Skip to main content
Birth Trauma Training for Birth Workers

Birth Trauma Training for Birth Workers

By Birth Trauma Training

Do you believe that birth is about more than just a healthy baby? Do you believe trauma could actually be our biggest teacher and conduit for personal and professional growth? Knowing how cope with vicarious trauma and develop sustainable self-care is a non negotiable for all birth workers. Join me, Dr Erin Bowe, Clinical Perinatal & Author of More than a Healthy Baby, as we uncover “who is helping the helper?” Birth trauma training: https://www.udemy.com/course/birth-trauma-training-for-birth-workers/?referralCode=ABA1D879884EBBF44BA4
Available on
Apple Podcasts Logo
Google Podcasts Logo
Overcast Logo
Pocket Casts Logo
RadioPublic Logo
Spotify Logo
Currently playing episode

Episode 22 Midwives Rising 5 Persecution Fears, Patriarchy & Power with Jane Hardwicke Collings

Birth Trauma Training for Birth WorkersAug 29, 2019

00:00
01:13:32
My new Mum as You Are podcast

My new Mum as You Are podcast

I wanted to stop by and say thanks for supporting this podcast, and to introduce my new one- Mum As You Are. https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/mum-as-you-are/id1577282849

This new podcast is unpolished and unfancy. A 10 minute or so convo each week to explore ways to work with parental burnout and depletion and isolation and guilt that are really practical, focussed on radical self-compassion and really having fun. 

This less of a here’s the A-Z on parenting topics and more about Motherhood as an identity and an institution and where mental health fits within that. 

Earlier this year I stopped using social media for my business and personally as well. It’s been one of the most rebellious things I could do and it’s been life changing. It has really brought me to question the ways in which I have used numbing and what you might call shadow comforts as replacement for real proper fun and real proper support. 

This is not about saying don’t use social media – if you are a mum in business and genuinely seen results from it more power to you sister, however, I do come from the standpoint that this is our generation’s addiction. I think mothers are settling for substandard, faux-fun and while we are familiar with the old ‘do self care” I think a huge part of what’s missing in the motherhood mental health conversation is the idea of fun – like real, belly laugh I feel like myself not just someone’s mother or a worker – fun. That’s the crux of what I’m interested in exploring here.

If you want to follow me over there, new episodes come out weekly https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/mum-as-you-are/id1577282849 

You can reach me: dr.erinbowe@gmail.com

Books:

More Than a Healthy Baby: Finding Strength & Growth After After Birth Trauma

https://amzn.to/3PbdohA

Birth Trauma: Tools to Cope

https://amzn.to/3Ri67i8

Courses:

Birth trauma training for birth workers the online course has over 2700 students from 42 countries

https://doctorerin.com.au/btt-full-sales-page

More Than a Healthy Baby: How to Cope With Birth Trauma is perfect for people who are navigating their own trauma.

It’s an a la carte menu of some of my best tools and strategies. It’s not a replacement for therapy but it’s a starting point.

https://www.udemy.com/course/more-than-a-healthy-baby-how-to-cope-with-birth-trauma/?referralCode=092FFCAF4E5C01984978

Course Creation for the Caring Professions - how to make your own online course!

https://doctorerin.com.au/course-creation-full-sales-page


Sep 12, 202103:43
HIGHLIGHTS of Remembering Amber Rose Isaac with Bruce McIntyre - conversations about racism in maternal health

HIGHLIGHTS of Remembering Amber Rose Isaac with Bruce McIntyre - conversations about racism in maternal health

*note* this is a very condensed version of my conversation with Bruce for those with short attention spans. It's an edited down version of a video so it will sound a little choppy. It's better viewed as a video - you can watch in both short https://youtu.be/iX0tSWeYdkU and long form on my Youtube channel https://youtu.be/XpkjS1AER4Q 

It was really important to me to have this conversation with my guest today. I’ve interviewed him as part of my second book I’m writing – parents of the pandemic but it also just made so much sense to turn our conversation into a podcast

Some of you may remember the story of Amber Rose Isaac. A beautiful soul who died a really unnecessary death. Amber had HELLP syndrome which results in low platelet counts which is treatable, except Amber was continually ignored. She knew her body. She knew she didn’t feel right and yet she kept being dismissed and ignored. It wasn’t until she decided she’d switch to a midwife and homebirth model that they discovered how high risk she was. Doctors were signing off on her bloodwork and yet by the time she went to be induced her blood was like water. Induction resulted in an emergency c-section.

Instead of being with her partner Bruce and her mum, she bled out in a hospital room alone. She didn’t even get to met her baby boy, Elias. I just don’t believe it wouldn’t have happened if she were white.

In my first book, more than a healthy baby I talk about how in the Bronx in New York City black women are 12 times more likely to die than white women. Not just statistics. I don’t want us to forget and just say “oh well, that’s sad” I want things to change. This is in 2021, not 1821.

Since I first her of her story, it has haunted me. Maybe it’s because like me, Amber had a psychology degree and was getting her masters. Maybe it’s because my parents are Glaswegian and Amber’s partner Bruce McIntyre has one of the most Scottish sounding names you can have.

Maybe because I know a little of what it’s like to lie on a hospital bed, terrified while knowing I was losing a lot of blood.

3 days before she died Amber tweeted about how she wanted to write a tell all book about the negligence. Her partner Bruce has channelled his grief into activism. It was such an honour to be able to speak with him. This episode is a little longer. It is a beautiful love story with such a tragic ending.

As you listen to Bruce and Amber’s story – I ask you to channel your sadness and anger into action. Go to the Save a Rose foundation

@savearosefoundation

https://www.gofundme.com/f/JusticeForAmberRoseIsaac?member=5876644&rcid=21691913083746949a8aff83d145f184&sharetype=teams&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&utm_medium=sms&utm_source=customer

More than a healthy baby: Finding strength & Growth After Birth Trauma

https://doctorerin.com.au/more-than-a-healthy-baby-birth-trauma-book/

Join over 1500 people in my Birth Trauma Training for Birth Workers

https://www.udemy.com/course/birth-trauma-training-for-birth-workers/?referralCode=ABA1D879884EBBF44BA4

There’s also my Supporting Birth Partners After birth Trauma masterclass

https://www.udemy.com/course/supporting-partners-after-birth-trauma/?referralCode=507DAEDCAA7E7449E5FA

Mar 02, 202114:28
Remembering Amber Rose Isaac with Bruce McIntyre - conversations about racism in maternal health (FULL INTERVIEW)

Remembering Amber Rose Isaac with Bruce McIntyre - conversations about racism in maternal health (FULL INTERVIEW)

*note* both the full version of this interview & a 15 minute highlights reel can be found on YouTube & wherever you listen to podcasts

It was really important to me to have this conversation with my guest today. I’ve interviewed him as part of my second book I’m writing – parents of the pandemic but it also just made so much sense to turn our conversation into a podcast

Some of you may remember the story of Amber Rose Isaac. A beautiful soul who died a really unnecessary death. Amber had HELLP syndrome which results in low platelet counts which is treatable, except Amber was continually ignored. She knew her body. She knew she didn’t feel right and yet she kept being dismissed and ignored. It wasn’t until she decided she’d switch to a midwife and homebirth model that they discovered how high risk she was. Doctors were signing off on her bloodwork and yet by the time she went to be induced her blood was like water. Induction resulted in an emergency c-section.

Instead of being with her partner Bruce and her mum, she bled out in a hospital room alone. She didn’t even get to met her baby boy, Elias. I just don’t believe it wouldn’t have happened if she were white.

In my first book, more than a healthy baby I talk about how in the Bronx in New York City black women are 12 times more likely to die than white women. Not just statistics. I don’t want us to forget and just say “oh well, that’s sad” I want things to change. This is in 2021, not 1821.

Since I first her of her story, it has haunted me. Maybe it’s because like me, Amber had a psychology degree and was getting her masters. Maybe it’s because my parents are Glaswegian and Amber’s partner Bruce McIntyre has one of the most Scottish sounding names you can have.

Maybe because I know a little of what it’s like to lie on a hospital bed, terrified while knowing I was losing a lot of blood.

3 days before she died Amber tweeted about how she wanted to write a tell all book about the negligence. Her partner Bruce has channelled his grief into activism. It was such an honour to be able to speak with him. This episode is a little longer. It is a beautiful love story with such a tragic ending.

As you listen to Bruce and Amber’s story – I ask you to channel your sadness and anger into action. Go to the Save a Rose foundation

@savearosefoundation

https://www.gofundme.com/f/JusticeForAmberRoseIsaac?member=5876644&rcid=21691913083746949a8aff83d145f184&sharetype=teams&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&utm_medium=sms&utm_source=customer

More than a healthy baby: Finding strength & Growth After Birth Trauma

https://doctorerin.com.au/more-than-a-healthy-baby-birth-trauma-book/

Join over 1500 people in my Birth Trauma Training for Birth Workers

https://www.udemy.com/course/birth-trauma-training-for-birth-workers/?referralCode=ABA1D879884EBBF44BA4

There’s also my Supporting Birth Partners After birth Trauma masterclass

https://www.udemy.com/course/supporting-partners-after-birth-trauma/?referralCode=507DAEDCAA7E7449E5FA

Mar 02, 202101:41:21
Episode 38: Parenting through Birth Trauma with Mama Manon Depre

Episode 38: Parenting through Birth Trauma with Mama Manon Depre

The interview with my guest today took about a year to coordinate! This happens a lot on this podcast because babies get born, we get sick, there’s the whole parenting and home schooling in a pandemic thing. There are times when I feel like I can barely run a bath let alone run a podcast, so if you’re feeling frazzled, know you are not alone!   If you are interested in trauma informed parenting, then you may have heard of the lovely Mama Manon.   No matter how much we cognitively know how we want to parent our kids, and we read books, and we take courses, we still get triggered. We still struggle with feeling resentment, rage, numbness and depletion. As a parent, I personally find Manon’s videos and resources so helpful.  When she posted a video last year about using somatic experiencing with her own traumatic birth, I knew we would get on like a house on fire. Self-compassion for our traumas is something we are all working on.   Manon has a voice that makes you feel like you’re being wrapped in a warm blanket. She combines Aware Parenting and somatic experiencing to offer deep, gentle and empowering support. She chats to me today about her birth, her healing and growth and the lessons that come with working alongside your child in that process.   

Manon offers 1-1 sessions online and in person. She also has online programs and workshops all around Australia. You can find her at https://mamamanon.com/

You can reach me: dr.erinbowe@gmail.com

Books: 

More Than a Healthy Baby: Finding Strength & Growth After After Birth Trauma

https://amzn.to/3PbdohA

Birth Trauma: Tools to Cope

https://amzn.to/3Ri67i8 

Courses:

Birth trauma training for birth workers the online course has over 2700 students from 42 countries

https://doctorerin.com.au/btt-full-sales-page

More Than a Healthy Baby: How to Cope With Birth Trauma is perfect for people who are navigating their own trauma. 

It’s an a la carte menu of some of my best tools and strategies. It’s not a replacement for therapy but it’s a starting point. 

https://www.udemy.com/course/more-than-a-healthy-baby-how-to-cope-with-birth-trauma/?referralCode=092FFCAF4E5C01984978

Course Creation for the Caring Professions - how to make your own online course!

https://doctorerin.com.au/course-creation-full-sales-page 

Jul 14, 202001:02:29
Episode 37: The Embodiment of Trauma with Erin Underwood

Episode 37: The Embodiment of Trauma with Erin Underwood

Erin Underwood is a movement therapist from Oregon that specializes in prenatal and postnatal health. She is passionate about education around pelvic floor and core strength and function. She has studied extensively and certified and trained with the top minds in the country connected to pelvic floor and core wellness. She currently is focusing on her local community by serving through workshops to the prenatal and postnatal community as well as local birth workers, providing them with the most up to date science broken down into practical and helpful tools. She also has four beautiful boys and, post deliveries, has personally healed from a grade 2 uterine and grade 2 rectocele prolapses and a four finger Diastasis Recti using all the tools she teaches in her movement therapy, which further fuels her passion for seeing women fully functional and getting all the information necessary to heal.

Erin Underwood: https://www.erinunderwoodmovement.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erinunderwoodmovement

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erinunderwoodmovement/

Free Workout Videos for Upper Body and Back Care: https://www.erinunderwoodmovement.com/pl/142602

Psoas Release Video: https://youtu.be/dMsYwy1Uolo

Pelvic Floor and Core 4 Week Class Online Series: https://www.erinunderwoodmovement.com/core-pelvic-class-lf-standard

Thriving Birth Worker Movement Method: https://www.erinunderwoodmovement.com/pl/125595

Thriving Birth Worker Podcast: https://www.erinunderwoodmovement.com/blog?tag=podcast

You can reach me @doctorerinbowe on instagram or dr.erinbowe@gmail.com

Birth trauma training for birth workers the online course now has over 670 enrolments. Most people who have never bought a course on Udemy before are able to snap it up for $14 or less. 

https://www.udemy.com/course/birth-trauma-training-for-birth-workers/?referralCode=ABA1D879884EBBF44BA4

My other course, More Than a Healthy Baby: How to Cope With Birth Trauma is perfect for people who are navigating their own trauma. It’s an a la carte menu of some of my best tools and strategies. It’s not a replacement for therapy but it’s a starting point. Again, it’s under $100 (usually way less).

https://www.udemy.com/course/more-than-a-healthy-baby-how-to-cope-with-birth-trauma/?referralCode=092FFCAF4E5C01984978



Jun 30, 202056:11
Episode 36 Black Lives Matter in Birth With Hawk & Chivon Newsome

Episode 36 Black Lives Matter in Birth With Hawk & Chivon Newsome

How we birth is a political statement. Birth trauma is a political issue because it’s a human rights issue.

Imagine you’re pregnant and with kids and you’re sending your partner out for food or nappies and wondering if they’re going to be harassed, arrested or shot at?

Imagine going to the hospital to birth your baby and being told that your pain isn’t real? That you’re being too dramatic, that your health problems are your own fault. Imagine wondering if you’re even going to make it out of the hospital alive to see your family again?

In order to even begin to work on trauma, we need mothers to be alive

Black women are three to four times more likely to die in birth than white women.

Again, we’re not talking about the third world here. This is current daily life in New York City, and some stats are indicating that for new York, black women are even 12 times more likely to die than white women. This is in the Bronx, where my guests today grew up and are doing lifechanging humanitarian leadership on the ground. Brother and sister goals – the amazing Hawk and Chivona Newsome from Black Lives Matter New York chapter took time out to speak with me. We had a chat in the car while they were on their way back from delivering food to over 200 people. The Bronx is the global epicentre for covid-19. Hawk, Chivona and their team work and work and work so that people can have access to proper food, healthcare, housing and an end to oppression. I could see the see the exhaustion on their faces, and yet there’s a fire in there that can felt from oceans and oceans away.

Their parents met at a civil rights rally in the 1960’s, so you can say that they were born into this fight. They have both pledged their lives to bringing justice to this unjust system. If you can donate to the people’s food program, please do. 

https://au.gofundme.com/f/PEOPLES-FOOD-PROGRAM

Donate to Save a Rose foundation, set up by Bruce, partner of Amber Rose Isaac to raise awareness of the disparities in the maternal mortality rate amongst women of colour. 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/25fr1s6epc?member=5876644&rcid=21691913083746949a8aff83d145f184&sharetype=teams&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&utm_medium=sms&utm_source=customer

You can watch the video version of the podcast on my IGTV @doctorerinbowe or on YouTube

Follow Hawk: @hawk.newsome

Follow Chevona: @newyorkvonni

You can reach me @doctorerinbowe on instagram or www.doctorerin.com.au

Birth trauma training for birth workers the online course now has over 1400 students from 36 countries and 12 languages.   https://www.udemy.com/course/birth-trauma-training-for-birth-workers/?referralCode=ABA1D879884EBBF44BA4

My other course, More Than a Healthy Baby: How to Cope With Birth Trauma is perfect for parents and birth workers who are navigating their own trauma. It’s an a la carte menu of some of my best tools and strategies. It’s not a replacement for therapy but it’s a starting point. 

https://www.udemy.com/course/more-than-a-healthy-baby-how-to-cope-with-birth-trauma/?referralCode=092FFCAF4E5C01984978

Udemy also supports affiliates. This means that if you qualify, you can use a unique code for either of my courses to add to your website, socials or to give clients and you will receive a percentage of the course fee. It’s free to register, it’s just a bit of work to get yourself signed up https://www.udemy.com/affiliate/

May 28, 202037:37
Episode 35 Midwives Rising #6: Researching Birth Trauma with Kristy Watson

Episode 35 Midwives Rising #6: Researching Birth Trauma with Kristy Watson

Let’s talk about flashbacks. When I saw midwife Kristy Watson’s ad for birth trauma research popping up on my social media feed I instantly had a flashbulb memory of being 20 and knee deep in my honours year of research. Truthfully, my memories of my honours year was that it was one of the most difficult years of my life. I was ever aware that I probably didn’t really deserve to be there. My year was a bigger intake than normal. The anxiety levels and competitiveness were high. Online research was not really viewed favourably back then, so I really felt like I was scraping together whatever research participants I could find for my project on PTSD. I did a comparison of people who were injured during trauma versus people who were not injured and found that people who sustained a physical injury had more severe PTSD symptoms. Most of those research participants were my friends and that research never saw the light of day!

So, fast forward to seeing a mum who is trying to get participants in an area I’m super passionate about, and she’s a midwife who is juggling all of this with covid-19, home schooling and 3 kids. Of course I felt pulled to help her. And, after listening to Kristy’s passion, I’m sure that anyone who can help her will want to do what they can. Ultimately, research is what leads to policies. Policies is what leads to organizations being convinced to spend money and make changes. If you can help a sister out, this could actually lead to phenomenal changes in birth trauma research.

Participant criteria:

Live in Victoria and have had a vaginal birth that was traumatic between August 2018 -August 2020 (roughly)

You can get in touch with Kristy at: kbar0026@student.monash.edu 

You can reach me @doctorerinbowe on instagram or dr.erinbowe@gmail.com

I support birthing people and birth workers in a range of ways. I do 1:1 work, supervision and mentoring, and I have a couple of online courses. 

Birth trauma training for birth workers the online course now has over 500 enrolments. Most people who are new to Udemy have snapped it up for $14 or less. The price fluctuates according to sales the platform is running, but rest assured it will remain under $99 for the foreseeable future. https://www.udemy.com/course/birth-trauma-training-for-birth-workers/?referralCode=ABA1D879884EBBF44BA4 

My other course, More Than a Healthy Baby: How to Cope With Birth Trauma is perfect for parents and birth workers who are navigating their own trauma. It’s an a la carte menu of some of my best tools and strategies. It’s not a replacement for therapy but it’s a starting point. Again, it’s under $100 (usually way less). 

https://www.udemy.com/course/more-than-a-healthy-baby-how-to-cope-with-birth-trauma/?referralCode=092FFCAF4E5C01984978 

Udemy also supports affiliates. This means that if you qualify, you can use a unique code for either of my courses to add to your website, socials or to give clients and you will receive a percentage of the course fee. It’s free to register, it’s just a bit of work to get yourself signed up https://www.udemy.com/affiliate/



May 09, 202035:23
Episode 34 Back to Basics Coping

Episode 34 Back to Basics Coping

I’ve been really mindful about what messages I want to put out about overwhelm and anxiety. Now is not the time for adding more stuff. A distressed brain cannot learn or retain new information well. That’s true for adults and kids.

Instead, work towards meeting basic needs each day with constants. Things that your great, great, great granny would have done. Things that will stay constant so long as the earth turns.

These are some my go to strategies, bringing in the elements:

Earth - I put my bare feet on the ground. I garden. If that’s not possible try a sensory tub with sand, dried beans, salt or anything you can sink your hands into. Maybe you have a shell, pebbles, a feather, a leaf in your apartment somewhere? Make some connection to touching something from the earth each day.

A lot of us will be struggling with unconscious inner child stuff at the moment. Out subconscious taking us back to times when we felt scared and uncertain. 
Also consider that some of our reactions are not ours. Trauma is in your DNA from your ancestors. Those genes are being triggered right now. Scarcity, fear, anger. Some if those reactions are from your ancestors. Touching things from the earth will help with feeling alive and present to now.

Fire - drink or eat something warm. Sit with a warm drink that you like and take a full minute or two to notice the warmth in your hands, watch the steam rise

Water - drink, bath/shower or cry

Wind - breath is the one coping constant so long as you are alive. Take one deep breath a day. Preferably more but pair it with something you already do - like every time you touch a door handle, take a deep breath

+ heart (yup a Captain Planet reference for all my 90s peeps) - have gratitude and compassion for yourself for simply getting through the day

Focus on the constants - the sun will rise, and it will set. The wind, water and fire will continue to exist.

The birds and bugs outside don’t know there’s a pandemic, they’re just going about their business. Watch them. If you can’t get outside watch some nature videos.

Keep it so simple and so over achievable that there’s no room for failure.

A glass of water with vitamins
Finding 1 thing to be grateful for
A deep breath

That’s enough


If you want 1:1 support for counselling or coaching, reach out :)

I work with birthing people and birth workers 1:1. You can reach me @doctorerinbowe on instagram or dr.erinbowe@gmail.com

Birth trauma training for birthworkers the online course is now more accessible than ever! Over 350 birth workers have snapped it up for less than $14.00AU! The price fluctuates according to sales the platform is running, but rest assured it will remain under $99 for the foreseeable future. https://www.udemy.com/course/birth-trauma-training-for-birth-workers/?referralCode=ABA1D879884EBBF44BA4 


Mar 28, 202028:26
Episode 33 My Experience of Breath Work with Theo2awakening
Mar 10, 202031:45
Episode 32 Top 10 Most Downloaded episodes of 2019
Feb 04, 202001:07:11
Episode 31 Privilege in Birth Work with Sabia Wade

Episode 31 Privilege in Birth Work with Sabia Wade

Could you even count on one hand the people in your life who are willing to challenge your ego and call you out on your desire to just stay comfortable in your life? To draw your attention to things that you take for granted? Who make a point of saying “ok here’s this thing you say you don’t agree with – what are you doing to put that belief into action?”

My guest today began our interview by asking me lots of questions. Questions about the climate of racism in Australia and what’s happening in terms of activism for maternal mortality for marginalised groups, and it was clear that I really don’t know a lot. I don’t claim to know much, but it is really easy as a white woman who birthed in a private hospital in Australia to forget about my privilege and not have to think about these things too much. And that’s good to acknowledge because growth is not a comfortable process, and we don’t make changes by just appealing to each others’ egos, right?

Sabia Wade is someone who can encourage us all to be less quiet about privilege in birth. Sabia is a Radical Doula, Educator, Coach, Reproductive Justice Advocate & the founder of For The Village and Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings. For The Village provides doula services to under served families in San Diego with an emphasis on marginalized groups, such as people of colour, LGBTQIA and low income families.

So we start our conversation with me referencing the so-called flora and fauna act. I was under the impression that up until the 1967 referendum, aboriginal people in Australia were classified as animals rather than human beings. In researching this topic, it may appear that this is inaccurate information. As in, the idea of Aboriginal people being classified as fauna was not part of a formal act, but refers to a speech in the seventies given by Aboriginal filmmaker Lester Bostock.

However, can we sit in collective agreement that historically, and currently, Aboriginal people have indeed been treated like animals.

Sabia and I have a cross-cultural chat about birth and privilege and then we end up with a conversation about koalas and chlamydia. You’ll love it.

You can find Sabia at www.theblackdoula.com and on Instagram @theblackdoula

You are more powerful than you know. If birth workers and the people they serve remember that they are powerful, then we will change the world.

Birth trauma training for birthworkers the online course is now more accessible than ever! Over 350 birth workers have snapped it up for less than $14.00AU! The price fluctuates according to sales the platform is running, but rest assured it will remain under $99 for the foreseeable future. https://www.udemy.com/course/birth-trauma-training-for-birth-workers/?referralCode=ABA1D879884EBBF44BA4

Dec 30, 201948:57
Episode 30 Coercion, Mental Health & Racism in Birth with Dr Sayida Peprah

Episode 30 Coercion, Mental Health & Racism in Birth with Dr Sayida Peprah

Every time I post about maternal and infant mortality that’s happening for black birthing people and families I’m often met with some version of some passive aggressive response. I get DMs from people saying “but this isn’t happening in Australia”, or “maternal mortality rates have improved” or “you’re scaring people by sharing these really peripheral stories”. Guess what? I’m not here to make you feel comfortable. We have a genuine health crisis that’s occurring on a global level. Get out of your frickin bubble – particularly if you are a white, cis gendered woman sending me these messages. I don’t share these stories to tick a box, or for some sort of gold star – I share them because I give a shit. The fact that black women are up to five times more likely to die in birth then white women is a phenomenal health crisis. I’m not an expert. There is a LOT about birth and trauma that I don’t know and I’m not shy to admit that. I’m sure this comes across in many of the interviews I’ve conducted on this podcast! But do you what’s a really easy thing to do – is reach and have a conversation. Actively choose to have conversations with people who aren’t in your bubble. Dr Sayida Peprah is one of those beautiful people I reached out to. Like me, she is a Clinical Psychologist. She’s also a doula and the founder and lead trainer of Diversity Uplifts. Part of her work is training people to see their implicit bias and working towards compassion rather than fear mongering and coercion. In this episode we chat about language in the birth space and this phrase “no time for…” I’m sure you’ve heard it. There’s an emergency situation in a birth and people will insist that there’s no time for niceties. And yet, as Psychologists, we are defying this myth every day. A Psychologist’s job, in part, is to navigate emergencies – talking people down from suicide or homicide. Hostage situations where people have a knife, a gun or a bomb. We manage to be calm and care for people with a quiet voice. We don’t rush, yell at people, talk down to them or ignore them. We make a human connection. We help people feel seen, heard and safe. If our child is hurt, we explain what is happening, we reassure them that they are seen and heard and acknowledge their fears and pain. These are skills I want translated into the birth space. 

You can find Dr Peprah at www. Drsayidauplifts.org and on Instagram @drsayida You are more powerful than you know. If birth workers and the people they serve remember that they are powerful, then we will change the world.

Birth trauma training for birthworkers the online course is now more accessible than ever! Over 350 birth workers have snapped it up for less than $14.00AU! The price fluctuates according to sales the platform is running, but rest assured it will remain under $99 for the foreseeable future. https://www.udemy.com/course/birth-trauma-training-for-birth-workers/?referralCode=ABA1D879884EBBF44BA4

Dec 24, 201901:05:09
Episode 29 Integrating Magic & Medicine With Dr Danielle Arabena

Episode 29 Integrating Magic & Medicine With Dr Danielle Arabena

There is magic and medicine in story telling and my guest today is one of the best at all three of those things.

Dr Danielle Arabena is an Indigenous doctor, healer, witch, and a doula. She is a shamanic healer, a holistic pelvic care practitioner, and an all round witty and wonderful witchy woman.

She is a keeper of the crossroads between magic and medicine, and how these things can coexist. For any science or health practitioner who is wu-wu curious, comes from a diverse cultural background, or is simply feeling they hide to their spirituality and culture,  Danielle is your go to.

She has stood on a stage at medical conferences speaking about astral travel and no one set her on fire or tried to drown her.

Danielle is a kindred spirit in that she, like me, has earned degrees in part to prove a point. To have people take us and our healing gifts seriously. It’s not been an easy ride by any means, but Danielle has found ways to heal in a way that feels authentic and aligned.

Danielle and I talk about birth as a sacred practice and her ability to feel the energy between the two worlds. We talk about trauma in the context of the erasure of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, and ways in which we can make space for Indigenous families to feel safe and supported.

You are more powerful than you know. If birth workers and the people they serve remember that they are powerful, then we will change the world.

Resources

To watch this episode on YouTube 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGD3z4RMsdg

Birth Trauma Training for Birth Workers

Free access to Lesson 1

https://learn.doctorerin.com.au/pl/121948

Early bird upfront

https://learn.doctorerin.com.au/offers/UhzL4bSV

Early bird Payment plan

https://learn.doctorerin.com.au/offers/Wx9m2z2Z

Dr Danielle Arabena https://www.drdaniellearabena.com/and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drdaniellearabena/?hl=en

Dec 16, 201901:07:19
Episode 28 Five Times More Likely: Maternal Mortality and Activism With Mars Lord

Episode 28 Five Times More Likely: Maternal Mortality and Activism With Mars Lord

Have you ever heard someone speak and just thought “oh my Lord I need this person in my life?”. Mars Lord was a guest recommended to me by a few of you listeners, and I’m so grateful!
My favourite mentors in life have been women who are epic storytellers, make difficult topics easy to talk about by being warm, passionate and funny as fuck.
Mars is a mother of 5, grandmother now too. She has been a doula for 15 years and she is a glorious speaker and activist.
Maternal and infant mortality rates for black, brown, Asian and Indigenous people are increasing. Black women are now five times more likely to die than white women – in pregnancy, birth or within the first 12 months.
Mars talks to us about how the reasons that black women are dying haven’t changed, and yet the system and the people supporting them hasn’t changed to acknowledge that they are dying.
You think about other health crises in the perinatal period – like cot death or SIDS. When we found putting babies to sleep on their tummies led to cot death we started putting them on their backs – and infant morality rates dropped.
When we found that smoking makes small and premature babies, we started anti smoking campaigns, and infant morbidity associated with smoking reduced.
Mars talks about what it means to be a non-racist versus an anti-racist. If you’re not ok with racism, assault, obstetric violence and coercion then be more public about it. If you’re not ok with birthing people and babies dying then what change are you actioning?
You are more powerful than you know. If birthworkers and the people they serve remember that they are powerful, then we will change the world.
Resources
to view the video of this podcast
youtu.be/nUAHwaaIzSc
Mars Lord marslord.co.uk/and www.instagram.com/_marslord/?hl=en
Birth Trauma Training
Free access to Lesson 1
learn.doctorerin.com.au/pl/121948
Early bird upfront
learn.doctorerin.com.au/offers/UhzL4bSV
Early bird Payment plan
learn.doctorerin.com.au/offers/Wx9m2z2Z
Dec 08, 201901:11:22
Episode 27 I Know Another Mother: Complex Childhood Trauma With Lotus Fire

Episode 27 I Know Another Mother: Complex Childhood Trauma With Lotus Fire

What does it mean to be unapologetically you? To stand in the boldest expression of yourself and say “hey, I’m not going to hide. Here’s my story with complex childhood trauma”.
You are going to feel some big feelings today. That’s ok, my guest today is ALL about sitting with, accepting and moving with big feelings. You can come back to it if you need to, but sometimes there is magic to be found in what we are avoiding. There is nowhere to hide with Lotus Fire.
She is creative, glowy, playful and, to use a phrase many Australians grew up with, she has more front than Myers. It means to be bold, cheeky and unapologetically self-confident.
Survivors of complex childhood trauma are often amazing chameleons. Adaptive shape shifters. Lotus and I talk about the idea of who are you – as in who are you now instead of who did you have to become to survive your childhood?
Sometime around 17 Lotus began working through experiences of childhood incest. And she has done a lot of work. We talk about what it’s like when you and what you’re carrying feels like “too much” for other people to support. Trauma work is really difficult and there are unfortunately quite a few people saying they do trauma work who can’t manage caring without carrying. In that they actually don’t know how to help.
We talk ab out Lotus’s Pregnancy with her son, and experiencing the suicide of her father when she was 7 months pregnant. How fine she seemed, how everyone else though she was fine. Remember that bit about the chameleon?
Finding joy in trauma work
Dancing, talking to rocks, playing tag, making jokes
You are more powerful than you know. If birthworkers and the people they serve remember that they are powerful, then we will change the world.
Video of this podcast :https://youtu.be/btnBtlHvWKA
Resources
Lotus Fire
www.thelotusfire.com/contact/
Insta: @thelotusfire
Lotus has an intentional community based on principles of healing the earth and ourselves.
www.facebook.com/innatewisdomcommunity/
Nov 18, 201901:11:40
Episode 26 When Survivors Navigate the Hospital System with Rachael Rose

Episode 26 When Survivors Navigate the Hospital System with Rachael Rose

My guest today is a testament to the value of good support and investing in yourself. To hear a strong woman articulate her trauma, to see and hear that she is not broken and is using her experiences as a conduit for others’ growth – well, that’s just my happy place. I will never tire of this privilege – what it means to receive these stories and have people trust me with them.
Rachael Rose is a full spectrum Dynamo doula hell-bent on bringing down toxic birth culture and supporting women to reconnect to their resilience and strength. Rachael is such a calm, sunny presence. I know this is a big topic, but you’ll walk away from this conversation feeling expanded rather than contracted.
We talk about what happens when a birthing person ticks that box and says “yes. I’ve had experience of sexual abuse”, and, in Rachael’s case what happens when it’s never spoken about again. What can we be doing to better serve people and give them choices, make them the expert in what they need to feel safe.
Sexual abuse, assault, molestation or whatever language we put to it must exist within a spectrum. It must never be about getting into comparisons and expecting people to qualify “does this count?”. It’s not a cognitive experience, it’s a bodily one.
Sometimes it’s not until you are a much older, or go through pregnancy and birth that you begin to think about some of the experiences you’ve had as a child. Applying the label of ‘sexual abuse’ is complex.
Rachael and I will talk about the impact of the abuse she experienced, but not go into detail as we are mindful of re-traumatisation. We talk about navigating all the bodily things - vaginal exams, stretch and sweeps, catheters, suppositories, language that is used, positions the body is put in. Having hands-on from other people when you’re learning to breastfeed. And then some of the anxieties that happen postpartum. Those intrusive thoughts that happen that are totally normal but no one ever wants to talk about.
As I’ve said before, the goal needs to be establishing safety, not getting the information.
You are more powerful than you know. If birthworkers and the people they serve remember that they are powerful, then we will change the world.
Resources
for the video version of this podcast:
youtu.be/YlrPPbmpLcs
My Mini birth trauma training October round starts Thursday October 24
Link to secure your spot: doctorerin.as.me/
Link to details about the event business.facebook.com/events/558792318262055/?event_time_id=558792324928721
I have over a decade of experience working with survivors of sexual abuse and assault. If you want therapy or coaching around birth, trauma and managing burnout, reach out doctorerin.com.au/
Insta: @doctorerinbowe

Rachael’s website rachaelrose.com.au/
Insta: @the_rachael_rose
The Body Keeps the Score – Bessel van der Kolk
Lotus Fire – she’ll be on an upcoming episode 😊
www.thelotusfire.com/contact/
Oct 21, 201901:12:59
Episode 25 Failure, Trying to Force Growth & Trying Again

Episode 25 Failure, Trying to Force Growth & Trying Again

Try again: Therapy Healing Growth & self development Study Content creation Today on the podcast I talk about failure, trying to force outcomes and trying again. Dior had to try 150 times to make their next hit perfume for millennials. I haven’t given it a sniff so I don’t know how good it is, but it’s a great example of rethinking the “shouldn’t I be done with this by now?” Trying to force yourself to be ‘healed’ or achieve some imagined level of growth isn’t going to work. Maybe the universe has a better plan and the delays and roadblocks are actually there to help you? I look back at jobs I didn’t get. Something I once thought of as a missed opportunity is now so clearly reframed as a dodged bullet. I can be pissed that I didn’t start working on some of my own traumas until after my children were born, or allow the idea that the timing wasn’t right. Hope this reminds you that even the absolute best in the business have to try, again, adjust, be patient and try again until they get it right.
Oct 08, 201914:22
Episode 24 Uplift and Ignite 1: Strength After Obstetric Fistula with Kristin Hill

Episode 24 Uplift and Ignite 1: Strength After Obstetric Fistula with Kristin Hill

What do you think of when you hear the word ‘fistula?’ For me, it was 2004 and I was 21  years old. I was watching the Oprah show on my lunch break and she was interviewing Dr Catherine Hamlin. The image I have I my mind when I think obstetric fistula is of terrified, very young African women. Who has laboured for days without any support and is then ostracised from their community. Very generally speaking, an obstetric fistula is a hole where a hole shouldn’t be. Between the vagina and rectum or bladder. It can be caused by prolonged or obstructive labour, leaving someone incontinent. We might not want to admit it, but we sometimes think fistulas as something that doesn’t really happen in Western hospitals. My guest today is someone who experienced such a birth injury in a hospital in the USA. Kristin Hill is a mental health counsellor and mama of two boys in Seattle. We talk about the feelings of patient-blaming, and scapegoating that goes on in birth. How it felt not finding any resources about fistula that particularly resonated. The re-traumatising process of making a complaint while feeling like her body had been hijacked. In sharing stories, we get our power back. We take ourselves out of isolation and shame and not only do we become stronger, we uplift others to see their own beauty and strength. To listen to audio only via Apple https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/birth-trauma-training-for-birth-workers/id1449364233?mt=2&uo=4 to watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/js4vk8oeYbE Resources www.doctorerin.com.au Kristin Hill Kristinhilltherapy.com @kristinhill https://www.crisisconnections.org/wa-warm-line/
Sep 26, 201901:06:03
Episode 23 Tapping using EFT for Birth Trauma

Episode 23 Tapping using EFT for Birth Trauma

The Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT or "tapping") has been around for a while. I learned it in my masters training 13 odd years ago, but then dismissed it. I allowed an old mentor to let me believe it was too "wu wu" and not scientific enough. Now that I've been working through some of my own old traumas and programming, I've come back to it. 

I like it because it's something practical you can teach yourself (and your kids!). Tapping is like using psychological acupressure. By that, I mean it uses principles from Traditional Chinese Medicine where you stimulate meridian points. I LOVED using acupressure and acupuncture for pregnancy and birth, and we now have the MRI studies to show that the brain floods with endorphins. 

Just about every form of therapy also uses coping statements, affirmations and positive self-talk. The way that we speak to ourselves impacts our subconscious, our confidence, the way we view our reality and thus shows up in every choice and every behaviour. 

You can find the video demo on using tapping for this episode on my Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3XrGmUmtMs3Rcs5IZ0MtSw

Sep 11, 201920:20
Episode 22 Midwives Rising 5 Persecution Fears, Patriarchy & Power with Jane Hardwicke Collings

Episode 22 Midwives Rising 5 Persecution Fears, Patriarchy & Power with Jane Hardwicke Collings

Episode 22 is also available in video format. Head on over to my YouTube Channel - www.youtube.com/watch?v=00eZ1R-fghE
I’d say that my guest today is like birth worker royalty, except that royalty typically represents a patriarchal system she’d hate. Instead, I will introduce her as a wild, wilful, wise woman. A goddess. A guru, the divine Jane Hardwicke Collings.
Often the best way to move on the path forward is to ask the wisdom of those coming back. Jane and I talk about the concept of “fish can’t see water”. The fish being birth workers in the patriarchal birthing system.
Jane is a women’s mysteries teacher. She began work as a midwife in the early 80s. She has seen, heard, touched, smelled and tasted trauma in the birth space. Jane is a visionary, and I know that so many of the messages she shares today will feel like she is giving you a direct call to action.
There’s no way forward for a midwife who wants to just be a good girl. Many of us are still operating from fear of persecution. Except instead of worrying about being burned and drowned we worry about AHPRA complaints.
You are more powerful than you know. If we can rewild midwives to remember that they and the people they serve are powerful, then we will change the world.
All resources mentioned are on my website doctorerin.com.au/podcast/
Jane’s website
janehardwickecollings.com/
Aug 29, 201901:13:32
Episode 21 sleep, self-compassion and getting your needs met

Episode 21 sleep, self-compassion and getting your needs met

I’m always telling people to lean into the hard lessons. The lesson I’m in at the moment is learning not to keep pushing through sleep deprivation. The other thing I do is try to replace sleep with some other form of self-care. In this episode I’ll talk you through the ways in which I’ve struggled with self-compassion, and what work I’m currently doing to move from a place of seeking relief to finding joy xx
Aug 13, 201917:08
Episode 20 Katherine Eden Midwives Rising 4 – Hope is a Doing Word with Katherine Eden

Episode 20 Katherine Eden Midwives Rising 4 – Hope is a Doing Word with Katherine Eden

Jul 25, 201901:04:46
Episode 19 Treatment Options for Birth Trauma - Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing (EMDR) with Krysta Dancy

Episode 19 Treatment Options for Birth Trauma - Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing (EMDR) with Krysta Dancy

What if there was a quick, effective way to move through processing the trauma of your own birth or witnessing it at work, and it didn’t involve going into loads of detail?

My guest today has specialist skills in how to do just that. Krysta Dancy is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Roseville, California. She is also a Doula, so this is such a special combo.

I don’t think she will mind me saying that this is someone who is addicted to birth. Krysta worked as a therapist for 15 years had the same realisation that I have had – which is that birth trauma is the speciality that chose her

I was excited to talk to Krysta about her knowledge of EMDR. So if you’ve never heard of it, EMDR is a therapy approach that teaches the brain to process traumatic memories as if they are not traumatic.

The World Health Organisation recommends EMDR as one of the top two treatment options for trauma and PTSD. The other one is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy so I recommend you go and listen to that episode after this one, if you haven’t listened yet.

Now of course, these are two recommended approaches, not the only approaches. A huge value of mine in this work is helping people find holistic support options – both for birthing people, and for the workers who may be carrying vicarious trauma in their bodies. EMDR is a pretty cool approach though and I’m looking at getting trained in it myself. I know you’ll get a lot of value out of this episode so enjoy!

Resources

Krysta’s website with resources and referral options. She runs training, has a Facebook group for Perinatal Professionals. So does so much!

http://www.counselinginroseville.com/home.html

Cheryl Beck's book Traumatic Childbirth 

https://www.amazon.com.au/Traumatic-Childbirth-Cheryl-Tatano-Beck/dp/0415678102/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=traumatic+childbirth&qid=1556599603&s=gateway&sr=8-2 

 Bessel Van Der Kolk's book The Body Keeps Score

https://www.amazon.com.au/Body-Keeps-Score-Transformation-Trauma/dp/0141978619/ref=asc_df_0141978619/?tag=googleshopdsk-22&linkCode=df0&hvadid=341792439332&hvpos=1o3&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3233339879205287771&hvpone= 

Jul 18, 201957:42
Episode 18 Birth Trauma Awareness Week Special - What is ‘Birth Trauma’ vs PTSD

Episode 18 Birth Trauma Awareness Week Special - What is ‘Birth Trauma’ vs PTSD

In this episode I walk you though the difference between 'birth trauma' and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from birth. When and how is it diagnosed, and when is it appropriate to seek general support and/or a self-help book and when might someone need more specialised, expert help.  

Jul 11, 201923:04
Episode 17: Midwives Rising 3 – Speaking up Against the Breath of the Wolf with Anarchist Midwife Kerrie Adams

Episode 17: Midwives Rising 3 – Speaking up Against the Breath of the Wolf with Anarchist Midwife Kerrie Adams

My guest today, Kerrie Adams is an anarchist midwife. A system disruptor and an educator of modern, savvy midwives who also want to change the world. 

Today We talk about:

Midwife archetypes – the “good girl”, the “bitch” and all the patriarchal discourse that creeps into our subconscious when we choose reaction or inaction

She talks about the differences between the UK and Australian systems. How it felt losing her autonomy and dropping skills. The culture shock of permission-asking and feeling like as a midwife there are people who want to keep you “stuck” at a certain level of skill, influence or even power. 

Kerrie has an extraordinary vision – yet she describes a time when she literally lost her sight for ten minutes while she was working beyond capacity caring for 24 women. 

We talk about how our lineage as birth workers is not one of confidence

Trace back to your own family history. If you find any women who in any way supported, healed or advocated for other women and children – they were called witches. They were burned and drowned. The epigenetics of fear of being seen is very real. 

We talk about doing the inner work to create confidence, and truly learning the difference between passive, aggressive and assertive behaviour 

The bystander effect that happens when witnessing obstetric violence and finding the confidence to say “I want you to stop” to someone who is causing harm. 

How your values drive behaviour – how this can show up in things like not making yourself proper lunch.  We make reference to the history of food and diet culture marketed to women – and all the shame, guilt and punishment that goes with it 

This is all about moving from reaction and inaction to meaningful action

I want you to stay in birth work, if that’s your goal. Let’s talk about actionable steps to help make that happen.

Kerrie Adams

http://kerrieadams.com/

Show notes on www.doctorerin.com.au/podcast

Jul 03, 201901:01:20
Episode 16: Midwives Rising 2 – How to Not be in the 32% who Want to Quit with Hannah Willsmore

Episode 16: Midwives Rising 2 – How to Not be in the 32% who Want to Quit with Hannah Willsmore

Australia’s nurses and midwives are overworked, under supported and in serious danger of burning out, with 32 per cent considering leaving the profession. This is according to findings of a Monash Business School survey of nurses and midwives’ wellbeing.

My guest today has found the confidence to work in a way that is aligned with her soul purpose, so that she’s not going to be another statistic. 

If you want a sustainable career as a midwife, you need to actively level up your self-care and support. These are teachable skills. Hannah Willsmore is an Endorsed Midwife in private practice, a life coach and a buddy of mine from Hypnobirthing Australia. She is based in Adelaide, and runs childbirth education and women’s circles. 

At fifteen years of age, Hannah managed to swing work experience in a hospital. She got into the labour ward and watched a cesarean birth. Can you imagine that ever happening now?! 

With the spirit of knowing that midwives are so often just doing the best they can with shitty conditions, Hannah and I talk about how we can be preventing burnout and preventing birth trauma

We look at language- using person-centered language instead of medicalised language

Making things seem like an emergency when it’s not

And issues around Informed consent 

We also talk about the importance of having a supportive network and not waiting until you’re stressed to seek support. If your support system doesn’t actually make you feel better and have you walking away lighter, then there’s something that needs some tweaks 

I want you to stay in birth work, if that’s your goal. Let’s talk about actionable steps to help make that happen.

For all the resources and people mentioned, go to the podcast section of  http://doctorerin.com.au/podcast/ 

Jun 24, 201953:52
Episode 14 Feeling Distressed Now? My Message of Love With 3 Things You can do to Decompress

Episode 14 Feeling Distressed Now? My Message of Love With 3 Things You can do to Decompress

Maybe you’re sitting in your car right now about to drive off from attending a horrendous birth. Maybe you are being bullied at work, or struggling with memories of your own birth.

We’ve all been in those situations where we are so overwhelmed that we can’t think of anything to do for ourselves to help decompress. In this episode I wanted to run through 5 things you can do right now that might help if the ideas are not coming to you. 

1. Deep breathing activating the vagus nerve, and stretching out

2. Checking in with your thoughts – are they accurate? Can you activate the dorsolateral cortex and turn down the fight or flight response with coping statements – I’m going to be ok, I’m loved, what I do matters

3. Tapping and/or cupping your arms – bring some blood flow and energy back to your body. Sit and feel your cold keys on the back of your arm. You’re drawing your gentle awareness back to your body and the here and now. Try taking your shoes off and massage your feet. Or maybe your hands. Let the tension out.

Allow whatever feelings you have. Rather than try to push the feelings away see if you can name any feelings. 

May 30, 201909:32
Episode 13 The Kaleidoscope of Full Spectrum Trauma With Jenna Brown

Episode 13 The Kaleidoscope of Full Spectrum Trauma With Jenna Brown

Are you willing to stop assuming that you know anything about anyone else’s experience until you have given them space to tell you? 

In today’s episode I talk with Jenna Brown from love over fear wellness. Jenna is a change maker. A space holder. An eloquent, warm, vibrant presence that I am so glad exists in the world.  

In today’s episode Jenna talks about how full spectrum doula work = trauma informed care

Trauma is really death by a thousand cuts – it’s not in one event, and for many, many people it’s interwoven with daily traumas.

Some of the things we talk about in today’s episode are:

being trans non binary in the birth world

why pregnancy and birth is not a celebration for everyone and how do we support people through pregnancy, birth, identity death and other forms of rebirth, death and loss

not making assumptions about people, and truly leaning into individual led care 

how triggers are invitations for healing

00.09 the assumption that recipients of care will tell us about their gender, sexuality or past abuse

14.10 using a non-assumption approach 

19.00 Why the rhetoric of “trust your instincts and your body in birth” doesn’t work for some people  

21:33 the body as a harbinger as trauma – walking around in a suit of your own trauma as a trans person

31:15 why not everyone who is pregnant is a woman

38:00 How learning about gender and sexuality and attraction teaches you something about yourself 

41:00 Some basic stats about discrimination of trans people

43:48 How systems use shame to influence behaviour 

51:40 using a safety plan for your self-care so that you don’t get stressed and then get stuck in inaction. 

55:00 redefining being an ally  

Permission to be dynamic and need different things in different moments 

How love and a desire for compassion and enriching our lives with diversity is the killer for fear

Jenna Brown: 

loveoverfearwellness.com

IG and FB handle: 

@loveoverfearwellness

Jenna’s book:

Queer and Pregnant journal 

https://www.amazon.com/Queer-Pregnant-Mx-Jenna-Brown/dp/1798226324/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3GS2OO7H9SY8P&keywords=queer+%2B+pregnant&qid=1553903742&s=gateway&sprefix=queer+%2B+pre%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-1

Glossary for providers:

https://www.lgbthealtheducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Glossary-2018-English-update-1.pdf

Resource for inclusive birth professionals, includes many links to continued education opportunities:

http://www.birthforeverybody.org/

One story, of many: 

https://www.autostraddle.com/bearing-life-with-and-alongside-on-masculinity-pregnancy-and-medical-trauma-438219/#comments

May 23, 201901:05:08
Episode 12 The One Question That Could Differentiate Psychosis From Anxiety

Episode 12 The One Question That Could Differentiate Psychosis From Anxiety

Without wanting to simplify maternal mental health assessment in ANY way shape or form, I wanted to share one of the key questions I use in differentiating anxiety from psychosis. New parents are already struggling with hormones, sleep deprivation, poor eating and heightened stress. Many are terrified to tell anyone about their distressing thoughts for fear they will be 'locked up' or their baby taken away. This simple question could potentially make a difference in someone's care, their experience of mental health clinicians and their life. 

Remember to slay in your lane! This is not about teaching differential diagnosis, nor should you be attempting to make decisions about the mental health of someone else unless you are suitably trained. However, there are many times where health professionals forget to actually look at the person in front of them instead of responding to familiar symptoms/stories/programming. 

May 16, 201912:45
Episode 11 Finding the Confidence to Feel and Reveal Your Trauma with Erika Cramer

Episode 11 Finding the Confidence to Feel and Reveal Your Trauma with Erika Cramer

You have no idea how excited I was to speak with Erika Cramer. For a psychologist slightly obsessed with other people’s growth from pain and trauma, talking to Erika was SO deeply satisfying for the soul. To describe Erika as a fiery confidence coach doesn’t even cut it. Goddess Kali herself would see Erika out the corner of her eye and question what “powerful” means. If you don’t like Goddess culture, then let me put it in scientific terms – Erika is an outlier. Like eye wateringly way, way outside the curve of “expected” and I LOVE her so, so much because of it. 

The amount of trauma this warrior woman has been through is off the scale. And yet here she is – having done the work, and continues to do the work on herself so that she can give to others. A self-described “ghetto Boston bitch” there is no bullshitting with Erika. She is the most gorgeous example for women of reframing “bossy” into being a justice-doing activist. 

If you are struggling with anything and rehearsing ANY of these old stories: “it’s too late”, “it’s too hard to change”, “therapy is too expensive”, “I’m not ready”, “time heals all wounds” or whatever else you’re using as reasons not to dive into your growth – I hope you come away from Erika’s story feeling different. 

Erika talks about

· Finding confidence from healing your own trauma 

· How you can’t possibly inoculate yourself from all traumas. Accepting that trauma will come and trusting yourself to grow from it

· Erika’s experience of having a Mum with severe Bipolar Disorder, foster care, repeated sexual abuse, re-learning to walk after a horrific car crash, losing her husband after another horrific car crash, and having a dog who died in birth

· The journey from being someone who, at 18 thought “I’ll just get the baby cut out” through to being an advocate for home birth

· Working her way through judgement of other people and their birth choices through to letting go of “shoulds”  

· The infinite possibilities of birth and letting go of expectation in birth to intention. 

· Healing from a traumatic c-section birth through to a VBAC at home

· Using gratitude and connection from your trauma (e.g., “ok so now I can connect with women who’ve miscarried)

· Using bodywork through working on her hips and being in the moment to heal miscarriage, grief and emotional pain stored in her body 

· Her hero’s journey from a “non-brochure” traumatic first birth through to working her arse off for a satisfying second birth

· A client’s perspective of how birth workers can forget what it’s like to be a client, and how it feels when your care provider isn’t confident

· The experiences of being told you’ve “failed to progress”, that “you’ll leave the hospital without a living baby if you don’t do X”, and that your first birth was “too crazy” for homebirth to be a good option

· The unpleasantness of proper self-care and how uncomfortable you need to get to do the work on yourself 

· If you’re not going to pay someone to work on your own shit, why would anyone pay you to support them? 

  

Erika: https://thequeenofconfidence.com/

Byron Katie - Loving What Is: Four Questions that can Change Your Life

May 09, 201901:01:14
Episode 10 Breastfeeding Trauma with Amberley Harris

Episode 10 Breastfeeding Trauma with Amberley Harris

Breastfeeding trauma is often overlooked. It can represent a continuation of traumatic birth, come up as a new trauma in and of itself, or it can trigger previous abuse or unpleasant associations and memories with our own bodies. 

With my first baby I really struggled. I managed to exclusively pump, but after 6-7 months I’d had enough. With my second baby, we’re about to hit 18 months of breastfeeding, and I have to pinch myself. 

Today I interview my breastfeeding angel, Amberley Harris. Amberley is a breastfeeding consultant and registered Midwife. She absolutely changed my life. 

In this episode, Amberley and I unpack some of the major differences between my first and second breastfeeding experiences and how breastfeeding can represent a continuation of traumatic birth. 

Breastfeeding can trigger huge feelings of failure, shame, self-doubt, guilt, and crushing sense of bodily autonomy. 

In today’s episode we cover:

· Common breastfeeding myths and negative story-telling handed down through families

· Self-fulfilling prophecies and the language that’s used (e.g., having ‘flat nipples’, or being pale = definite nipple damage)

· How we can teach birthing people about the ways in which certain interventions (medications, scalp clips, c-section) may impact breastfeeding

· Empowerment that can come from learning to express antenatally  

· How we can encourage birthing people to make a breastfeeding plan rather than waiting to get help if things get difficult 

· How less than 5 percent of women actually have insufficient milk supply (due to insufficient glandular tissue). There are SO many other factors contributing to difficulties with breastfeeding

· What’s a “normal” amount of pain with breastfeeding? How do we measure it? What happens to us when we’re told “but the latch looks ok”

· How you can help at that first feed. Skills for calming Mum and baby

· The benefits of time and patience. The breast crawl is replicable for months. If the first time doesn’t work out, there’s still time to encourage babies to use their instincts

· The idea that ‘her success is not your failure’. Talking positively about breastfeeding while being mindful that one person’s celebration can trigger someone else’s shame

· How I used the ‘4P’ analysis to put together a breastfeeding history and find the predisposing, protective, perpetuating and protective factors. 

You can see the handout I used about applying the ‘4 P’ analysis to my breastfeeding history on the website www.doctorerin.com.au/podcast

Amberley Harris

https://www.maternal-instincts.com.au/

Diabetes and Antenatal Milk Expressing 

http://www.adips-somanz.org/assets/2017-ADIPS-SOMANZ-presentations/Della-Forster-diabetes-and-antenatal-milk-expressing-DAME-a-multicentre-randomised-controlled-trial-abs-7.pdf 

Jenna Kutcher’s podcast

https://podcast.jennakutcher.com/

There’s also a chapter on breastfeeding trauma in the book Traumatic Childbirth 

https://www.amazon.com.au/Traumatic-Childbirth-Cheryl-Tatano-Beck/dp/0415678102/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=traumatic+childbirth&qid=1556599603&s=gateway&sr=8-2

May 02, 201901:09:22
Episode 9 Finding Joy in Uncomfortable Conversations – Trauma in LGBTQIA+ Families with Sheridon Byrne

Episode 9 Finding Joy in Uncomfortable Conversations – Trauma in LGBTQIA+ Families with Sheridon Byrne

Have you watched that documentary from Brene Brown on Netflix yet? So many take always but a huge one for me was this – to not have conversations just because they make you feel uncomfortable is the definition of privilege. In the majority of birth culture we talk about birth through a hetero lens. As a white, heterosexual woman who has birthed at a hospital I’ve never had to stop and think about whether or not I look like the people in the brochure. I’ve never had to worry about whether someone will make inaccurate assumptions about my identity, my sexuality or make assumptions about my partner. 

We all have biases. One of mine has been the familiar story of “well I’m super accepting of LGBTQIA+ clients, so that’s enough”. 

I’m inviting you today to be courageous and admit that there’s a whole lot you don’t know about what you don’t know. I want you to embrace feeling uncomfortable, because (a) we must have uncomfortable conversations in order to see real social change, and (b) unless you are fighting for your birth rights within the LGBTQIA+ arena, your comfort is not really the centre of these conversations. 

Feeling uncomfortable is how we do the work of trauma. If you sit with your discomfort it can take you to such an amazing place of growth, insight and strength. 

Sheridon is a Melbourne Doula who also works in the community sector delivering juicy trainings. She sings, she plays the drums, she loves high fashion and I am SO glad we met! Some of the topics we cover in today’s episode:

Learning about diversity is a win/win. It’s joyful and reminds us of our core values about equality, love and humanity. 

We need more than just whacking up a rainbow sticker. How does it feel when you navigate the world not knowing if you are welcome or not

How to bring an intersectional lens to your work remembering that LGBTQIA+ families are still grappling with erasure, pathologizing and loads of intergenerational trauma 

Joy is a killer of fear

Language is a moveable feast - It’s not about being ‘right’. It’s about being open, reflective and allowing the birthing person and their family to guide us in what they need. 

You can be an expert in your field but you’re not an expert on your client’s experience. It’s not yours to be an expert in. 

To think about lifelong learning versus being “done” with training 

Resources

Sheridon

https://sheridonbyrne.com/

Checking in with what you don’t know you don’t know about LGBTQIA+

https://www.genderbread.org/

Gender bread person 

Vikki Reynolds self-care and how not to burn out in justice doing work

How to work with burnout and oppression 

https://vikkireynolds.ca/writings/articles/

Apr 30, 201901:06:25
Episode 8 The Pros and Cons of CBT for Birth Trauma

Episode 8 The Pros and Cons of CBT for Birth Trauma

In episode 8, I talk you through the pros and cons of using CBT for birth trauma and how it's less about the therapy approach you choose and more about the therapeutic fit.

The WHO recommends two main Psychological approaches for the treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). One is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) the other is Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing (EMDR).

Cognitive Behaviour works by working with someone's negative or 'stuck' thoughts about the trauma. This works on the idea that the brain doesn't realise that the threat of the trauma has passed, and/or what you want to do with information about the trauma. Imagine that somewhere in your birth experience (or watching someone's else's) you have the thought "this is it, I'm going to die". I remember in vivid detail after the birth of my first daughter being in so much pain, that I actually welcomed death. I remember being wheeled off to emergency surgery seeing my husband cradling our new baby and saying thinking "take care of her. This might be the last time I see you guys". I still well up with tears every single time I think, write, or speak about it, but part of the 'trick' to coping has been (a) realising I had that thought and (b) coaching my brain to realise that the threat has past, and I'm now in the present. Each time I'm able to do that, my heart rate lowers, my breathing rate reduces, my jaw relaxes and I can feel what it's like for my brain to back down, realising it's a memory and the actual threat has passed.

The goal of CBT then is to help people catch the negative thoughts that pop up automatically and thereby reduce the awful feelings. CBT posits that all feelings and sensations from trauma (e.g., heart racing, sweating, feeling pannicky, feeling rage, avoiding) all start with a single thought.

A large component (at least the way I work) is through writing – writing the event as it happened, in the past then in present and working with ‘hot spots’ – automatic negative thoughts. The goal is to work with thoughts and beliefs about the trauma so distress is reduced.

PROS of CBT

  • Evidence based
  • Longitudinal research
  • WHO supported
  • Medicare rebate supported (10 sessions in Australia)
  • Skills learned translate well into other areas of life - confidence, parenting, anxiety, depression, fears and just getting yourself out of a funk.
  • Easy to find a practitioner

CONS of CBT

  • Potentially the ‘best’ we have but still doesn’t remedy all PTSD
  • Gold standard CBT for PTSD is 20+ sessions, roughly 12 months of work
  • Medicare will only rebate for 10 sessions, meaning client either has to fork over the rest of payment, wait until new calendar year, or find bulk-billing (there are no financial benefits for mental health workers to bulk-bill, unlike for GPs)
  • Can potentially be interpreted as blaming (‘your thoughts are the problem’)
  • Even imaginal exposure is too confronting for some
  • Cognitive therapies are not great for people with low self-reflection
Apr 03, 201940:10
Episode 7 Bringing Yourself Back into Your Body During and After Trauma with Nisha Gill

Episode 7 Bringing Yourself Back into Your Body During and After Trauma with Nisha Gill

Nisha Gill of Feminine Instincts is a Melbourne-based Somatic Experiencing (trauma resolution) Practitioner with a background in counselling, bodywork, birth education, doula support, feminine embodiment yoga and birth hypnosis.

She specializes in birth and sexual trauma resolution via a neurophysiological approach which focuses on safety and capacity at the level of the autonomic nervous system. The approach also lends itself to preparing for birth when paired with bodywork to simulate labour and increase the birthing person’s threshold to stress and trauma responses.

Nisha works with individuals in therapy and groups for trauma education both in person and online.

In this episode we talk about:

1. How we are still very much primal beings and our trauma responses as humans are not that different to animals

2. Trauma as an incomplete nervous system response. How is trauma stored in the body even from a time when we were preverbal 

3. Why we don’t necessarily need to ‘remember’ the content of our traumas in order to work with them

4. How to scan and listen to your body – where are the niggles? where do you feel stuck? How to we build in new calm and/or pleasant experiences and sensations 

5. What can you do to resettle your nervous system if you can’t leave the space? 

6. What does a session with a Somatic Experiencing practitioner look like? How to open your mind AND open your pelvis! 

Resources

Nisha’s website

www.feminineinstincts.com.au

Nisha’s Birth Trauma Awareness Facebook Group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/593505664093548/

The Tao of Trauma: A Practitioner's Guide for Integrating Five Element Theory and Trauma Treatment Paperback 

Alaine D. Duncan, Kathy L. Kain, & M.D. Michael Hollifield 

https://www.amazon.com/Tao-Trauma-Practitioners-Integrating-Treatment/dp/1623172225

You can find Grace & Frankie on Netflix


Further info www.doctorerin.com.au

Mar 27, 201901:06:26
Episode 6 How to Help Someone who is Dissociating

Episode 6 How to Help Someone who is Dissociating

What is dissociation? Is it helpful or harmful and how might you help someone through it
Mar 20, 201924:32
Episode 5 Angela Gallo on Excavating Your Trauma to Alchemise your Soul Passion as a Doula

Episode 5 Angela Gallo on Excavating Your Trauma to Alchemise your Soul Passion as a Doula

Have you ever met the perfect person at the perfect time who completely changed your life? Angela Gallo is that person for me.
She is a collector of animals. A collector of tattoos. A snorty laugher, a generous gesticulator, and when she walks into a room you have to double check if you can hear the Rocky theme song playing in the background.
She is an identity death doula, a curator of postpartum experiences with purpose. She teaches doulas how to excavate their soul so that they can consciously show up for clients.
In today's episode we talk about
Our shared experience of birth trauma. What she learned from watching me go through a traumatic birth with severe shoulder dystocia my daughter, Lily. How we have both grown stronger and more resilient because of this experience.
We talk about this idea of what you don’t know you don’t know and that when that unknown is suddenly presented to you – how you can run and fight it or face it. You might find it hard to believe, but Angela is someone who has avoided feeling big feelings for along time. It is through her own excavation of her own demons that she has been able to step up, be seen, and be fully present in mind, body and spirit for her clients.
As birth workers we so often have a narrative of being rewarded for nurturing others. We gain a sense of self-worth and value from caring for others. Many of us even tell ourselves that beautiful lie – that by helping others with their trauma, we are healing ourselves vicariously. No, you’re not. You need to do the work on your own stuff. You need to show up and be fully present in your own body, doing your own work before you can be a container for someone else. Angela and I both feel this to be the uncomfortable truth because we’ve lived it. Are still living it! The discomfort of working on yourself is never done. We are always learning.
We talk in pictures so there’s a metaphor of proper self-care being like taking a bath in diarrhoea. Because, really, doing the work that you need to do to get strong as a birth worker is seriously uncomfortable. But if you can wade through it Slumdog Millionaire style – you are going to be SO fucking strong.
Resources
Angela Gallo
Radical self-love
Gala Darling
Alchemising Adrenaline
Emily Graham and Carey Glenn
Mar 12, 201901:05:32
Episode 4 Meg Berryman on Birth in Developing Countries and her Rebirth from Adrenal Exhaustion

Episode 4 Meg Berryman on Birth in Developing Countries and her Rebirth from Adrenal Exhaustion

Meg Berryman is an empowerment coach and yoga teacher who previously worked in the international development sector. In this episode, we talk birth and maternity care in the Gaza Strip, Timor and Africa, and how she has coped with aid worker guilt. Meg also discusses how burnout, Adrenal exhaustion and auto immune disease was a catalyst for resilience and growth. We talk about trauma narratives, embodiment work and what some of her daily, practical self-care practice looks like.
Feb 27, 201901:01:17
Episode 3 Teaching Hypnobirthing When a Client has Previous Birth Trauma

Episode 3 Teaching Hypnobirthing When a Client has Previous Birth Trauma

I take you through a few of my tips for how I work with previous birth trauma in Hypnobirthing classe
Feb 12, 201933:18
Episode 2 What is Vicarious Trauma?
Jan 23, 201924:07
Episode 1 My own Lived Birth Trauma as a Conduit for Positive Power and Beautiful Resilience
Jan 12, 201949:12