of the discussion is about what your fears about birth are, what you feel like you need how you want to feel during and after your birth. And so I’d gone into it thinking now I’ve got no fears, like, I’m ready to go. I’m really excited about birth, I’ve dreamt of it and dreamt of amazing births. I’m just going to have an amazing birth. And then when we started to talk about our fears, and we’re going through that I was like, Oh my gosh, I actually do have a lot of fears that I don’t think I’ve ever like, brought to the surface. But being that you haven’t allowed yourself. Yeah. Yeah. So I had a string of women all across like the last couple of months, who’d had a lot of trauma who’d had like, postpartum hemorrhages and all the scary stuff that you hear about. And so I thought, Do I really want to risk going through that. And that made me really worried. I also had in the back of my mind for my mom. So I, when I’m chatting with all of my girls during pregnancy, we talk about what their moms and what their grandmothers births were like, just to give us an idea of maybe it could go down a similar path, maybe not. So I knew that for my mum, for all three of us kids for my eldest brother, she went into labor naturally, but she wasn’t dilating. So they had to induce her. And then she got induced from my other brother and for myself, and my grandma had caesarean. So no one had really had like a unmedicated birth being that they’d always had that kind of intervention. And so I thought, oh, my gosh, what if I, what if my cervix won’t dilate without medical assistance, and I’m going to be at home laboring for hours and hours and end up in hospital anyway. Maybe I need to be giving birth in hospital kind of thing. So I went through a big phase of being fearful of that and thinking, you know, have we made the right decision here, because maybe I’m not going to be able to have this unmedicated on intervention birth. But it was really good that I could have my midwife who I knew who would come over every, you know, month at this point, maybe every three weeks, similar frequency to how often you’d see me by for an obstetrician in hospital setting, she’d come over and we’d spend an hour just chatting about how everything was going, how the baby was going, how I was feeling. And this particular day, we spoke about what my fees were. And so she was really supportive. She said, Brooke, if your cervix isn’t dilating, yeah, we will go to hospital. But being that we’re at home, you’ve got all of the oxytocin flowing, you’re not going to be fearful because you’re in your own environment. You’re gonna have your, you know, all of your special things around you that make you feel comfortable. All those things are really conducive to your cervix, dilating and labour progressing, so that should be okay. And then we spoke about some of my other fears, which were things like postpartum hemorrhage, which was one of Adam’s big fears as well. And so all the medication that she has to kind of stop me from bleeding, if that was to be a risk,

Alison Mitchell  33:57

theyre kitted out.

Brooke Blair  33:58

Yeah, yeah, they’ve got all the things that they need. And she said, and also, I’m going to be with you the whole time. So if I think that you are at risk of hemorrhaging, we’re not staying at home, we’re going to hospital like that’s we’re going to make that call straightaway. And then my other big fear was, I am not great with pain. And so prior to planning the home birth, I’d say to all my girls, you know, everyone, not everyone, but I had a lot of girls who felt upset by the fact that they needed to have an epidural, as if it was, like as if they were weak for having an epidural, which I just think is ridiculous. And I’d said to them, like they kind of went, what are you going to do? I was like, Oh, you better believe I’m having the epidural. I’m terrible with pain. So I’d always thought to myself, of course, I’m going to have the epidural.

Alison Mitchell  34:43

Like, was that even an option?

Brooke Blair  34:45

No, no, no. So that was my fear with my home birth. I was like, Oh my gosh, I’ve completely gotten rid of this whole option of something I thought that I was going to need,

Alison Mitchell  34:53

but that probably almost would have helped in a way because you will have gone or it’s not available to me. So I’m gonna find another way to deal with

Brooke Blair  35:01

exactly. So I think I think that’s kind of how my mind then worked. But I said to my midwife, you know, what if, what if I’m not coping, and we do need to go to hospital because I need that epidural. She said, Brooke, if you need, like, if you need the epidural and you need to give birth in hospital, it’s not because you can’t cope. It’s because you need to give birth in the hospital with that medical intervention. It’s not because you can’t handle it. It’s not because you’re weak. It’s nothing like that. It’s because that’s where your baby needs to be born. And so that made me feel really good that she was like, like, we’re going to cover off all these things. I’m going to support you as much as possible. When you feel like you can’t do it. I’m going to tell you that you can. So yeah, we kind of spoke about that. And then I felt really prepared and felt like now I’m doing it. I’m having this baby vaginally. But then the whole week leading into having him all I could visualize was a cesarean. So that was a bit intense thinking, oh my gosh, like he could be coming any day now. And all I can picture is that big blue curtain up and me giving birth that way.

Alison Mitchell  36:02

So you don’t like it? You’ve created this block to all your previous good visualizations.

Brooke Blair  36:06

Yep. Yeah. So I had no positive birth dreams, probably in the two months leading into having him. But thankfully, I was, you know, as we’ll to chat about I was able to give birth the way that I hoped.

Alison Mitchell  36:21

Yes, which was nice. And I definitely want to get into that. But did you have any other complications during pregnancy at all, like, um,

Brooke Blair  36:29

so I know, we spoke about the bleeds that I had early on, I had another big bleed at maybe 10 weeks. So that was terrifying. I was at work one night, and I just felt this big gush of blood come out of me. And so I went down to I with a client, I quickly raced down to the bathroom and just adrenaline kick, you know, just put a pad in and went, I’ll deal with that later. I’ve got one upstairs that I need to see. So I finished treating her and like deep down was absolutely devastated. So I got my ultrasound, and I checked on him and he was still moving. But I rang Adam

Alison Mitchell  37:03

you would have been just like, Come on, finish finish finish.

Brooke Blair  37:06

Yeah, I was just like, just please get out. And so I quickly got the ultrasound out and I checked on him. And I could see that he was moving and everything looked fine, but still was fearing the worst. And so I rang Adam and was bawling my eyes out. He came racing over he was just next door, thankfully. And so we just watched him on the ultrasound thinking like, is this the last time we’re going to see him moving? Thankfully, it wasn’t. So I rang my midwife and she said, let’s just go and get a scan tomorrow and we’ll check in on him. But if you’re still moving on the ultrasound, I’m sure he’s fine. So yeah, we had a scan the next day, and thankfully he was fine. So they think I just had a sub chorionic hematoma, possibly. And then I had no other bleeds throughout that time, thankfully, and no other issues. Everything else was smooth sailing.

Alison Mitchell  37:53

From there, thankfully. Yeah. And you didn’t get much morning sickness. Did you

Brooke Blair  37:57

no I was, I was hoping for it because I thought if I feel sick, that’s a good sign. But I think maybe from seven until 10 weeks, I felt a bit nauseous and was a bit gaggy. But I never vomited because of it. So yeah, it was just feeling a bit off. And then after that felt fine. Okay. Yeah.

Alison Mitchell  38:20

And so apart from the midwife, you didn’t really have to go, like you didn’t go through an obstetrician or even go into the hospital or anything like that. Then we both just came to you.

Brooke Blair  38:30

Yeah, yeah. So yeah, no, we never went to hospital at any point, which was good. We just had that one extra scan at 10 weeks when I’ve had the bleed. But yeah, everything else was just at home because he his heart rate was fine. My blood pressure was fine. Or my blood tests were coming back fine. So yeah, thankfully, it was.

Alison Mitchell  38:50

Yeah. And let’s get into birth story. So how many weeks were you when you started to feel like you were going into labor?

Brooke Blair  38:58

Yep. Um, so I told a few actually, I had had birth dreams in the weeks leading up so I had a birth dream that I gave birth to him on the first of December. So I woke up from from my dream. Yes, I am. I said to Adam, I know exactly when he’s coming. It’s the first of December, I had a dream last night the birth pool was in the middle of the lounge room. I pushed him out. It was amazing. And it’s the first and I’m like, Oh, okay. And so the first came and went, I think I would have been that would have been early. So I was due on the 10th. So that came and went and then I thought maybe it was the seventh. So I had my mind

Alison Mitchell  39:39

in your dream. Was it like a big number on a calender?

Brooke Blair  39:41

I just woke up and I said that was the first? I don’t know. I don’t know why. It was weird. Um, so then that I thought maybe it was the seventh and I got that wrong. And then a seventh came and went. Meanwhile, I’m doing all of the things I’ve been seeing the girls at work to work on, stretching my perineum and pelvic floor and pushing and all that lovely To date, I was eating my day. I was having my raspberry leaf tea. I was shoving evening primrose oil up my vagina. Um,

Alison Mitchell  40:09

raspberry leaf actually doesn’t bring it on earlier. Oh, no, it just makes the labour better. Okay, well, I was doing that anyway. I was having labor induction massage and acupuncture. And so I had that once. And the man who was doing it, he kept on like, gosh, it was the most intense massage I’ve ever had. And he kept saying, is baby moving? And I was like, no, he’s still still asleep. And he was like, Oh, he’s very stubborn this baby. We need to get him uncomfortable, then he’ll want to come out. And so after the first day, he did that. The next day, I woke up and I just cried for about five hours. It was like I had this huge emotional release. Yeah, yeah. I just cried. And I everyone, like Adam said, you know what’s going on? I said, Nothing is wrong. I just, I just need to cry, honey. Yeah. So I cried, and mom came around, and my dogs ruined my Christmas tree. So I cried about that, too. So I just had a bath for like an hour and cried, and then felt okay. And then the following week had the induction massage and acupuncture again. And at that point, Adam, I think I was I would have been about 40 weeks I was due. And Adam said to me, I’m sick of going to work and not getting a message from you. I just want to be at home with you waiting for this baby to come. So he decided to finish up work on the Monday, which would have been the 14th I think. So then on the 15th. It was a beautiful sunny day. So we were like let’s go to the beach. All I’ve wanted to do this whole pregnancy is swim at the beach while pregnant and I couldn’t because it locked down. So we packed the dogs in the car. And we went down to Wollongong and we went to the beach. And it was such a beautiful day. And then we had dinner with my parents. We had spicy pizza. And I’d done some curb walking that day as well. And at dinner, my mom and dad, they said to Adam, now you’ve been to the beach, go home, Adam and help get this baby out, go home and have sex. I was like, Oh, I’m too tired. I can’t be bothered with that. We’ll do it tomorrow morning. And so we went home, went to bed. And then at midnight, I woke up and my contractions started. So they were a lot more intense than I thought that they would be at the start. So I woke up and I thought, amazing. I’ll lay back down and I’ll try and sleep through these other two contractors. I was like, No, I am not sleeping through these. So I went downstairs  and So how many weeks are you now

Brooke Blair  42:38

I was 40 weeks and six days. Nice. Yes. So six days overdue.

Alison Mitchell  42:45

This was the 16th

Brooke Blair  42:46

This was the 16. Very morning of the 16. Yeah. Yeah. So I went downstairs, I put my tens machine on. And I hated it. And i thought i would love it

Alison Mitchell  42:57

You were looking forward to that

Brooke Blair  42:59

I was looking forward to it. We hire them out at work and all of my girls are bar one have loved the tens machine. Some of my girls have left it on up until they’re pushing the baby out. And they’ve all come back saying God, that tens machine was amazing. And I thought I’ve got this covered. I don’t need an epidural. I’ve got a tens machine, but I hated it. hated that. So I took that off. And I came back out and gotten the bath. So actually I think so we’ve gotten home from the beach going backwards. We’ve gotten home from the beach. And I said to Adam Oh, it looks like it’s gonna storm I might just quickly have a bath. And I’m a big bath person. So I had a bath, shaved my legs, washed my hair. Got out of the bath braided my hair. Yeah. And I always said to Adam, I wanted my hair braided for labor. And so as I was doing it, he came in and he was like, Are we having a baby tonight? I was like, No, I just feel like braiding my hair. So it’s out of the way. So had you told him you were having some contractions? I hadn’t started contractions yet. Before we got to dinner with my parents. Gotcha. Yeah. Um, so I think my body knew that things were gonna happen. But I was completely oblivious. I found you know, this dream of having birth on a beach. Yeah, like it was definitely some sort of turth to it yeah, it was exactly what everyone said to me. They’re like you’re brave with all of your birth dreams on the beach, who’s to say you’re not going to go into labor. And my birth photographer she said, I’m down for a beach birth. We just call me I’ll be there. Yeah, so I think deep down in my body, it knew that things were going to happen that night, but I was completely unaware. So yeah, I’d had that bath then so I’d gone into labor I tried the tents hated it. Came back upstairs had another bath. And I then thought I should be timing these contractions. This was three o’clock by this point. I’d been going for three hours hadn’t woken Adam just yet.

Alison Mitchell  44:48

But most people like when I was like, I should be timing them. Oh, three minutes. Yeah. off to hospital.

Brooke Blair  44:55

Well, I started timing them because I thought this. These are happening far more frequently than I thought that should be like I was expecting one every 20 minutes for a couple of hours then 10 minutes. No, no, I was having 30 There were 40 to 60 seconds long each contraction. And they were coming every three to six minutes.

Alison Mitchell  45:12

That’s great. you went bang.

Brooke Blair  45:14

Yeah, it was straight into active labor. So I thought, oh, okay, interesting, because your water’s broken, you know, you know, so just the contractions. And my whole pregnancy like the last couple of weeks, I’ve been self checking my own cervix, because I thought that’ll give me a good idea of when things are happening. I totally did that, too. Yeah. And everyone kept saying to me, cuz I’ve been saying it quite a lovely chiro. And my midwife, they both said to me, Brooke, get your fingers out of your vagina. Of course, it’s not going to open if you keep poking it. I was like, I know, I know. But it’s just good to check. And so I promised them I wouldn’t, but I kept doing it.

Alison Mitchell  45:52

i wash My hands.

Brooke Blair  45:52

Yeah, of course. And so then while I was in the bath, and I was having these contractions, I thought, just gonna stick my fingers up my vagina and check my cervix have never felt a cervix that was dilating before. So I don’t know what I thought I was checking for. But in hindsight, I think I was probably two or three centimeters dilated because I could kind of like spread my fingers and feel something

Alison Mitchell  46:10

it would have been like a little bit, like softer as well.

Brooke Blair  46:13

Yeah, it was just different to what I’m what I know, a cervix feels like. And so at 330 I messaged my midwife to say, hey, just letting you know, these are what my contractions are doing. I’m going okay, though. I’m just in the bath. And so I just kept putting off waking Adam up and then at 430.

Alison Mitchell  46:30

So he had he does he know yet?

Brooke Blair  46:32

No, let’s still asleep. So I was like, yeah, so at 430 I’m fully naked. I walk into the bedroom, and I woke him. I was so just shook him and I said a doll. And he was like, Yeah, I said, I’m gonna need you soon. So I’m fully naked on the bed. And he was like, Okay. And then he went back to sleep. I was like, no, no, like, I’m gonna need you. It’s like, why? He said, I’m in labor. He was like, oh, okay, and went back to sleep. So I woke him again. I said, No, no, like, really. So he got out, went to the toilet, went back to bed. So then I had to wait. This is the guy who struggles to sleep but had no problems at this point sleeping. And so I said, told him again, and he was like, oh, okay, psyche, it clicked all of a sudden, you’re like, half asleep, probably when you were telling him. Yeah, yeah. So he’s woken up, made himself a coffee, and we’re straight downstairs to set up the birth pool. I’d love him to set everything up downstairs without me telling him to do anything. And so I’m just upstairs laboring away. Meanwhile, our dogs were at home. And we weren’t planning on our dogs being here, when I had the baby, because we thought, anytime I make a loud noise, we’ve got the two dogs and our youngest one, he jumps up on me when I make noise as if, like what’s going on. And I thought I would be quite allowed labor, which I was. But they were both really calm. So we have a girl, dog, Hazel, and she just slept the whole time wasn’t fazed in the slightest, and our boy dog scene, but he’d been following me around for a few hours and just watching me every time I’d have a contraction. So Adam said to me, you know, should we call your mom and get her to come and pick up the dogs? Or what do you want to do? And I said, no other dogs are fine. We’ll just leave them. So we kept the dogs for the whole labor, which was amazing. So yeah, I was up and down the stairs laboring away, and Simba, our boy dog, he would just follow behind me, you know, twos, always two steps behind me. Quiet as anything, never made a fuss must have known. I think they both knew. And so when I’d have a contraction, you just lay down by my side. And then I’d get up and move again. And he just followed me again. So

Alison Mitchell  48:33

so when you see up and down the stairs, like even like we going up and down, like to help with the contractions.

Brooke Blair  48:37

So no, I was just like, I’d kind of move around the house just to see where I felt more comfortable. Yeah. And eventually I ended up just staying downstairs because that’s where the birth pool was. That’s where all of like my affirmations and everything, kind of that I’d visualized that I wanted around me where. So I’d kind of go and sit on the toilet and have some contractions on the toilet. And then I lay on the lounge. And wherever I was, we’ve got all these photos of him just being like right by my side, like with his head on the lounge looking at me, and it was very sweet. And so I then found because I didn’t have my 10s machine because I hated it. I then thought well, I’ll get in the shower. So I’ve had at this point, I’ve had two baths. So before we went to mom and dad’s for dinner, and another one that morning, then I got in the shower, and I thought I’d had a five minute long shower when Adam came and said, Okay, Darl, you should probably get out we need to save hot water to fill up the birth pool. And I was like, I haven’t even been in here that long. What is he talking about? So I got out and I laid it on the lounge again. And it was it sucked. So I got back in the shower. And he was like, No, really, we’re going to run out of hot water. And I said What is your problem? I’ve been here for two minutes. He said Do you last show was over an hour long and now you’ve been here for 30 minutes. Oh, yeah.

Alison Mitchell  49:53

So that’s time distortion. Yeah, but

Brooke Blair  49:55

I had no idea how long I’d been there. Which people To say that to you, like you’ve got no concept of time, but until you’re in it, you have no idea that it’s true. Like,

Alison Mitchell  50:05

I think my active pushing was like an hour, but I felt like it was 10 minutes. Yeah,

Brooke Blair  50:10

it’s crazy. Crazy. Um, so then I was in the shower for the second time, Adam got me out of it. That’s okay. Um, and then we turn the shower off. And Adam started to feel the birth portfolio. And he was like, Oh, good. We’ve run out of hot water. So I just had, yeah. And I just looked at him like, well, you deal with it, mate. It’s not my problem right now. I’ve got other things  too. So

Alison Mitchell  50:40

he’s he goes the kettle. And

Brooke Blair  50:43

Adam said to me, later, not at the time, he said, my first thought was, oh, my God, I’m going to have to build a fire in the backyard so that I can boil. So. I was like, Oh my God, thank God, you didn’t say that to me. I would have like, murdered you having that thought. He said, so then I came upstairs and I realized, Oh, we’ve got a stove so I can boil water that way. He was gonna go all caveman on us.  Oh, Bubby. Um, and so he then contacted our birth photographer and midwife again. Because they were here. They weren’t here just yet. So I think that was maybe at like, 830. He contacted them. And he said to my birth photographer, by the way, she’s just down the road. He said, By the way, do you mind bringing your kettle we’ve run out of hot water. So she arrives with the kettle, and she God love her. She was helping him go up and down the stairs to fill the birth pool with all of our boiling water. And our midwife wasn’t here still at this point. And so I think I think it may be nine o’clock, Adam had called her and I was in the middle of a contraction. And so she heard me moaning in the background. And she said to him, that’s all I need to know. I’m on my way right now. And she came because I was vocalizing quite a bit. And she comes from Leura. So we knew it was going to take her about an hour. So then she maybe arrived, I think she arrived just out to 10. And at that point, I’d been in labor for 10 hours, so I was exhausted. So I got on the lounge and got into child’s pose and stuck my bum in the air. And so I took his head off my cervix and completely slowed my labor down. So I’ve gone from having a contraction every, like three minutes now consistently to having one contraction every 10 to 15 minutes. Yeah. Which was great for me.

Alison Mitchell  52:46

Did you know that was gonna happen?

Brooke Blair  52:48

I think I did. But I thought I don’t care. I need a break. Yeah. So I just laid there and slept for a bit in between contractions. And I felt terrible because I thought, oh my gosh, now the second midwife had arrived. I thought they’re both here. Think watching having this baby soon. Yeah. And here I am sleeping. Yeah. And now they probably think that I was lying or something, which they didn’t. But they were up here just all sitting around the coffee, but coffee table, having that tea and a cuppa. And then I think they’d let me sleep for maybe an hour. And then my midwife came downstairs and she said to me very gently, she said, Brooke, do you want to meet your baby today? I said, Yes. She said, Me too. How about we get you up and moving and put his pressure his head back on your cervix so that we start things up again? And I was like, Okay, fair enough. Because I didn’t want to because then it was going to be uncomfortable again.

Alison Mitchell  53:41

You escaped the pain for a bit.

Brooke Blair  53:43

Yeah, exactly. Um, so then she had me properly walking the stairs to start things up again. So Adam and I together would go up and down the stairs like 10 times. And then we’d walk up and down the backyard, and then I’d go and sit on the toilet and have contractions on the toilet. So my water still hadn’t broken at this point. It was maybe 1130. And then, so we kept doing that. And then I went and sat on the toilet. And I kind of been doing a little bit of pushing and kind of checking my cervix. And then I had a little bit of a bloody show very slight, bloody show when I’d white. So we did some more walking came back to the toilet, and I’d wiped and I pulled out my mucus plug. And I was so excited. I wish there was a photo of my face. When I pulled this mucus plug out. Adam was bent down putting a new pad in my underpants for me and I pulled this thing out next to his head was like my mucus plug How amazing. Um, because to me, that was a sign that things were actually progressing. So my midwife came in and checked it she said, Yep, that’s definitely mucus plug. How good and then I think I’m unsure of the timing of this, but I’m pretty sure then I stood up off the toilet, because Adam said come on darl. You’ve been there for a while. Let’s go and do some more walking and I stood up there. Yeah, I stood up and my waters broke all over our feet. And it really I always listened to birth stories of people saying, I wasn’t sure whether I wet myself or it was my waters broken and I thought surely, you know, I had no idea. I was like, Ah, I think I could have wet myself, but I think it could be my waters. I’m really not sure.

Alison Mitchell  55:19

It’s probably so numb down there.

Brooke Blair  55:22

Yeah, I just have no idea.

Alison Mitchell  55:25

I think mine was like, I all of a sudden notice that everything’s wet.

Brooke Blair  55:29

Yeah. Yeah. Bizarre.

Alison Mitchell  55:32

Like you don’t feel it happening. Like, yeah, I was. I think I might have heard like a bit of a sound you ever thought remember now? Yeah. Well,

Brooke Blair  55:39

I don’t remember feeling a pop. I just remember going Oh, yeah. Like, I’m, something’s coming out of me. And it felt like it could be urine. But I didn’t know. And my midwife came in and she said, No, no, it’s clear. It’s definitely your waters. How good. And so I sat back down on the toilet. I thought, well, this is working. So I’m going to stay here. So I sat down on the toilet and had a few more contractions there.

Alison Mitchell  56:00

This is where they use birthing stools.

Brooke Blair  56:01

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. But also, I think, because we were at home and I was walking outside, I thought, I think I was subconsciously holding on my pelvic floor, because I was like, I don’t want to weigh myself outside and have possibly my neighbors see that happen. So being on the toilet, I could just constantly we and relax. Yeah. So that’s I think when things started to progress a lot more.

Alison Mitchell  56:24

Yeah. And that really goes to show that sort of element of fear and tension. Yeah. And selfconsciousness  Yeah, hold that thought ever. Yeah. And I mean, our neighbors weren’t even home. So I don’t know why I was thinking that but I was. Yeah, I just kept saying to Adam, no, I don’t want to weigh myself in front of people. Um, so I was having more contractions on the toilet. And then Adam came me. I don’t know how long I’ve been there. But Adam came into the bathroom. And he said, Don’t do get in the pool. Because I hadn’t even considered the pool. At this point. I thought it looked really hot. Yeah, I feel this pull up for you. And because I think I was still thinking in my head that I wasn’t I wasn’t having this baby. vaginally, I still had my last couple of dreams in my head of I’m having a cesarean blue curtain. Yeah, yeah. Um, and so I didn’t want to get in the pool because I thought, Oh, well, we’re just gonna have to call an ambulance to transfer me to hospital soon anyway. So he came in and said, you want to get in the pool. And I thought I would love to be in the pool right now. That would be great. And my midwives said later, they were like, we just kept waiting for you to get in. And you just kept on like sitting on the toilet and going somewhere else. And we’re waiting for you to say I can’t cope. And then we tell you to get in the pool, and just sat in the toilet, you didn’t do anything. So I got in the pool, finally. And that was a huge relief from all of the pressure that I was feeling. Because I can’t really remember like, Adam says to me later, I never said that I had pain. But he kept saying that I kept telling you, I was experiencing a lot of pressure in my bum. And in my tummy. So also on the toilet, I’d been involuntary, maybe voluntary pushing, but I didn’t want to tell anyone because I didn’t want to get in trouble, which I wouldn’t have. But in my mind, I was like, No, I shouldn’t be doing this yet. I don’t think my cervix is out of the way enough. So they’ll tell me to stop if they know that I’m pushing that you were doing it consciously?

Brooke Blair  58:17

I think so. Okay, um, either way, whether it was conscious or not. I was pushing

Alison Mitchell  58:21

we had you experience the bearing down like, yeah, when you like when you’re actually pushing like, we can’t control it?

Brooke Blair  58:30

I think so. Like, I think I think that’s what was happening. Like, I think it was spontaneous pushing, but I don’t think I also knew that I was pushing with it, maybe. But I kept thinking, No, my cervix isn’t fully dilated yet. I shouldn’t be doing that. So yeah, so I got in the pool. And then I’d started doing some pushes. But then I’d also started self checking my cervix again, classic.

Alison Mitchell  58:56

And I kept saying to my, my guess was a bit like even the ultrasound. Yeah,

Brooke Blair  58:59

exactly. I knew that. I shouldn’t do it, but I kept doing it. Yeah, exactly. But I kept checking my cervix. And I was saying to my midwife, my cervix isn’t even fully dilated yet. I shouldn’t be pushing. It’s in the way she was like, that’s okay. Brooke, everything that you’re doing sounds great. Keep going. Um, so then I got on all fours. And I was kind of in like a W sit so like my knees in and my feet out? Yeah. So open up open the pelvic outlet. And I was having lots of contractions quite frequently and I was pushing with each of them vocalizing a lot like that really low key, I guess that mooing sound that you think that you can replicate? But I don’t think I could ever replicate until I’m in labor again. Oh,

Alison Mitchell  59:41

I think I did the cow noise Yeah, I remember looking at it. I had a little bit of a birth video and I was like, I don’t even I’m like I’m scared to look at the video. The noise

Brooke Blair  59:50

Yeah, it’s just like it’s otherworldly. And so Adam was in front of me like and I was squeezing his hands every contraction and I was pushing and bearing down on Meanwhile, our dogs are still there. So Hazel still was upstairs, but simple was downstairs just watching he just sit by my side, like not in the pool, obviously, but right next to the pool and just watch the whole thing silently. And then I said to Adam, I was like, he’s just not coming down. My cervix is still there, and my midwife had the mirror. And I think that you could start to see that everything was stretching and his head was coming. I wasn’t crowning yet. But I still was thinking that I wasn’t having this baby. I don’t know why. And Adam said, doll, I can see his head. He’s definitely coming down. And I was like, No way. And then my midwife said, Brooke, check, check against sticky fingers up your vagina, check again. Can you feel his head? And I was like, Oh my gosh, it’s his head that I’ve been feeling this whole time, not my cervix. And she said, does he have any hair? And I said, Not no hair in this photo is and he definitely has hair. A little bit too slippery. Yeah, I had no ID. Um, and then so I kept pushing. And I said to Adam, again, he just won’t get out. And Adams had no doll. He’s coming. I can see he’s got your eyes. And I was like, shut up, Adam. So he was just like having a joke with me at this point in my midwife was like you are going to be murdered if you keep trying to joke with her right now. We’re tied up. Yeah, exactly. And so I’d been pushing and I could say I’d started to crown and I could feel his head come out maybe one or two centimeters. And then my contractions would stop then in sync back away inside. And then it happened again, and come out a bit further and sink back in. And in my rational brain, I knew that was a good thing. But in my irrational brain, I was like, just get out of me. Like, I just need to push more,

Alison Mitchell  1:01:41

get out and stay out

Brooke Blair  1:01:42

so that it can come out. And I thought like it had been happening for a while. And I was thinking surely there’s not much head left that has to come out like surely it’s happening soon. And my midwife kept saying you’re doing so beautifully, bro. He’s stretching you perfectly. This is great. So she was so encouraging. And I’ve got my hand there the whole time feeling how much of his head was coming out and trying to like guard my perineum and move my parents out of the way to try and avoid tearing.

Alison Mitchell  1:02:09

Are you still in your W sit? Yes.

Brooke Blair  1:02:11

And so because it just kept on happening like that. My midwife said, How about we try maybe getting into a lunge, put one of your legs forward, and let’s just try a different position. So I put my left leg forward and was in a really deep lunch, and then my next contraction, I think that’s when his head came out. And I was expecting his head to sit there for a bit and like my contractions to stop and then have more contractions and push the rest of him out. But his head came out, then this arm flung out of me that his whole body just slip it out all at once. was surreal. It’s crazy. Um, and so then I just reached down and I just like I because I had my hand and that whole time, I grabbed him and I grabbed him around the neck. And I put my other hand under his bum and just like lifted his whole body out of the pool to show Adam because Adam couldn’t see what was happening at this point. Because I was bent over. And the midwives were all like, going, yay. Like how amazing Adam was like, what’s happening, what’s happening. And there’s photos, they’re so beautiful. There’s photos of where I’ve just started to lift Byron up out of the pool, and you can see Adams face and he’s just like, so happy and so excited. And then there’s another photo of my face when I’ve got him out of the pool. And I’ve just got like this huge grin on my face like oh my gosh, we’ve just done this. Yeah.

Alison Mitchell  1:03:28

no blue curtains

Brooke Blair  1:03:29

Yeah, no blue curtains here, no ambulance here. And so yeah, he was out. It was just so amazing. Like the fact that he was finally here is like the most surreal thing ever. And so straightaway, I like sat back and like put him on my chest. And his umbilical cord was quite short. So I could just get him onto my chest, but I couldn’t properly sit down in the pool. Because it felt like I was tugging on my placenta. And so we sat back and the dogs were there. So 10 minutes before he was born, Hazel our girl dog she came downstairs, and the second midwife said Oh, Hazel’s here, that means that the baby’s coming soon. And 10 minutes later, he was born, so it was crazy. We also throughout I forgot to say we had a dragon fly, because we had our doors all open downstairs. We had a dragon fly that kept flitting in and out and like landed on our walls and would land on our birth photographer Beth, and our midwife Google that afterwards. And she said that it’s a symbol of transformation and change. So that was crazy, because I could like I wasn’t aware of the dragon fly, but I could hear them say oh, the dragon flies back again. Like while I was having contractions and things. So that was pretty amazing to know that that was happening. So we’ve got photos of the dragon fly too. And so he took maybe 30 seconds to start breathing so which also felt like two seconds like I was not concerned in the slightest. But the movements were saying just breathe on his face. Bonnie’s face, give him a little tap. And he started to cry. And as soon as he started to cry, Simba started to cry out boy talk. We’ve got videos of that as well. Yeah. And so that was him. He was out. And we were a family of three. Our little Byron was here.

Alison Mitchell  1:05:16

Oh, and he’s so cute. He’s so content right now.

Brooke Blair  1:05:20

I know. He’s such a good boy.

Alison Mitchell  1:05:24

Oh, that’s wonderful. Okay, and so then placenta came out fine.

Brooke Blair  1:05:29

Yes. So we had I had a bit of a bleed after, like when my placenta was due to come out. So I’d given birth to human, I reckon we’d maybe spend 10 minutes in the pool. And while I was sitting there, I’d said, I feel like I’m about to lose a lot of blood, like I just had this sensation vaginally that something was coming out. So I had quite a big gush of blood. And my midwives weren’t concerned, but I think they were kind of going, we really want to check where that blood is coming from. And I thought I’d be stressed by that. And I thought Adam would be stressed by that. But we were both just like, so in love with him. And I felt so fine, that I wasn’t concerned that there was this blood there. So we got out of the pool. And I wouldn’t hand him off to anyone, like I was holding him while everyone was helping me out of the pool. I was like, no, no, no one’s taking my child from me. Um, and then as I got out of the pool, I had another gush of blood. So the my midwife said, Let’s just give you this Syntocin injection, which I had no concerns about having because as long as he was fine, and I was fine, and we didn’t have to go to hospital. After having everything happened at home, I thought, Nah, that’s fine. I don’t care what you need to give me from this point forward, do whatever. So I had this syntocin injection. And then we did a little bit of like, she was helping my placenta to come out sooner to try and stop the bleeding. So yeah, maybe 20-30 minutes after he was born, we birth the placenta. And we obviously had delayed cord clamping, they’d waited until the cord was completely clear. Before Adam then cut the cord, and we think it was just maybe we don’t really know where the bleeding came from. But we think because the umbilical cord was so short, maybe when I pulled him out, I kind of tugged on the placenta, and that’s where the blood came from. Straight after the injection, I had no more loss of blood, like abnormally large loss of blood, which was good. So yeah, it’s just kind of laying on our lounge downstairs having skin to skin time with my baby. And the placenta came out and I didn’t even like I felt it come out because I was having to push a little bit to help her get the placenta out. But it wasn’t painful at all. It’s kind of just the global. Yeah, yeah. It was just like I felt a bit empty. After that. Yeah. Which was weird. Yeah, and so they were just checking the placenta to make sure that there wasn’t anything retained when it had come out which it all looked fine. And I tried to latch him on because I thought if I can get him on my boob, I was also had lots of breastfeeding dreams. Oh, and so even pre pregnancy, I would like wake up sad that I didn’t have a baby on my breast when I woke up that morning. So I was super excited to try and breastfeed him. But we couldn’t get into latch straightaway. So we’ll just then having cuddles and then Adam had cuddles. And then my midwives were packing everything up. While we just laid there and enjoyed our new baby. They put a load of washing on they brought me some food and a cup of tea. For some reason. My I thought I was going to have the baby overnight, not at four o’clock in the afternoon. So I had pancakes thinking we’ll have pancakes for breakfast, that’ll be nice. But what I asked for was an apple and a cup of tea. That’s what they brought me. And yeah, so then we did all the baby checks and everything. He was perfect. Everything looked great. So from there, we then the midwives helped me in to have a shower, and then got me dressed and we went upstairs and laid in bed and tried to feed him again. So we ended up syringe feeding him that night. And I think it maybe seven o’clock, the midwives left. So they’d been there from by 1030 that morning. And we were just tucked up in bed with our puppies and our baby and bliss.

Alison Mitchell  1:09:16

And so, dogs have been fine with him having

Brooke Blair  1:09:19

they lay him. Yeah, they love him. I think Hazel being that she’s older, she’s about 13. So I like to think that she knew that you know what was happening? And she thought no, I’m not going to respect their space and not go down there until the baby’s nearly here. And Simba was just so excited like he just wanted he wanted to try and just kiss him and kiss me all over which we wouldn’t let him obviously but he was just so interested in Byron and he would whine whenever Byron cried and he’d be right there checking on him like what’s going on? What can I do to help?

Alison Mitchell  1:09:56

So that was really sweet. Yeah, yeah. And breast feedings being good?

Brooke Blair  1:10:01

Breastfeeding has been so we had a little bit of difficulty initially. So we couldn’t get him to latch. Until maybe the third or fourth days, we were syringe feeding and with my colostrum up until that point, and we managed to get him to attach on to my right breast, we had to like flip my nipple into his mouth. And we got that to happen a few times. But we couldn’t get the other breast to happen. So we started using nipple shields. We maybe used them for a week. And my midwife had said, maybe on the second day, I think that he could have a tongue tie. And being that it was so close to Christmas, it was the 16th that he was born in December. So we called straightaway to booking with a lactation consultant, and we got in with her. I think, just after Christmas, maybe on the 27th. So we were using nipple shields maybe for seven to 10 days. We saw her and she kept his tongue tie. He had quite a decent tongue tie. Use nipple shields that day in the next day. And then after that, we were off nipple shields, and he was latching beautifully. And everything’s been great since I had a bit of oversupply. my left boob is an overachiever and likes to produce a lot of milk, which he didn’t like straightaway, because it would shoot him in the back of the throat. So he’d just be like coughing and spluttering. And there’s milk all over his face and all over everything.

Alison Mitchell  1:11:24

And then they take off, take off and then and then it’s just like spraying their face and then trying to stop it.

Brooke Blair  1:11:30

Yeah. And then he’s like, looking at me, like, what are you doing to me, Mum? Um, so since that, that probably took maybe seven weeks to kind of settle down. But yeah, otherwise, everything’s been going great, thankfully, which I’m so glad about because I desperately wanted to breastfeed. So I’m feeling very lucky that we’ve been able to get

Alison Mitchell  1:11:49

that to work. Yeah, that’s wonderful. Yeah. And how’s your pelvic floor

Brooke Blair  1:11:54

pelvic floor is good. So being being the pelvic floor physio that I am as soon as we’d given birth to him, and my midwives were checking, and they’d taken the placenta out, or helped me birth the placenta, and then they were checking to see if I’d had any chairs. I was like, I wonder if I can squeeze my pelvic floor right now. So I gave it a squeeze. And I said to them, girls, I can still squeeze my pelvic floor right now. Stupid. But then they were like, please don’t do that. You just push the baby out. We don’t need you doing that right now. But I thought that’s great, wonderful tip. So I did have a second degree tear, which we stitched up to the second day after I’d given birth to him. Because we weren’t sure if we were going to stitch it or not my midwife, she tends to kind of leave tears. Because her thoughts are the vagina is not like this open vessel, it’s closed and shut and generally your legs are together. So it tends to just heal itself. But I kind of had this random little flap that she wanted to stitch back on. Being that I should know better. But I chose to go against all of my knowledge. A few days after that, maybe the day after she’d stitched me went for a walk up to a cafe vocally. And I had him in a carrier on my chest. I was like, let’s show off this baby of ours. Three day old baby. Yeah, exactly. Our fresh newborn people were going that baby’s very younger, like, yes, he’s three days old, though, like, Wow. Um, and so I told my stitches, unfortunately, which was quite uncomfortable. I just felt a bit stiff and a bit sore. And I thought that doesn’t feel right. And I’d taken a few photos and showed my midwife said, oh, yeah, your stitches have come away. Do you know when that happened? And I said, Oh, could have been I was walking would have been that walk that I shouldn’t have gone on. So yeah, they came away. And that was quite uncomfortable for a few weeks. So I just had to kind of keep my legs together and not do as much as what I had been trying to do. Basically, all the things that I tell my girls to do, I saw listen to, like, taking your Yeah, it’s like I needed one of the girls from work to like, text me all of the information that I give out and go, you know, this book, but here and then I would have gone. Ah,

Alison Mitchell  1:14:05

of course. That’s always the way Yeah, we don’t listen.

Brooke Blair  1:14:10

So yeah, once that had healed, everything’s been fine. Thankfully, I was constipated for maybe six days. So that was terrifying. But the first poo was okay. Um, but yeah, so I’ve had my six week check with the girls at work and my pelvic floor is still functioning really well, which is nice. We kind of grade pelvic floor strength out of five. And at the moment, I’ve got a four which is good. And I wasn’t really having any issues or concerns. I had a little bit of like a bubbly sensation, which is a sign that there could be a prolapse there just feels like there’s something there that shouldn’t be there. And I’ve got a family history of prolapse. So I was kind of expecting that when they checked me that I would have a prolapse and most women within the first six weeks nearly everyone who’s had a vaginal birth has some degree of mobility of their tissue. So prolapse being like extra descent of either the bladder uterus or the bowel. And so I had a little bit of movement of my bladder. And so we’re kind of just monitoring that. And I’ve got some herbs from you to try and help with lifting everything back up. But now that I’m what 10 weeks postpartum, I haven’t really felt that sensation for probably four weeks now. So I just need to remind myself, because I’m easy to take it easy still. Yeah. And they had a baby 10 weeks ago. So as much as I’d love to go for a run, I’m not I’m just kind of keeping everything low intensity. For now. We’ve been at the gym, but you’ve been taking it easy. Yeah, yes. I haven’t been doing any jumpy activities just yet. And I haven’t been lifting heavy weights. But I’ll start to kind of increase my activity. I’ve got another physio appointment in a week or two. So we’ll check in see where things are at. And then I’ll hopefully start to increase my activity. Yeah. Which is good. I’m looking forward to

Alison Mitchell  1:15:54

that. Yeah. I bet you are, very much sp. So Brooke was saying before, she just really wants to go out for a run. But yeah, she’s like keeping yourself under control.

Brooke Blair  1:16:03

I am I went for a swim yesterday, instead of a run. I thought I just need to move my body, what’s the best way to do it? And I said to Adam, I’m going to go for a run. He said, No, how about you go to the pool and you go for a swim. So I took that option instead? But yeah, I guess for sure.

Alison Mitchell  1:16:22

But when you were when we were planning this, you did a question on your Instagram. If anyone has any questions about your birth? Has there been anything anyone’s asked that we haven’t covered? And so the main questions were just asking kind of like to tell the whole story. I had one question, I think from another pelvic floor physio who she asked if I’d ever considered like, did I feel pressured into having a vaginal birth being that I’m a pelvic floor physio? Or did I have fears about it and consider maybe having a cesarean because of the risk of having a third degree tear? Which I guess we’ve kind of answered. And one of the questions was, how did I keep the oxytocin levels high? Which I guess kind of being at home being in your own environment, I had my dogs he like symbol would always give me cuddles. Whenever I bent down, give me a little case. And I had lots of photos around that made me feel really happy. Yeah.  And I think feeling safe. Yeah,

Brooke Blair  1:17:22

yeah, exactly. Just being at home. It just felt right. And obviously having Adam with me, the whole time was nice and not have to kind of worry about who was coming in and out. We knew the only other three people who were going to be there was my midwife who I, you know, we’d built that rapport with. So we knew her and I felt really great when she’d arrived. We had a birth photographer, Beth, who was lovely, she’d been so supportive through the whole pregnancy, knowing that we’d had the miscarriage and like knowing all of our plans. And then the second midwife who arrived Her name was Natasha, she was so beautiful. She was so lovely. She was always giving us like, encouraging words. And she was helping Adam fill the pool and padding the dogs. So I think just being at home in the people, but we’re here really helped you. Yeah, I think that was probably the biggest thing that kind of kept me stress free and feeling all the wealth.

Alison Mitchell  1:18:14

Yeah, like that’s a that’s a quiet amount of support. Like your partner and three other women there. Yeah, of course, you dogs, whereas in a hospital setting, often they leave you alone in the room. Yeah. That can be really scary. Yeah, lonely. Yeah, exactly socially, in COVID times as well, when, like, up until recently have been able to have a doula or birth support.

Brooke Blair  1:18:35

Yeah, I think it was the day that we were talking about it after I’d had him. So that day, the 16th, they just bought back in that you could only have the one support person. So up until that day, you could have to support people in hospitals. So we were going in or if we do have to transfer for whatever reason, I’ve got Adam and at least I’ve got my midwife being able to come in with me, just in case, because we’d obviously planned for if that was, you know, to be the need to birth in hospital, which could always be the case no matter what happens. So we’ve kind of planned for that of what that might look like. And then yeah, that day, they’d brought in only the one support person. So knowing that I could have my full kind of support people there was amazing.

Alison Mitchell  1:19:21

Amazing. Yeah, yeah. And going through COVID times as well. How did you go in terms of navigating that and like in immunization? How How was that for you?

Brooke Blair  1:19:35

That was tricky. So when they first brought out the vaccines, they weren’t saying that they were safe yet for pregnancy. And so Adam was more than happy to get his vaccine he was very comfortable with that. I when they then said that pregnant women were recommended the vaccine I felt a little bit uncomfortable about it, just not knowing enough about it yet. It was so so new. Yeah, yeah. So I felt a little bit uncertain about it and didn’t like the idea of getting it for myself. And I’d spoken to the girls at work, who’d had babies, and we’d kind of gone like, they’d all gotten their vaccine. And they were like, you know, I don’t know what I do if I was pregnant, to be honest. So being that was the case, I kind of we waited the first couple of weeks. But then it was getting quite bad. And I was terrified of catching COVID, we’d had an instance where Adam was a close contact at work in trading someone who had COVID. And so we had an isolation, we had the 14 day isolation, and during that time, I’ve made myself sick with worry about what would happen. I think I was 25 weeks, and was so stressed and concerned about what would happen if I’d caught it. And I’d read all of these stories online about pregnant women having to deliver via emergency cesarean and all sorts of horrible things that made me terrified. And so that’s when I then got in contact with you, actually. And I said, Help me, what should I do? Tell me, I think you said to me, What’s your concern with getting the vaccine and so I explained, you know, I just don’t know enough about it, what happens if something happens, you know, a year, or two years or five years or 10 years down the track to my baby. So we had a really good chat about that. And you explained the process of vaccines and how they work. And we kind of spoke about why we both thought that then having that chat, it was safe for me to have and probably encouraged for me to have being that I was still at work and in contact with so many people. And Adam as well was in contact with so many people that risk of catching it was just that bit higher than if I could work from home. And I spoke to my GP about it as well. And she was quite encouraging of getting it. So then we kind of booked it in after that. I took a lot of herbs. And we did what vitamin C and D and a bunch of other things.

Alison Mitchell  1:21:48

Yeah, a few a few pregnancy friendly things that help to reduce potential side effects. So yeah, like improve the, the way that the immune system responds,

Brooke Blair  1:21:58

yeah, yeah. So I started taking those and then I we booked in and I still felt nervous having my first vaccine. But I had absolutely no symptoms whatsoever, no side effects, nothing. And then, by the time that I was it was almost like when I was driving home from it, I had my 15 minute wait, and I was like, No, I feel fine. I feel normal. Everything’s okay. It was almost like this weight off my shoulders that I’d done. And I was like, Okay, I’ve made my choice. I’ve done it, it’s fine. So then we had the second one. And I wasn’t nervous for that one other than the possible side effects because Adam had had horrendous side effects. After his second one with the second one. He was really quite unwell. I had mine and I was fine again. So yeah, that was good. But yeah, it was a stressful time. Like I spoke to a lot of clients who were also pregnant at the time. And we’re all kind of working out what we wanted to do and what we felt comfortable with. And there was lots of my clients had already had it. And they felt very strongly in their decision that they’d had it. There was lots of clients who felt really strongly against it. So yeah, it was kind of one of those people would ask me what I felt. I was like, I don’t know what I feel yet. I have no idea. Um, so yeah, it was really stressful making that decision. But then once I’d kind of made it and once I’d had the vaccine and went from there, it felt I felt much more protected being at work. Because up until that point, I thought maybe the best option for me is just to work from home and do telehealth consults only. But yeah, then I felt more comfortable being at work after I’d had it. So

Alison Mitchell  1:23:29

that is hard in your line of work as well. If you do want to have that physical nature

Brooke Blair  1:23:33

to it. Yeah, yeah, I would have been working from home because that would that was September, I think so would have been like three months of working from home and not seeing people in the clinic, which I didn’t. I didn’t like the idea of that. I wanted to be there.

Alison Mitchell  1:23:48

Yeah. And like, you’re so busy. Yeah, like that would have made a big production. Yeah.

Brooke Blair  1:23:53

And I think also, because a lot because of COVID. A lot of our clients who were birthing in hospitals, they weren’t having those face to face sessions with their health providers. So maybe seeing us as physios was the one person like the one health professional that they were getting that face to face contact with. Yeah. And so I thought if I then move to telehealth, of course, they couldn’t see the other girls at work. But I just felt like I wanted to support women face to face in person as much as possible when they weren’t getting that elsewhere. Yeah,

Alison Mitchell  1:24:23

I think that I think that’s definitely important. Yeah, treatment, isn’t it? Yeah, exactly. Is there anything else you wanted to talk about? Or any other words of advice, like looking back that you wanted to impart?

Brooke Blair  1:24:37

I don’t know. I just think birth is amazing. Yes. Um, however you birth I know that like there’s all these things about some people portraying one type of birth is better than another type of birth. And I just think that women as women who can birth amazing, and however you can birth is incredible. Obviously, I feel super lucky that I got the birth I said I’d hoped for. And I really wish that all women no matter how they birth really felt that way. And they felt really encouraged and supported and empowered no matter how they give birth, because it is such a life changing experience

Alison Mitchell  1:25:12

so much. And like, if anything I learned from the birth time documentary as well is that it’s all about as long as you feel like you’re not having something done to you out of your control exactly. And other knowledge, that’s the main thing. So as long as you’re okay with your decision, then like, that’s, that that’s the main thing.

Brooke Blair  1:25:30

Yeah, I think as long as we can. And I mean, that’s what I love about our work so much is being able to help women, be informed. But I think as long as women are informed about their choices and feel supported in the choices that they’re making, no matter how they birth, then that’s kind of what we asked for. I think birth trauma comes from being uninformed, and not knowing and feeling forced into making decisions, as opposed to knowing that you’re making the decision that’s right for you at that time.

Alison Mitchell  1:25:57

Yeah. And you were obviously in a position where you had a lot of knowledge about birth and pregnancy. And I think that’s a really powerful position to be in as well. Yeah. I see a lot of women who have had birth, and then when they’re pregnant with their second they think I wish I knew what I knew. Now, for my first one. Yeah. And so being educated and empowered about birth is such an important thing.

Brooke Blair  1:26:22

Yeah, yeah. At times, I think having more knowledge was scary. And my midwife kept saying to me, we need to switch off the physio side of you that has all of this knowledge, and you just need to be a birthing woman. Which I think we were able to, I was able to do during the labor and during the birth and definitely in the postpartum because I did not think of any of the important things that I tell my girls. I was definitely in the newborn bubble. Yeah. But yeah, having that knowledge and being able to make that decision and having a supportive partner who was able to go, you know what, this is how you feel most comfortable giving birth. This is, you know, really important to you. Let’s look into it and make sure it’s safe. In our head.

Alison Mitchell  1:27:01

He sounds like he was amazing.

Brooke Blair  1:27:03

Yeah. Oh, he was so good. Yeah. He, I said to him, when we’d set up where the birth pool was going to be, we bought a lounge for downstairs to be beside the pool. I said, just in case you pass out, you know, because I’m expecting that you’re faint. At one point during this whole process, which he didn’t hear is amazing. Like, faint like, Oh, yes. Yeah, he’s he’s not good with pain or blood for himself. And so I thought that watching mean pain might be intense for him. But he was amazing every time like when he’d be walking up and down the backyard and I’d be squeezing holding him so tight. And he just like give me little kisses or little cuddles. I just been there. He offered me my water like every after every contraction and make sure I had a drink of water so that I was staying hydrated. Yeah, he was he was so amazing throughout the whole thing. And even since having Byron has been incredible, though, just nice.

Alison Mitchell  1:27:58

It makes such a big difference to have that support.

Brooke Blair  1:28:00

And yeah, even now, like yesterday when I said I just desperately wanted to go for a run. And I because I didn’t want to drive to the pool and swim and then drive back. So I thought then I’m away from the baby for a bit longer. And I’m said no, go. Go and swim. You know, that’s better for you than running is right now. Take some time. Have some time to yourself. We’re fine here. So yeah, even just having him to go. No, no, I’m cool. I’ve got the baby. I’m a dad. It’s okay. You can leave the house. It’s okay. That’s been a big help to you.

Alison Mitchell  1:28:30

Yeah, I’m so glad that you’ve been able to have this experience.

Brooke Blair  1:28:35

Just amazing. Yes. Go back to sleep again.

Alison Mitchell  1:28:40

such a beautiful age. Yeah,

Brooke Blair  1:28:43

it’s nice. It really is. A lot of people have asked me how it is and I was worried about the first couple of months thinking that I’d miss a work and I you know, I feel a little bit down for missing work, but he has just been such a dream. I haven’t missed it. I’ve been still going into work occasionally. But I’ve loved loved this change so so much. It really is more like more incredible than what I thought it would be like I just feel very blessed. Yeah, it’s such a beautiful time. I could have 10 babies if it was all like this.

Alison Mitchell  1:29:21

And I just keep them just like repeat this stage and like repeat it and then not have to deal with them when they’re four.

Brooke Blair  1:29:27

Yeah, well, I would have said to Adam, because we have agreed we only really want to I’ll see after have my second if I’m done but in an ideal world we prior to having babies we said no we just have to one baby and one dog in each hand for each of us that works. But I said to him if all of my pregnancies because other than the blades that my pregnancy was amazing. I felt so beautiful during my pregnancy. I loved having my belly. So if all of my pregnancies and my Labor’s and my births were the same, I could do it 10 times. So how about I just, you know, surrogate for women? If Adam was like, I don’t know, you kind of your brain doesn’t function too well when you’re pregnant. So maybe we can’t afford to do that 10 times. But yeah, I love it that much.

Alison Mitchell  1:30:14

I know. I mean, I’m very happy with my two kids. When I was coming here, I was thinking, I want to have a birth again,

Brooke Blair  1:30:25

so nice. It’s crazy that it’s 10 weeks ago, already.

Alison Mitchell  1:30:31

A lot more joyous moments to come.

Brooke Blair  1:30:33

Yeah, we love him. And all the changes that we keep seeing.

Alison Mitchell  1:30:37

Your smiley little boy. Thank you. Thank you for sharing your story and so that anyone who’s listened as far along, thank you.

Brooke Blair  1:30:51

Thank you for listening. Thank you for having me and chatting with me about my birth and supporting me throughout all of the phases.

Alison Mitchell  1:30:58

Absolute pleasure. Bye, everyone.

Brooke Blair  1:31:01

Bye

The post Brooke’s Pregnancy and Homebirth story appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Guts and Girl Bits Podcast #42 with Renae Bartlett

If you’ve just had a baby, chances are you’re feeling tired and worn out. But what is that feeling is not just normal Mum fatigue, but instead a sign that something else is a bit out of balance.

The thyroid is a delicate, butterfly shaped gland that sits on your neck. It is responsible for your metabolism, and when it goes out of whack you can feel tired, cold, depressed and you can experience things like hair loss and dry skin. Sometimes the thyroid can become too overactive, which can make you feel irritable and cranky and cause unwanted weight loss.

During pregnancy and early motherhood your thyroid glands are sensitive to changes in your immune system and nutritional status, and so this is a time where your thyroid is susceptible to having issues.

In this episode I chat with nutritionist Renae Bartlett about her journey with postpartum thyroiditis, what women need to look out for, how to get screened if you suspect an issue, and we discuss some of the ways you can support your thyroid health as a new mother through your diet.

The Podcast

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Scroll down to read the transcript.

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Renae Bartlett is a Clinical Nutritionist who until 12 months ago, was based in Adelaide South Australia. She is currently residing in Canada for the next two years with her husband, one year old daughter and their dog Diego. Renae assists people by focussing heavily on the fundamental basics of using ‘food first’ for healing, health and wellbeing. Renae was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s in 2016 and Post-Partum Thyroiditis following the birth of their daughter in 2018. This has led Renae down a path focussed on helping women who may have been diagnosed with post-partum thyroiditis, or who are at risk of developing this condition.

https://www.instagram.com/rebornhealthnutrition/

http://www.rebornhealth.com.au/

https://www.facebook.com/RebornHealthNutrition/

Podcast Transcript

Alison Mitchell 0:05
Hi everyone, you’re listening to Guts and Girl Bits. I’m Alison Mitchell a practicing Naturopath. I hope to share with you all sorts of information about women’s health and digestive health to educate and empower you to make informed choices about your own health. Please remember that only information is general and does not replace consulting with a practitioner.

You’re listening to Gut’s and Girl Bits. Today I’m joined with Renae Bartlett, who is a clinical nutritionist who until 12 months ago was based in Adelaide, South Australia. She’s currently residing in Canada for the next two years with her husband, one year old daughter and their dog Diego, and she assists people by focusing heavily on the fundamental basics of using food first for healing, health and well being. Renee was diagnosed with Hashimotos in 2016, and postpartum thyroiditis, following the birth of her Daughter in 2018. This has led Renae down a path focused on helping women who hope may have been diagnosed with postpartum thyroiditis, or who are at risk of developing this condition. So thank you so much for joining me today.

Renae Bartlett 1:14
Thanks, Alison. I’m really glad to be able to speak with you today and your podcast.

Alison Mitchell 1:19
Yay. So let’s start with some basics. So what’s the thyroid gland responsible for in the body.

Renae Bartlett 1:27
So it’s a very important organ that’s part of the body. So it’s part of the endocrine system and its role is centered around producing the hormones that control the metabolism of all of ourselves. So to put that in simple terms, so some of the body functions that it’s involved in is breathing, regulating our heart rate, regulating body weight and body temperature, menstrual cycles, brain function, mood, just to name a few Very, very important organ that’s part of our body.

Alison Mitchell 2:04
Yes, so important so much.

Renae Bartlett 2:06
Yes, a lot.

Alison Mitchell 2:09
All right, and then let’s talk about what is postpartum thyroiditis.

Renae Bartlett 2:15
So postpartum thyroiditis, if we look at the two terms separately, so thyroid-itis means inflammation of the thyroid and postpartum being post pregnancy. So essentially it is a inflammation of the thyroid as a result of having a baby and it causes both hyperthyroidism, so overactive and hypo thyroidism. So an underactive thyroid with hyperthyroid or even happening at first in that instance. So, the main the main difference between postpartum thyroiditis and say other inflammation conditions of the thyroid is that it’s that pregnancy that really triggers it.

Alison Mitchell 3:06
Okay. And how common is it?

Renae Bartlett 3:09
So it’s believed that it’s between five to 10% of all pregnant women will be diagnosed with this condition. But a point tonight is it’s often misdiagnosed. And the reason for this is the symptoms can be very similar to those that are women may experience just by virtue of having a baby. So, for example, you know, the the things such as being fatigued, losing hair, insomnia, weight fluctuations, can easily be attributed to just having a baby when in fact, it may actually be postpartum thyroiditis.

Alison Mitchell 3:49
Yeah. So many of those things people would just get dismissed about like it’s just because you’re a mom, or something along those lines, but it could be so much more.

Renae Bartlett 3:58
Absolutely. And postnatal depression is also something that can be closely linked to postpartum thyroiditis. So it may in fact be the thyroid that’s causing the depression state rather than depression as an as an isolated incident. So, even though it’s five to 10%, it may actually be be more than that.

Alison Mitchell 4:21
For sure, yeah. And how do you go about getting it tested.

Renae Bartlett 4:27
So it’s simply a blood test after having a baby. Important to note that symptoms generally won’t start until about six weeks after having a baby. So it’s probably important to speak to clinician about the independent factors that may require the blood test at certain times. But generally recommendation would be around about that. Two month period postpartum and then monitoring after that.

Alison Mitchell 4:57
So if say a woman has been feeling Okay for the early stages of the postpartum period, and then she starts to feel a bit more downhill is that way you’d be thinking maybe it’s the thyroid connection,

Renae Bartlett 5:09
it could very well way and it’s just simply a blood test that it there’s nothing terribly invasive about really saying whether someone may have a thyroid condition after having a baby. And it can simply confirm whether that is something that needs to be further looked at and treated, or it can, it can then be be lumped into another condition and go down that path. So I would certainly recommend for women who have had a baby to have their thyroid tested, regardless after they’ve had had their baby, but certainly those that are in the risk group of developing the condition.

Alison Mitchell 5:50
And does your thyroid function actually changed during pregnancy as well like is this process starting earlier than postpartum?

Renae Bartlett 5:59
So Things happen a lot with pregnancy and the thyroid, think of it like a stress test for your thyroid when you fall pregnant. And the reason for this is that the first trimester, the baby is 100% dependent on the woman’s thyroid. So if there’s already an underlying issue there or even a known issue of of thyroid dysfunction, the that can have have severe implications for the woman’s first trimester of pregnancy. And unfortunately, in some cases, this is where complications such as miscarriage can occur. Between because the thyroid and the body in general cannot sustain the mother let alone the baby as well. If the pregnancy does manage to continue, the baby will then start in that second trimester to use its own thyroid to function and then from about 18 to 20 weeks. The baby will then start producing time for thyroid hormones. So when you look at that, for for someone that may have dysfunction, you’ve got the first potentially 20 weeks where that that woman needs to produce enough thyroid hormones for herself and for her baby as well.

Alison Mitchell 7:19
Yeah, okay. So it’s under a lot more pressure during that period of time. Yeah. And I guess because you know, your thyroid is dependent on certain nutrients as well. So if there’s going to be a funneling of nutrients into the baby, then that’s going to be leaving the mother a bit more deficient, possibly. And then, like you said, there’s an immune involvement too. So I guess that would have an impact.

Renae Bartlett 7:47
Yeah, absolutely. So, an important thing to differentiate is the the immune system is suppressed during pregnancy to account for the fact that the body is essentially creating something that’s foreign. So some people may actually notice if they have a autoimmune condition that their symptoms tend to be a lot better when they’re pregnant in some cases, because that immune suppression, that rebound effect after pregnancy, typically from about the six weeks and certainly in postpartum thyroiditis is is what really drives this, this thyroid inflammation and it’s that rebound of the immune system kicking back in and then going into overdrive. So there really is that the two parts playing in developing this condition, certainly.

Alison Mitchell 8:39
For sure. Okay, so, we’ve talked about, you know, how some of the symptoms that are very similar to that postpartum period generally for women like insomnia and fatigue and possibly depression, are there any other symptoms that women should look out for that might suggest that they have a thyroid issue, possibly during and post pregnancy.

Renae Bartlett 9:02
Yes. So during can be incredibly difficult when you’re just looking at symptoms. And that is because the symptoms are very similar to those that you would experience as a result of being pregnant. So for example, there can be weight changes, typically, weight gain, there can be lack of sleep, there can be irritability, anxiety, there can be mood changes, there can be skin and nail changes. So dry skin, brittle nails, all of those are quite common symptoms in particularly hypothyroid saints, but also their common symptoms that you get when you’re pregnant. Right. So, diagnosing during pregnancy is most often by blood tests, but that usually is monitoring the thyroid to see how it is coping with pregnant. Certainly after pregnancy, if a woman is in that hyperthyroid state, she’s going to experience things like increased heart rate. That could be tremors, heart palpitations, overheating, heat intolerance, insomnia, irritability, anxiety. And then when the condition swings to hyperthyroid, if that does occur, then it goes the other way. So things like fatigue, hair loss, poor memory, constipation, cold intolerance and depression are some of the main things that you would say. Okay.

Alison Mitchell 10:43
So the blood test that we’d be looking at is that typically your TSH and if that’s out of balance, then your T3, T4 and your thyroid antibodies is fairly similar to your standard thorough tests.

Renae Bartlett 10:56
Yeah, that’s correct. Yeah. Okay.

Alison Mitchell 11:00
Are there any predisposing factors for developing past postpartum thyroiditis?

Renae Bartlett 11:05
Yeah, there is. So there’s certainly a strong link between having thyroid autoimmunity before pregnancy. So typically the the TPO antibodies. Also there’s a history of thyroid dysfunction previously, and that can even be transients or may not even be be permanent. If there’s been a family history of any thyroid disorders, or a previous history of postpartum thyroiditis in another pregnancy, and also other autoimmune disorders, particularly type one diabetes, they’re at high ris k of developing this condition.

Alison Mitchell 11:51
Okay. And so it is something that does tend to recur so like if you’ve had it one pregnancy, you’re likely to get it another time.

Renae Bartlett 12:00
Not necessarily at the moment, it’s estimated that about 20% of recurring. So that is some good news that it doesn’t mean that for every pregnancy a woman is necessarily going to continue to have postpartum thyroiditis. It may be one time timeline in which is good news as for that, that 20% it tends to be women that have very high anti thyroid antibodies, where their TSH levels are not in the normal range when they fell pregnant, so certainly about about five I believe or even above 10 and that that is the most likely risk factor for perhaps having it recur.

Alison Mitchell 12:51
Okay. Now, I know that you’ve had a bit of a journey yourself with this, is it something that you would be able to share Your journey with postpartum thyroiditis?

Renae Bartlett 13:02
Yes, certainly. So, I was aware that I had a pre existing thyroid condition before I fell pregnant. And I did have some some difficulties falling pregnant. And I do believe it was it was probably due to my thyroid condition. So once I was successful in falling pregnant, I made sure that I monitored my thyroid levels throughout pregnancy. And I wasn’t on any thyroid medication either. So it was more to just make sure that my body was handling it appropriately. Thankfully, it was everything went along really, really well. I had a really wonderful pregnancy, wonderful birth. And then after having my baby at about three months postpartum, I felt generally quite well but I thought I really need to go and just make sure that my thyroid is functioning as it should. And knowing that I had a previous history I thought that would be a good idea. As it turned out, I was very hypothyroid. Much to the surprise to myself and my, my doctor, because I wasn’t really presenting with very strong symptoms, which I came to find is relatively common. It’s more of a hypothyroid state. If it does swing to that word becomes quite known that there may be an issue. And so I monitored my bloods every four weeks, and I believe after about two months, I then transitioned into hypothyroid. And I did then certainly start to notice symptoms. For me, I had extreme fatigue. I would say quite Moody, you know, crying without really understanding what I was crying about. I can remember one day I was out walking my dog and it was a beautiful day and I started crying and I’m like, Why on earth? am I crying? This is not know. I don’t really understand what’s going on. So luckily for me, I knew that it wasn’t just as a result of having a baby and I knew that wasn’t me going crazy and thinking, you know what? What’s going on? I knew that it was my thyroid driving this and I think that really helped me in dealing with it appropriately and just letting my body try and regulate itself, rather than trying to figure out what was wrong with me, in an essence, so I thought, quite lucky that I managed to do that. And then I ended up deciding to take thyroxine because I felt as though I was lucky that my symptoms were okay but I didn’t know how bad I could get and given my history of having a thyroid condition, I thought it best to go that action. And my doctor said, You know what, let’s, let’s give it a go. And if it’s at a time we feel it appropriate, we can see if we can when you offer and take it off and see how your body handles. So I really liked that approach that, you know, we can just try and manage it how we can and then and then see how my body adapts to it at some point, so. So yeah, that’s kind of been my, my journey with it so far.

Alison Mitchell 16:30
Well, thank you for sharing that. Yeah. And I love how much you were trusting your own body to go through those processes as well.

Renae Bartlett 16:37
Yes, sometimes you’ve just got to take your hand off the wheel, I think and just let it do its thing.

Alison Mitchell 16:42
Yeah. So did you find that it affects breastfeeding?

Renae Bartlett 16:49
I was very fortunate that it didn’t affect my milk supply. I was able to breastfeed and I still am now. My baby will be one in two weeks. So thankfully, I am have been able to do that. But it certainly can affect milk production and is a common symptom in women that have thyroid issues. So it’s certainly can can impair that. Hmm,

Alison Mitchell 17:14
well, hooray for extended breastfeeding. I’m a big fan of that.

Renae Bartlett 17:17
Yeah. Yeah. I felt a sigh of relief when I knew that. That was something that I didn’t have to worry about. Yeah,

Alison Mitchell 17:25
yeah. But it’s so interesting, the way that it expresses differently and everyone and how this the different interplay. So it’s not just a straightforward thyroid effects product and no, it’s there’s other things involved.

Renae Bartlett 17:39
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And you’re so right. And this is where really getting to know yourself, I could have easily spent my entire postpartum period, not even knowing that I had postpartum thyroiditis. Honestly, I really could have because you could have just easily put the things I experienced down to having a baby It’s just it just really presents so differently to any to everyone really? Yeah, symptoms really do vary.

Alison Mitchell 18:08
Yeah, and I do observe quite a lot of the time that it is uncommon to get this thorough testing done even as a general screening. And sometimes, you know, you can be having done it too early, or you might because the thyroid changes so much as well. Like sometimes you do need to repeat a TSH and go up and down and by itself, it’s not always that great an indicator, so you might need to get that complete picture of the testing with antibodies.

Renae Bartlett 18:37
Yeah, absolutely.

Alison Mitchell 18:40
Alright, so knowing what you know now, like say, theoretically if you were to have another bubby. would you do anything to look after your thyroid, preconception or during pregnancy to try and prevent this from happening or, or how would you advise other women to look after their thyroid to prevent it.

Renae Bartlett 19:01
Yeah, so that’s a really good question. Because I have looked back and gone ‘What What could I have done?’ I was really good at at having having a really great, very varied diet you know, a good amount of vegetables, fruits, quality protein fats, I started taking a really good quality prenatal vitamin, three months before pregnancy, fish oil, all of that. The one thing that I didn’t do that I would be really interested to see how that would go and that is taking a supplement of selenium. And the reason why I say Selenium is there has been some clinical studies done that shows some promise in that Selenium supplementation during pregnancy. Even with women that has positive antibodies does significantly reduce the risk of postpartum thyroiditis so I caution that we saying further studies need to be done and certainly it’s not the be all and end all that you know, you take Selenium and you’ll be fine but it is quite promising to show that that nutrient did show some improvements in a study that was done I believe in 2011 so that’s one thing that I didn’t do and I think that’s something that I would I would probably look at and I doing with my next pregnancy

Alison Mitchell 20:35
Yeah, it’s interesting and you know, there’s a lot of multivitamins out there that are pregnancy targeted that have virtually like, you know, very little Selenium in them. Yeah, taking a better quality multivitamin is advisable and or taking some additional selenium anymore. At the very least, I guess eating more Selenium rich foods. but that’s so hard to do, isn’t it? Because

Renae Bartlett 21:01
Yeah,

Alison Mitchell 21:03
A bit hit and miss in foods.

Renae Bartlett 21:05
It is and it varies so MUCH. And then of course, you know, you want to you don’t want to just be taking taking pills all the time, you know, and trying to remember to do that, especially if you’ve already got got children I’m a big advocate for trying to use food as much as you can rather than relying on supplements but with pregnancy there is that increased demand and you know, if it means that it could, could possibly help you after pregnancy then it’s it’s a it’s something worth looking at, if you if you can.

Alison Mitchell 21:42
For sure. And what sort of dosages he generally looking to work within the range of because I know that many people are a bit hesitant to do higher doses of selenium.

Renae Bartlett 21:55
Yeah, so, the study that I that I spoke about that showed some Promise the supplementation was at 200 micrograms a day. The upper limit for Selenium is often recommended for 150 micrograms per day. I feel quite comfortable that if someone wanted to try, try that under the useful direction of a qualified nutritionist or naturopath, that 200 micrograms would be suitable and ensuring that there isn’t Selenium coming from other sources that might push that too much further over the edge. I think I think that that is a safe, a safe way and actually shining in studies that it might be useful.

Alison Mitchell 22:43
Yeah. And you know, a nutritionist or a naturopath could guide you with that, I guess. Yeah, absolutely. even look at monitoring your levels through your Bloods and making sure that they’re not going in a pattern that’s a bit uncomfortable for you.

Renae Bartlett 22:57
Yeah, yeah, that’s right. Yeah. Cool.

Alison Mitchell 23:01
So are there some other areas that you often look at supporting women with postpartum thyroiditis?

Renae Bartlett 23:08
Yeah, look, stress is a huge, huge, huge factor. And I know that gets thrown around a lot. I know, you know, nearly every condition you can think of, you know, you get told look out for stress, but honestly, it is so big in driving this condition, it’s not funny and it can be so difficult. You’ve just had a baby, and then you’ve got someone telling you to Oh, you know, just don’t stress so much. And you know, look at that, yeah, that’s really great. But if there are things that you can try and do, whatever it is, whether it be five minutes of meditation just before you go to sleep, or maybe it might be just going out for a walk with your baby or maybe just catching up with some girlfriends, for coffee once a week, whatever it is, just try and do that. That whatever it is that kind of makes you feel that you can just let it out, you know, be writing things in a journal or exercising and he can, you know, all of these things really will play a part in, in trying to reduce that that cortisol and that stress that can really be making this condition a lot worse than what it should be.

Yeah, for sure.

Alison Mitchell 24:22
Yeah.

So stress is a really big one.

Renae Bartlett 24:25
Yeah, yeah. It’s huge. Yeah.

Alison Mitchell 24:30
Great. Are there any other areas that you often look at?

Renae Bartlett 24:34
So nutritionally, we’ve spoken about Selenium. There is also, I guess, when we look back at the pregnancy status is having sufficient iodine to support the thyroid function during pregnancy, and then continuing that for breastfeeding as well. That’s really important. And I think it’s often a nutrient that does get overlooked when you look at prenatal support. So that’s something that really is important. So iodine and selenium for that nutritional and then for postpartum when I look at nutrition, I like to try and simplify it and go you know you’re already trying to reduce your stress let’s not stress it out anymore by you know, throwing these hardcore diet things in there. Let’s make it really simple. You know, think of food first try and think of of getting things as fresh as possible. By you know, going and getting vegetables and fruit just starting with that getting some protein sources. Even if you need to buy frozen vegetables and and cook that up on a meal that’s perfectly fine. You know if that’s going to save you a trip to the supermarket, when you’ve got other things going on. Do that you know, if you need to keep eggs in the fridge so that you can just do some scrambled eggs for dinner. Do that, you know, try and simplify your nutritional routine. Don’t overthink it. Don’t. Don’t try to be this fantastic mom who can just do it all just simplify it, you know, as long as you’re able to eat well. With basics, you’ll be fine. You really will.

Alison Mitchell 26:27
Brilliant. Yeah, yeah. It’s so important for mothers to just eat.

Renae Bartlett 26:32
Yeah.

Alison Mitchell 26:33
Yeah. So easy to just like, you know, let that part of your life to stop because you know, you’re worried about the baby and of course, but you gotta eat.

Renae Bartlett 26:44
You do, you do have to eat and you know what, get when people come to visit you don’t get them to bring gifts of you know, more baby clothes and things like that. Tell them to bring food. Say: “Bring food! What I need, you know, that’s the best gift you can give a new Mama.” Yeah. Yeah, certainly in the month after Don’t forget, you know, they’re still trying to to raise a little human being there. So. Mm hmm. For sure.

Alison Mitchell 27:15
Yeah, for sure. And I always think about iron when it comes to thyroid health as well. Is that something that you look at?

Renae Bartlett 27:23
Yeah, absolutely. And particularly after giving birth, because women will often lose blood as a result of childbirth. So making sure that iron levels are adequate is is really important for that for the thyroid to function. Now, so yeah, that’s that is a very important nutrient. Absolutely. Yeah, for sure.

Alison Mitchell 27:46
Okay, and any, any other areas?

Renae Bartlett 27:50
So we, I guess we’ve touched a bit on nutritional and then the emotional or sorry, well, the lifestyle side of trying to reduce stress, but I think that emotional support is Well, because postpartum thyroiditis is really not known by many people, I think it’s really important to be open and honest with those in your family, your support networks, let them know that, you know, you don’t just have the baby blues that you you know, you are going through something and it can be transients at times between your symptoms, and to just get that added support. So that’s probably my my main take home is look at your emotional support. Lifestyle, you know, try and reduce your stress and nutritionally try and keep it simple by eating the best that you can when you can and don’t overcomplicate it. Yeah, for sure.

Alison Mitchell 28:44
Yeah. Okay. So, can you give some women that have having postpartum thyroiditis or worried about it, three actionable actionable steps that they can do?

Renae Bartlett 28:57
Yeah, so, I guess Further on to what I just I just mentioned then, first of all, figure out who your support network is. Talk to someone about your your condition and how you’re feeling and and really get them to help you in whatever that is for you. It may be getting someone to bring you food, it may be someone helping out with the baby might be someone to just catch up with the coffee, whatever that is. Number two, really try and figure out a way that you can reduce stress in your life. As much as that may be a difficult task for you, even if it’s just five minutes to try and have some time where you just sit there and and write in a journal, read a book, meditate, whatever it is go for a walk. It’s really important. And then third of all, really try and figure out with your nutrition, what you can do with minimal stress on yourself. So whether that Is meal planning so planning out your meals for the week and doing one shop if that works for you brilliant do it if that’s going to enable you to eat the best way you can then do it. If it’s cooking a lot of food and freezing it do that. If it’s having frozen vegetables, boiled eggs, nuts in the fridge, things that you are ready to go because maybe you’re not someone that doesn’t batch cook you’re not someone that doesn’t meal plan you just ate as you go has those things ready there for you. So try to simplify it but stick to foods that are going to give you the most nutrient dense so you know any of you vegetables, fruit quality protein sources, so eggs, meat, tofu. Lovely whole grains think of quinoa, think of making some lovely muffins with spelt, buckwheat, all of those kind of things are really going to be helpful for you. In that postpartum phase, make sure you’re ea ting.

Brilliant. All right and last question for you. What is your favorite food for thyroid health?

Okay, so this is difficult because there’s so many great ones but I’m going to have to go with the very simple egg. The reason being is it’s full of so many wonderful nutrients that are going to support your thyroid so it does have iodine, it has a lovely amount have a really lovely fats which is going to do wonders for your your skin, can do wonders for your hair, protein as well that’s going to support your immune system. And it’s such a versatile food, boil it up, have it as a snack. scramble it have it for breakfast, mixing something vegetables, all that kind of thing. So I think I’m going to go with the humble egg.

Alison Mitchell 32:04
I think that’s a great answer. Great. So thank you so much Now Renae, do you have any offerings on at the moment?

Renae Bartlett 32:14
So at the moment, I’m currently working on a couple of things within my business. So at the moment, I’m looking at putting together a series of helpful, simplified food tips. So that’ll be a compilation of videos, how to shop guides, how to cook guides, but simply for your family. I’m hoping to have that finalized within the next six to 12 months. And also some ebooks on how to look after your thyroid after having a baby.

Alison Mitchell 32:50
Beautiful. Yeah. Oh, well, that’d be so good. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. And if people want to know more, how can they get in touch with you?

Renae Bartlett 32:59
So They can get in touch with me My business is Reborn Health. So the most effective way is just send me a message on facebook Rerbon Health Nutrition. And I’m also on Instagram as well, which is also Reborn Health and Nutrition.

Alison Mitchell 33:15
Great. And I’ll put the links for those in the show notes as well.

Renae Bartlett 33:18
Great.

Alison Mitchell 33:19
So thank you so much for sharing all this wonderful information today. It’s been an absolute pleasure talking with you.

Renae Bartlett 33:26
It’s been great, thanks so much for having me.

Alison Mitchell 33:29
Yay. So thanks, everyone for listening. Please hop on and leave us a five star review. And if you have anything you want to learn about in the future, don’t hesitate to ask. So thank you, everyone.

Renae Bartlett 33:42
Bye bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

The post Thyroid Problems After Having a Baby appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

How Toxin exposure can impact your hormonal health, fertility and the health of your children and grandchildren.

I’m joined with Naturopath extraordinaire Tabitha McIntosh in this episode of Guts and Girl Bits (formally ‘Health & Wellbeing Podcast’). We chat about how the chemicals* in our food and environment can impact on our health in more ways than we know.

We also chat about how chemical exposure can impact on fertility, pregnancy outcomes and can impact on the health of our children, and even our grandchildren. We also talk about how certain chemicals and pollutants can affect hormonal health and wellbeing.

But just chatting about how these chemicals can impact on our health isn’t that good unless we also talk about how to reduce your exposure and help your body to heal. Tabitha shares some of her recommendations to reduce toxin exposure to toxins and pollutants from many different sources.

Some points we cover include:

• What sort of impact is toxin exposure having on people?
• Is there an increase in defects in newborns? How common are these?
• Are these defects related to nutrition or chemicals? Can we prevent them?
• Are these chemicals having an affect on a couples ability to conceive?
• What are some sources of toxins that we need to be avoiding?
• How long does it take for chemicals to be eliminated through the body?
• What was Tabitha’s Ah-Ha moment, that led her into this journey of spreading chemical awareness.
• What are the safety measures put in place in Australia with chemicals?
• There are many chemicals permitted in Australia that have been banned in Europe. How many chemicals that have been banned there are still used here, why is the such a difference?
• Not everyone reacts to chemicals the same way, some people may experience symptoms or hormonal imbalances, but some people are symptomless. What are some of the reasons this might be?
• What are Tabitha’s suggestions for taking the first step in toxin reduction.
• How fast food is having an impact on our environment and adding to future food security issues.
• Tabitha’s tips on reducing chemical exposure, in particular by improving air quality and reducing toxins around the home.

Listen to the podcast here:

Or click here to listen via soundcloud.

*I would like to address the often presented argument that “everything is a chemical”. I agree that this is very close to the truth (with the exception of sound and light which is actually matter). However, in this instance we are using the term chemicals for the sake of convenience, and actually referring to toxic and Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, substances which are known or suspected to be capable of interfering with hormone receptors, hormone synthesis or hormone conversion which are in commercial use and have been proven or suspected of contributing to disease and dysfunction in humans, and chemicals which have shown to cause damage in ways such as mitochondrial dysfunction, neurodevelopmental toxicity, immune toxicity, oxidative stress and various levels of inflammation.

Subscribe to the podcast here:

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About Tabitha

Tabitha McIntosh is an experienced and respected Naturopath, clinical Nutritionist and educator. After attaining her Bachelor of Medical Science (University of NSW, 2001), she went on to pursue her passion for Integrative healthcare by completing an Advanced Diploma Naturopathy & Diploma Nutrition (Nature Care, 2005), and Post Grad Diploma in Nutritional & Environmental Medicine (Swinburne Uni, 2006).

Absolutely passionate about improving the health of everyone she comes in contact with, Tabitha’s impressive resume includes presenting at conferences and professional development seminars around Australia, lecturing in Nutrition at both Nature Care College and Endeavour College of Natural Health, International Community Health work, and contributing to Publications and Natural Medicine textbooks.

Tabitha is founder & director of Awaken Your Health in Woollahra, Sydney, where she has run her own private clinical practice for 13 years: integrating Naturopathic healing principles with the latest scientific research to educate and empower her clients, and implementing therapeutic diets to help clients reach their potential.

Tabitha is also a published author releasing her first book in 2016, co-authored with Dr Sarah Lantz, on nutritional and environmental health solutions, called One Bite at a Time: Reduce Toxic Exposure and Eat the World you Want. This book helps it’s readers to better navigate consumer and industrial chemicals found in our every day environment, to understand their significant impact on the human body and health; and outlines practical strategies and effective solutions for protecting our health so that we can live happier, heartier lives.

See www.onebite.com.au to learn more.

With both her book and her recently launched e-course I Quit Chemicals, Tabitha feels privileged to be able to inspire her clients and peers to maximise health outcomes by making conscious choices for the health of the planet, and the health of the future generations.

Check out her website www.awakenyourhealth.com.au for more information or to make a booking.

Related posts:

• What is preconception care?
• Why you should choose chemical free products for you and your baby
• Interview with Therese Kerr
• Choosing the right products for that time of the month
• A gut feeling – the gut brain axis

The post Reducing Chemicals to Protect Future Generations appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Guts and Girl Bits Podcast #39 with Women’s Physio Brooke Hile

How does your body change during pregnancy? How can you ease the discomfort of some of the common changes that occur and can cause pain such as pubic symphysis dysfunction, back and hip pain and abdominal separation? These are some of the topics we will be covering in this podcast.

Previously named ‘The Health & Wellbeing Podcast’, now ‘Guts and Girl Bits’ – delving into all things women’s health, digestion, kid’s health and more.

This episode I am joined once again with the lovely Brooke Hile, Women’s Health Physio. This episode was recorded in Brooke’s backyard so you get to enjoy the sounds of nature, plus a few contribution’s from Brooke’s puppy Simba.

We chat about topics such as constipation, pelvic alignment, c-sections, abdominal separation, pubic symphysis dysfunction, pelvic floor preparation for birth, tearing, birth interventions, back pain during pregnancy and after birth, and varicose veins. 

We also answer some listener questions:
– Once I’ve fallen pregnant is it safe to continue training?
– Are there any exercises you shouldn’t do during pregnancy
– Are there any exercises you should work on to prepare yourself for having a baby?
– Are there any supplements that can aid fertility? (I talk a bit about what you should look to address when trying to conceive, nutrients needed to load up on during preconception and some of my favourite pregnancy/preconception supplements.)
– What can you do to increase your chance of falling pregnant?
– When would you recommend postnatal walks with bub, I felt heaviness early on during walks.
-Posture during walking with a pram
– Do you have any tips for strengthening back and shoulder muscles to condition the body for breastfeeding? Plus posture during breastfeeding
-Managing colds during breastfeeding.

Have a listen here or on the embedded player below.

Podcast Breakdown

1:10 What are the changes that take place in the body during pregnancy?

2:55 Some causes for constipation during pregnancy

3:55 more changes in our organs during pregnancy and the amazing things our body can grow

5:28 what are some of the conditions or concerns that women she a women’s healthy physiotherapist for? And how can keeping your body fit in advance to pregnancy help your ability to have a smooth pregnancy?

9:00 pubic symphysis pain – what is it and what can you do about it

11:07 abdominal separation – what do we actually know about what causes it? How can we ensure there’s minimal tension in this area to reduce pressure. What is normal during pregnancy. Are there exercises that you should avoid? Do sit ups and crunches hurt your baby or hurt you?

15:05 Back pain in pregnancy – how can you reduce the risk of this happening, minerals to reduce back pain, food sources of calcium and magnesium.

19:00 sleep positions

19:46 pelvis alignment – getting the pelvic floor ready in preparation for labour, and when should you see a womens physio for pelvic floor check during pregnancy.

21:20 Pain on penetration as a sign of tight pelvic floor muscles

22:30 how does a women’s physio assess your ability of the pelvic floor to push and relax?

24:28 any other recommendations to help reduce risk of tearing e.g. birthing positions, and the importance of having a balanced pelvic floor

27:20 Knowing about the interventions during birth and how it can increase your risk of tearing or pelvic floor damage; Forceps, Vacuum, Episiotomy, Epidural

32:03 How herbal medicine and nutrition can help with tearing and c-section recovery

33:20 C-sections: how they impact on your abdominal muscles and pelvic floor, scar massage, how dense scars can increase pain signalling

35:11 c-section scar pain and numbness

36:30 Can your c-section scar tear?

37:47 Varicose veins and vulval varicose veins: what they can look like, what can be done about it, diet tips to help varicose veins, herbs and topical treatments for varicose veins

41:44 Answering questions: What can we do during pregnancy to risk the risk of tearing during labour? Also, Perineal massage.

43:40 Q. Once ive fallen pregnant is it safe to continue training?

44:40 Q. Are there any exercises you shouldn’t do during pregnancy

45:25 Q. Are there any exercises you should work on to prepare yourself for having a baby?

46:37 Q. Are there any supplements that can aid fertility? A bit about what you should look to address when trying to conceive, nutrients needed to load up on during preconception and some of my favourite pregnancy/preconception supplements.

49:30 Q. What can you do to increase your chance of falling pregnant?

50:23 Q. When would you recommend postnatal walks with bub, I felt heaviness early on during walks.

51:58 Posture during walking with a pram

52:48 Q. Do you have any tips for strengthening back and shoulder muscles to condition the body for breastfeeding? Plus posture during breastfeeding

55:31 Managing colds during breastfeeding.

iPhone   Stitcher   Youtube   Soundcloud  Spotify 

Get in touch with Brooke

http://www.herhealthphysiotherapy.com.au

Instagram @thingsdownthere

The post How Your Body Changes During Pregnancy appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Justine Curran is an incredibly talented photographer. She portrays snapshots of everyday life with a nostalgic collection of pictures that portray childhood, pregnancy and love.

She also writes passionately about the rights of women in health care and in her recent article I was fortunate to be interviewed by her about how a Naturopath can be helpful in the circle of care during pregnancy.

I love working with women during pregnancy, supporting them nutritionally, providing relaxing and therapeutic massages and when appropriate, herbal medicine.

Also featured in this article was a women’s health physiotherapist and a doula.

You can read the full article here:
https://www.justinecurran.com.au/blog/pregnancy-must-haves

Find her instagram here:

The post Circle Of Care | Pregnancy Must Haves That No-One Talks About appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Health & Wellbeing Podcast #37

Nikki Warren is a Naturopath with a passion for supporting women and men through preconception period and pregnancy. In this episode we chat about the importance of quality nutrition during this time, and get into detail about some of the key nutrients we need to have when trying to conceive and throughout pregnancy. 

We talk about why you should choose a superior quality nutrition supplement during this time and what are some of the things to look for.

You’ll learn things like:

• What nutrients do you need during pregnancy? (Hint: it’s not just folic acid)
• Why some people have a hard time processing folic acid and need a different form of this nutrient
• What form of Vitamin B12 is best
• What nutrients are needed for healthy sperm
• Why it’s better to improve your stores of certain nutrients before you conceive
• Why you should take nutrients before you try to conceive, and how long for
• How your nutritional needs change during pregnancy

You can listen via the embedded player below or click here to listen on soundcloud.

iPhone   Stitcher   Youtube   Soundcloud  Spotify 

Get in touch with Nikki: 
nikkiwarrennaturopath.com/
www.facebook.com/nikkiwarrennaturopath/
www.instagram.com/nikkiwarrennaturopath

Find the range of Naturobest products at naturobest.com

P.S. the name of this podcast will soon be changed to Guts and Girls Bits.

The post Preconception and Pregnancy – Nutrition and Supplements appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Health & Wellbeing Podcast #35

This podcast is all about libido: why it can be low for some people, what does it mean to have a libido, and how you can boost your libido naturally.

For some couples, a lowered libido can take it’s toll on a relationship. For some people a low libido causes them no worry at all. But as my guest on this podcast tells us, there is more to a libido than just your desire to have sex – it can be a sign of your inner vitality and represents more than just a desire to have sex, but your drive to seek pleasure in daily life as well.

Hormonal changes, stress, nutritional deficiencies and certain medications can all be responsible for a lowered libido. In this episode we chat about ways you can boost your libido, naturally.

The guest on this podcast is Alannah Demunck, a Naturopath with a passion for helping people with their sexual health – be it hormonal imbalances, post-pill syndrome, STI co-management, vaginal infections and of course, libido.

Join us as we talk about some of the common causes of a low libido, and discuss the ways this can be helped with naturopathy (herbal medicine, affirmations, nutrition and more).

The Podcast

Click here to listen on Soundcloud, or via the embedded player below.

iPhone   Stitcher   Youtube   Soundcloud

Podcast Breakdown

0:00 Intro and Disclaimer

2:12 What inspired Alannah to specialise in sexual health

3:20 the pill and libido

4:00 What is a normal libido and does it naturally change for women through the menstrual cycle

620 libid life force, everyday pleasures

730 how many ppl report low libido

930 whats involved in good sex drive

1129 other causes low libido

1229 How stress affects our libido hormones

13:20 Other hormone imbalances that affect libido: oestrogen dominance feeding vaginal infections, thyroid.

15:15 Libido during pregnancy and breastfeeding

17:30 tips for communicating abut sex

19:30 Do men and women have different requirements in a relationship for a good libido?

20:30 Medications which can affect libido

21:45 How can people boost their libido

22:40 How does a naturopath work with low libido

24:30 How can you boost libido with diet

27:57 Alannah’s three favourite herbs for boosting libido

32:00 Alannah’s current offerings

33:25 Affirmations for boosting libido

34:50 How to get in touch with Alannah

Get started with this affirmation and check out Alannah’s website for more:

I deserve pleasure daily

Get in touch with Alannah:
Wellness Glow

@wellnessglowau

Facebook | Instagram

The post Naturopathic Approach to Low Libido appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

I am excited to be a part of this wonderful workshop series by Empowering Births. This three part, recurring workshop is focused around supporting, educating and empowering women in the period of time after birth, a time when mothers are often in need of much support.

Mothers can receive guidance, expert advice and support during these workshops.

My contribution to these workshops is a 3 part infant massage class, teaching you how to massage your baby safely and confidently. I will also be available to answer any Naturopathy questions you may have.

Friday 16th, 30th November & 14th December 2018.

Empowering Births team Cat & Melissa open & hold this space with a nurturing postnatal workshop, helping you ease into your 4th trimester. We will be sharing knowledge & support for you as new mothers to gain strong bonds with your babies.
Each session includes a 45 min baby massage & naturopathy Q & A.

Over the 3 days this workshop will cover breastfeeding, bathing, settling, sleep & more…

Includes FREE baby massage oil

Call or email for more information
Cat – empoweringbirths@outlook.com
0400 458 699

The post Post Natal Workshop appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

With great joy, I introduce my daughter Lara Olivia.

Lara made her entrance 13 days past her due date on May the 4th. She was born 4.02kg and 54cm long. She is a darling girl, now 3 weeks old. The last week or so she has had lots of smiles and is still sleeping well (if only I could say the same for her brother haha).

Yes the irony that Ash was born on “Back to the Future” day and Lara was born on “Star Wars” day is not lost on me, in fact the nerdy part of me loves it!

After having an emergency c-section with Ash I was very keen to have a natural birth with Lara, which I was able to do! I had a calm VBAC, free from pain relief which made me very happy (but not as happy as getting my beautiful healthy girl of course!).

I know that birth stories aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but when I was pregnant I loved reading them. So I will share mine below, click ‘more’ to read it.

More...

Related Posts

Maternity leave news

Welcome Ash

Caring for Mama – Mama Care podcast about the fourth trimester

Naturopathic Support During Pregnancy

Naturopathic Approach to Pregnancy Part 1 and Part 2

The post Baby Announcement – Welcome Lara (plus my VBAC birth story) appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Health & Wellbeing Podcast #28

I had the privilege to interview the wonderful Kathleen Murphy from Mama Care Health about the importance of the fourth trimester and care of the new mother. This period of time is technically classed as the 6 weeks after the birth of baby, however as you will learn this period can actually extend for almost a year after birth.

In a time where the focus is all on the newborn baby, the new parents can often get neglected in care. This is exacerbated by being in a culture where asking for help is often seen as weakness, particularly when we have spent the last decade or so of our lives establishing ourselves as strong, independent people.

In this episode we talk about the services Kathleen provides through MamaCare, and how and why we need more focus on the care and support of the mother and father during this period.

Listen on the Soundcloud website here or in the embedded player below.

Want to subscribe to get podcasts automatically? You can do that here:

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About Kathleen

Kathleen is a clinical naturopath and acupuncturist, who has been in practice since 2009. Over that time, Kath has worked in several large multi-modality clinics, first in Brisbane and then Sydney, where she now lives. Her current practice is in Sydney’s inner city, but she also travels to patients’ homes, visiting new mothers and their families as part of MamaCare Health, the service she launched last year. Outside of practice, Kathleen lectures to naturopathic and nutrition students, works with community and corporate healthcare programs, and sits on the board of the NHAA. She is also the mother of a busy 3 year old and married to a fellow naturopath and public health academic.

The post Caring for Mama appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.