Ep. 11 / Exploring Fears as a Pathway to Autonomy in Birth and Beyond
“The way you prepare for birth has the potential to change your entire life”
We're in a time where most women are seeking autonomous births, but with providers and within medical environments with their own agendas, rules, and practices. So, what is really required to have an empowered birth experience?
Hint: it goes beyond a birth plan.
The way you prepare for birth has the potential to change your entire life.
This episode is a juicy conversation with Kyleigh Banks, known as @theautonomymommy on Instagram. She is a mama, doula, and the host of two podcasts, Our Birth Wisdom and the latest, the Birthworker Podcast.
Kyleigh describes an autonomous Mom as
A wave-maker.
A woman who thinks for herself.
A mom who is tired of blindly following the status quo.
A woman who knows that birth has the potential to transform the world.
But here’s the thing - autonomous moms are also Humans.
When we’re faced with the unexpected, our thoughts and choices are motivated by fear. But, fear hijacks our ability to connect with our hearts and our intentions, so we sometimes make choices that don't reflect our core beliefs — and then later, we feel shame, wish for do-overs and carry judgment towards ourselves.
In this episode, we discuss the stories we carry around fear, both the common and unconscious fears that almost all women meet in their preparation.
What unconscious ideals or biases are you bringing to birth?
What fears are shaping your birth plan?
How can lingering fears undermine the vision you have for your birth?
And, many practical ways to help you identify, examine, and work with those fears to feel more at peace, increase your confidence and have greater resilience in your birth - no matter how it unfolds.
Some topics discussed in this episode:
What shifts when we view birth beyond one day/event in our life?
Exploring how benefits, risk, and safety as an individual and fluid perception
How to identify the biases you bring to birth - experiential, birth stories, Hollywood, familial, cultural
How the fear of losing control, and the fear of judgment can inhibit the natural birth process
How Kyleigh met and overcame her fear of “losing control” during birth, even with a history of panic attacks
How to cultivate “The watcher” as a way to meet yourself in any situation
The fear of saying no, fear of conflict and the “good girl” conditioning
Navigating the bind of maintaining autonomy in a culture that defers to the medical system to keep you “safe”
What’s really behind the fear of an unwanted outcome?
The differences between making decisions based on fear vs. intuition
How trauma impacts our ability to connect with our body’s signals when making decisions
Unpacking the fear of motherhood, mother wounds, and how it can show up in pregnancy, birth and beyond
The fear of losing yourself in motherhood, and checking your expectations
A practical, 7-step process to identify and work through your fears
-----------
Do you know that there's more to birth preparation than reading books, taking childbirth classes or creating a birth plan - but don't know what else to do, or where to begin? Visit rebirthformothers.com to subscribe for updates and receive a free Roadmap to Increase your Emotional Resilience for Birth - including exercises, contemplations, and to
More about Kyleigh:
On Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theautonomymommy
All things Autonomous Birth preparation at https://www.theautonomymommy.com
Our Birth Wisdom podcast https://www.theautonomymommy.com/our-birth-wisdom
Geek out over Birth while learning practical Business skills to help you start (and grow) your career as a birthworker https://www.thebirthworkerpodcast.com
