Return to Wisdom

In 2009, Janet Fraser was one of Australia’s most visible home birth advocates when her daughter was stillborn at home. Her home was declared a crime scene, her baby was taken as evidence, and three years later she faced a coronial inquest that asked whether she was a danger to public health.
In episode 14 of The Birth Series, Keshia sits down with Janet — founder of Joyous Birth, law graduate, radical feminist and author of Born Still: A Memoir of Grief — to talk about what happened, and what it reveals about how our culture treats women who step outside the system.
They discuss the early-2000s birth forums compared with today’s algorithm-driven birth content, why Janet chose to free birth after two unsupported births with midwives, the media storm and years of harassment that followed her loss, why home birth stillbirths make headlines while hospital losses rarely do, how hospital transfers can become punitive, and Janet’s belief that birth will only improve when women’s lives improve.
About JanetJanet Fraser is the founder and National Convenor of Joyous Birth, the Australian home birth network she set up in 2004. She is a mother of three, a law graduate soon to be admitted as a lawyer, a volunteer with the Feminist Legal Clinic, and chairs the monthly Australia/New Zealand webinar for Women’s Declaration International.
Get the bookBorn Still: A Memoir of Grief by Janet Fraser (Spinifex Press, 2020)Paperback: https://www.spinifexpress.com.au/shop/9781925950120Ebook: https://www.spinifexpress.com.au/ebook-store/p/born-still-a-memoir-of-grief-ebook-pdf
You can find Janet on X, Facebook, Patreon and YouTube (Women’s Declaration International) 
This episode is supported by
🌿 INBLUEM SkincarePure, plant-based skincare made in Byron Bay. No toxins, no fillers, no fuss. INBLUEM is offering Return to Wisdom listeners a discount.👉 Use code RETURNTOWISDOMPODCAST at inbluem.com/returntowisdompodcast
💞 Kim AnamiHolistic sex and relationship coaching for reconnecting with your body and your partner. Register for courses here (using this link also supports the podcast):https://kimanami.ontraport.com/t?orid=511555&opid=2
🍄 SuperfeastThis episode is brought to you by Superfeast. Enjoy 10% off your order with the code RETURNTOWISDOMhttps://www.superfeast.com.au/

Doula, researcher and quantum biology educator Nikko Kennedy returns to Return to Wisdom for a wide-ranging conversation with Keshia Tognazzini about freebirth: why women choose it, what the data can and can’t tell us, and why the conversation needs far more nuance than it’s getting.
Nikko has been a doula since 2011 and has had five babies across nearly every setting: a midwife-booked home birth that became unassisted, a hospital birth at 43 weeks after declining induction, unassisted births, and a postpartum hospital transfer when her newborn had breathing difficulties. She shares the lessons from each, including the uncomfortable ones.
In this episode:
Why a certified doula who freebirths herself can’t professionally support a client’s freebirth, and the legal grey zone of the “traditional birth companion”
How Oregon regulates traditional midwives: waivers, no prescription drugs, and what “scope of practice” really means
The observer effect in birth: how a care provider’s notes, supervisors and regulators shape what happens in the room
How insurance and payment quietly shape birth decisions, such as declining the glucose test
Why freebirth outcomes are so hard to measure: under-reporting, births logged as “precipitous,” and studies comparing apples with oranges
Keshia’s take on the Guardian’s Free Birth Society investigation, and what poor-outcome stories add to the picture
Fear works in both directions: women who choose hospital out of fear, and women who flee it out of fear
Why “your baby could die” no longer persuades many women, and what the academic literature says about bringing them back
Transfers: child-protection referrals in the UK, inconsistent hospital responses, and why it’s “easier to escalate care than to de-escalate it”
Two breech births with opposite outcomes, and why statistics don’t apply to individuals
Health as the foundation for birthing outside the system: light, circadian rhythm, nutrition, immunity, and seeking help early
Practice-based research: generating real-world evidence at the point of care
Rebuilding “the village,” and the fact that villages can be meddlesome too
 
Mentioned in this episode
Nikko’s earlier episode with Keshia and Chloe on quantum biology, circadian rhythm and pregnancy: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2wUVWQbnKOp3Y5IwfOJ6fJ
Allowed to Birth: A journey of a global midwife - https://www.byroncentre.com.au/theatre-events/allowed-to-birth
Nikko’s upcoming conversation on postpartum cycle return with a TCM doctor: brighterdaysdarkernights.com 
 
Connect with Nikko: @brighterdays.darkernights
This episode is supported by
INBLUEM SkincarePure, plant-based skincare made in Byron Bay. No toxins, no fillers, no fuss. INBLUEM is offering Return to Wisdom listeners a discount.👉 Use code RETURNTOWISDOMPODCAST at inbluem.com/returntowisdompodcast
Kim AnamiHolistic sex and relationship coaching for reconnecting with your body and your partner. Register for courses here (using this link also supports the podcast):https://kimanami.ontraport.com/t?orid=511555&opid=2
SuperfeastThis episode is brought to you by Superfeast. Enjoy 10% off your order with the code RETURNTOWISDOMhttps://www.superfeast.com.au/

In episode 12 of The Birth Series, Keshia Tognazzini sits down with birth photographer, doula and filmmaker Jacinta Lagos to talk about her debut feature documentary, Allowed to Birth: The Journey of a Global Midwife.
Jacinta shares what pushed her to pick up a camera: years of witnessing obstetric violence, unnecessary interventions and small, everyday disrespect in hospital birth rooms, set against the deeply respected home births she was also documenting. She talks about why she built the film around global midwife Kristine Lauria, a Doctors Without Borders midwife and breech and twins educator, and why the loss of traditional midwifery skills and trust in birth matters.
Keshia and Jacinta also get into free birth: why Jacinta prefers the term unassisted birth, how the film portrays Kristine's own unassisted birth, and her concerns about the Free Birth Society's business model and its demonising of midwives. They finish with how unassisted births are reported in the Australian media, and an invitation to the upcoming Byron Bay screening on Tuesday 17 November.
Jacinta Lagos is an Argentinian-born birth photographer, doula and filmmaker based in Wisconsin, USA, and a mother of three. She grew up believing caesarean birth was simply how babies were born, until birth photography showed her both the beauty of physiological birth and the reality of obstetric violence. She began Allowed to Birth in 2024, shooting it largely with a single camera.
Allowed to Birth: The Journey of a Global Midwife follows the life and work of midwife and educator Kristine Lauria, and features voices including Dr Melanie Jackson, Dr Stu Fischbein and Kemi Johnson.
Watch Allowed to Birth in Byron Bay
Allowed to Birth screens at Byron Theatre on Tuesday 17 November 2026, 6:30–8:30pm, followed by a live Q&A panel.
Venue: Byron Theatre, Byron Community Centre, 69 Jonson St, Byron Bay NSW 2481
Panel includes: Sarah Smits, Australian midwife, educator and mentor (Bridging Worlds Midwifery)
Tickets: ⁠Book on Eventbrite⁠
Event page: ⁠Byron Theatre – Allowed to Birth⁠
Box office: (02) 6685 6807 · boxoffice@byroncentre.com.au
 
Connect with Jacinta and the film
Website: ⁠allowedtobirth.com⁠ · ⁠jacintalagos.com⁠
Instagram: @allowedtobirth · @jacintalagosbirthservices
Email: allowedtobirth@gmail.com — Jacinta reads every message herself and would love your feedback after you watch
 
This Episode Is Supported By
INBLUEM Skincare Pure, plant-based skincare made in Byron Bay — no toxins, no fillers, no fuss. In Bloom is offering Return to Wisdom listeners a discount. 👉 Use code RETURNTOWISDOMPODCAST at ⁠inbluem.com⁠/returntowisdompodcast
Kim Anami Holistic sex and relationship coaching for reconnecting with your body and your partner. ⁠https://kimanami.ontraport.com/t?orid=511555&opid=2⁠ to register for courses— using it also supports the podcast.
This Episode is brought to you by Superfeast
Enjoy 10% off your order with the code RETURNTOWISDOM
https://www.superfeast.com.au/
 
 

After The Guardian’s investigation into the Free Birth Society, much of the freebirth world went quiet. Keshia didn’t. In this episode she sits down with Tahnee Taylor, mother of three, herbalist, birth educator, co-founder of SuperFeast, and a woman who has had two freebirths, to talk about what the investigation revealed and what it means for women considering birth outside the system.
Tahnee doesn’t hold back. She bought the Complete Guide to Freebirth, watched one module, and turned it off. She explains why, and why she tells the women in her own birth course not to freebirth unless they know in their bones it’s right for them.
Together they cover censorship inside online birth communities, the danger of one-sided storytelling, the rise of paid “birthkeepers” with little or no experience, the Stacey Warnecke case, postpartum haemorrhage, twins, scans, and the personal reckoning that comes with taking full responsibility for your own birth. They also explore how hard medical encounters can become the very experiences that teach women to trust themselves.
This is a nuanced, honest, sometimes fiery conversation between two women who support freebirth and are not afraid to criticise how it is being sold.
Find Tahnee
Website: https://tahneetaylor.com
Instagram: @tahneetaylor (confirm handle)
Body of Wisdom Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1749200646
SuperFeast: https://superfeast.com.au
 
References and resources mentioned
The Birth Keepers, The Guardian Investigates (Sirin Kale & Lucy Osborne): https://podnews.net/podcast/i11naj
Free Birth Society: Emilee Saldaya & Yolande Norris-Clark (Complete Guide to Freebirth, Radical Birthkeeper School, The Lighthouse membership)
Portal, Yolande Norris-Clark (book and course)
Stacey Warnecke coronial inquest, Victoria: https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/06/17/hospital-referred-doula-to-police-after-fatal-victoria-freebirth/
Research on why women freebirth (Women’s Agenda / The Conversation): https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/what-drives-women-to-have-a-freebirth-without-a-midwife-or-doctor-heres-what-the-research-says/
Tahnee’s birth stories on Body of Wisdom, including Birth Magic: Hugo’s Pain-Free, Pleasurable Freebirth
Ina May Gaskin
Jeannine Parvati Baker
Gloria Lemay
Reddit discussion threads on the Free Birth Society
 
This Episode Is Supported By
INBLUEM Skincare Pure, plant-based skincare made in Byron Bay — no toxins, no fillers, no fuss. In Bloom is offering Return to Wisdom listeners a discount. 👉 Use code RETURNTOWISDOMPODCAST at inbluem.com/returntowisdompodcast
Kim Anami Holistic sex and relationship coaching for reconnecting with your body and your partner. https://kimanami.ontraport.com/t?orid=511555&opid=2 to register for courses— using it also supports the podcast.
This Episode is brought to you by Superfeast
Enjoy 10% off your order with the code RETURNTOWISDOM
https://www.superfeast.com.au/

Who should be allowed to support a woman in labour? In late 2025, RANZCOG and the Australian College of Midwives called for South Australia's "restricted birth practices" legislation to be adopted nationally. The laws aim to prohibit anyone without the appropriate clinical qualifications from attending or "managing" birth.
In this episode, Keshia Tognazzini talks with maternity rights advocate Sally Kusack of Maternity Choices Australia about what this push could mean for doulas, birthkeepers, families, and women who choose to birth outside the system. They discuss how vague legal wording can catch a doula offering emotional support, or even a woman's own mother and aunties. They also cover the recent wave of media coverage on freebirth, the impact of the Birth Trauma Inquiry, and the climate of fear among birth workers.
Sally also shares the three things she believes every pregnant woman should understand: her rights, the physiology of birth, and the system she's birthing within.
In this episode
Media coverage of freebirth and birthkeepers through 2024–2025, including the Guardian series and Sydney Morning Herald reporting
The RANZCOG and ACM position statement calling for national "harmonisation" of South Australia's legislation
Why the South Australian law was drafted, and how broad terms like "management of birth" can apply to almost anyone
The story of a South Australian doula who faced two years of investigation after a hospital birth with no poor outcome
When and why the state becomes involved after poor outcomes, including coronial inquests
The many reasons women choose to birth outside the system, and the risks they take on
Reports of child protection threats used to pressure women into accepting interventions such as induction
The Birth Trauma Inquiry, and why the response has been regulation rather than reform
How to stay informed and act quickly when consultation windows open
Marjorie Tew's research on whether hospital birth is actually safer for healthy women
The Luddites, and why questioning new technology isn't the same as rejecting it
The evidence and debate around CTG monitoring
The BRAIN acronym for informed decision-making, which works even mid-labour
Why a labouring woman needs to feel private, safe, and unobserved, and practical tips like using an eye mask during transfer
 
You can find Sally at Maternity Choices Australia and PBB Media podcast and on IG
 
Here's the blog entry in response to the RANZCOG/ACM joint position statement: https://www.maternitychoices.org.au/post/maternity-advocacy-groups-around-the-country-rally-together-to-protect-women-s-rights-in-birth
 
This Episode Is Supported By
INBLUEM Skincare Pure, plant-based skincare made in Byron Bay — no toxins, no fillers, no fuss. In Bloom is offering Return to Wisdom listeners a discount. 👉 Use code RETURNTOWISDOMPODCAST at inbluem.com/returntowisdompodcast
Kim Anami Holistic sex and relationship coaching for reconnecting with your body and your partner. https://kimanami.ontraport.com/t?orid=511555&opid=2 to register for courses— using it also supports the podcast.
This Episode is brought to you by Superfeast
Enjoy 10% off your order with the code RETURNTOWISDOM
https://www.superfeast.com.au/

In this episode, host Keshia Tognazzini sits down with Molly Isabel, a mother of eight, to walk through every one of her birth stories — from her first birth at nineteen in a small country hospital, through smooth hospital births, an unexpected caesarean, and two free births at home. It's a rare chance to hear one woman's full arc across nearly two decades of birthing: what worked, what didn't, how fear crept in even after years of confident births, and what it actually took to choose free birth with eyes open.
Along the way, they talk about the weight of two words spoken at the wrong moment, being labelled "high risk" for having a large family, the emotional aftermath of an unplanned caesarean, and how media coverage of free birth outcomes so often leaves out the context that matters most.
What We Cover
Birth #1 (age 19): A straightforward hospital birth with unspoken fear of a nearby hospital's reputation, an internal exam and broken waters performed without clear consent, and a midwife who helped restore Molly's trust in her own instincts
Birth #2: A "textbook" hospital birth — smooth, supported, and calm
Births #3 and #4: Both born in the caul; a moment where a midwife's uncertain reaction ("what's that?") briefly stalled labour — and what that reveals about how quickly fear can shift a birth
Birth #5: A pregnancy marked by a difficult relationship with a new head of midwifery, being labelled "high risk" for being a "grand multi," pressure over amniotic fluid and baby size, a suspected placental abruption, and an unplanned caesarean — plus the emotional aftermath and a craniosacral/Chinese medicine session that helped settle her son
The hospital's internal response to the midwife whose care Molly and others complained about
Birth #6: Deciding to free birth for the first time after losing access to a home birth midwife due to COVID-related travel and continuity-of-care rules; building confidence through books, community, and backup planning; a fast, calm labour at home
The importance of having backup plans in place and a partner who fully believes in the process
Birth #7: A posterior labour after relocating states, a difficult stall, and instinctively knowing to break her own waters after finding the answer in a birth book days earlier
Birth #8: Free birthing through a bad flu, with the shortest labour of all
A friend's stillbirth within a free-birthing community, how that family processed it, and how it affected Molly's own confidence going into her next free births
A frank conversation about media coverage of free birth deaths — what gets reported, what gets left out, and how outcomes are scrutinised differently depending on whether they happen inside or outside a hospital
The history behind modern gynaecology and why some of that history still shapes maternity care today
Why Molly believes many women don't "choose" free birth so much as get pushed toward it by a system that leaves them few other options
Links & References Mentioned
Active Birth by Janet Balaskas — one of the birth books Molly and Harley read before their first birth
Home Birthing on Your Own Terms — the book Molly credits with the key piece of information (about manually rupturing membranes) that helped her through a stalled labour
Ina May Gaskin and Grantly Dick-Read — authors referenced among the birth books Molly read while researching free birth (titles including works associated with Childbirth Without Fear)
Mary Lou Singleton — mentioned as a guest from another episode of the series, referenced in relation to the idea that physiological birth builds an "inner strength" some women miss out on
J. Marion Sims — referenced (name not recalled in the episode) regarding the historical origins of modern gynaecology, including experimental surgeries performed on enslaved Black women without anaesthesia; discussed as part of a broader conversation about how much of modern obstetric practice has roots that deserve scrutiny
Episode Sponsors
INBLUEM Skincare — Pure, plant-based skincare made in Byron Bay — no toxins, no fillers, no fuss. In Bloom is offering Return to Wisdom listeners a discount. Use code RETURNTOWISDOMPODCAST at inbluem.com/returntowisdompodcast
Kim Anami — Holistic sex and relationship coaching for reconnecting with your body and your partner. Register for courses here — using it also supports the podcast.
Superfeast — This episode is brought to you by Superfeast. Enjoy 10% off your order with the code RETURNTOWISDOM at superfeast.com.au

In this episode, host Keshia Tognazzini sits down with Dr Sarah Buckley — GP, researcher, and one of the world's leading voices on the hormonal physiology of birth — to unpack what actually happens in the body during physiological labour, and what gets lost when birth is interrupted, induced, or moved into an operating theatre.
They cover the "private, safe and unobserved" foundation every labouring mammal needs, the oxytocin feedback loop that turns early labour into an unstoppable "snowball," the fetus ejection reflex, why pre-labour caesareans leave a measurable hormonal gap for both mother and baby, and practical ways to protect your hormones if a hospital transfer is part of your plan.
 
About Dr Sarah Buckley
Dr Sarah Buckley is trained as a family physician/GP with qualifications in GP-obstetrics. She has been writing and lecturing to childbirth professionals and parents since 1997, and is the author of the internationally best-selling book Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering.
Dr Buckley has a special interest in the hormones of physiological labour and birth and the impact of maternity-care interventions. She recently completed her PhD at the University of Queensland on Oxytocin in Childbirth, and is also the author of the 2015 report Hormonal Physiology of Childbirth.
She is mother to four adult children and grandmother to one, all born at home. She lives on the semi-rural outskirts of Brisbane, Australia.
Find Sarah:
Website: sarahbuckley.com
Facebook: @DrSarahBuckley
Instagram: @DrSarahJBuckley
Twitter/X: @Sarahjbuckley
 
What We Cover
What "undisturbed birth" actually means, and why every labouring mammal needs to feel private, safe, and unobserved
The evolutionary roots of birth hormones — 65+ million years of placental mammal physiology
Why labour can stall the moment a labouring woman moves from home to hospital
The "saber-toothed tiger effect": how adrenaline and cortisol counteract oxytocin
The Ferguson reflex and the "snowball of labour" — how a positive feedback loop turns early contractions into an unstoppable process
Oxytocin receptor density and why the uterus becomes exponentially more sensitive to oxytocin by the end of pregnancy
What the jugular-vein oxytocin studies from the 1970s–80s actually found
The fetal catecholamine surge, and what babies miss out on with a pre-labour caesarean
Why current research shows no safety benefit to elective pre-labour caesarean over physiological birth
Skin-to-skin contact as a way to "fill hormonal gaps" after interventions
Melatonin, darkness, and why humans likely evolved to labour at night
The difference between an undisturbed birth and an unassisted (free) birth
Practical tips for protecting your hormones if you're planning a hospital transfer
 
Links & References Mentioned
Sarah Buckley's Website
All of Sarah's PhD publications
Epidurals — risks and FAQ
How to Have the Best Caesarean
Labour Induction: Making Choices
Synthetic Oxytocin (Pitocin): Myths and Side Effects
Does Pitocin Cause Autism?
Research Publications Referenced
Buckley S, Uvnäs-Moberg K, Pajalic Z, Luegmair K, Ekström-Bergström A, Dencker A, et al. Maternal and newborn plasma oxytocin levels in response to maternal synthetic oxytocin administration during labour, birth and postpartum — a systematic review with implications for the function of the oxytocinergic system. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2023;23(1):137. Read here
Uvnäs-Moberg K, Ekström-Bergström A, Berg M, Buckley S, Pajalic Z, Hadjigeorgiou E, et al. Maternal plasma levels of oxytocin during physiological childbirth — a systematic review with implications for uterine contractions and central actions of oxytocin. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2019;19(1):285. Read here
People & Concepts Mentioned in Conversation
Michel Odent — French surgeon, water-birth pioneer, and originator of the "private, safe and unobserved" framing and the fetus ejection reflex
Robbie Davis-Floyd — medical anthropologist, coined "birth as a technocratic rite of passage"
Sheila Kitzinger — birth anthropologist referenced on cross-cultural birth support
Nils Bergman — researcher/advocate for "no separation" and skin-to-skin practice, including during caesarean birth
Rhea Dempsey — referenced for the phrase "crisis of confidence" in labour
Leader & Lederman et al. — 1970s–80s studies on maternal adrenaline and fetal heart rate patterns in early labour
Robin Lim — midwife referenced regarding birth culture in Bali
This Episode Is Supported By
INBLUEM Skincare — Pure, plant-based skincare made in Byron Bay — no toxins, no fillers, no fuss. In Bloom is offering Return to Wisdom listeners a discount. Use code RETURNTOWISDOMPODCAST at inbluem.com/returntowisdompodcast
Kim Anami — Holistic sex and relationship coaching for reconnecting with your body and your partner. Register for courses here — using it also supports the podcast.
Superfeast — This episode is brought to you by Superfeast. Enjoy 10% off your order with the code RETURNTOWISDOM at superfeast.com.au

Part of a series examining free birth and home birth culture in light of a recent media exposé (The Guardian's investigation), this conversation features veteran obstetrician Dr. Stu Fischbein giving his unfiltered take on why free birth exists, why he believes it's here to stay, and where he thinks the modern maternity system has gone wrong. Drawing on nearly 40 years in practice — including 25 years working alongside midwives and a career spent specializing in breech, twin, and VBAC deliveries — Dr. Stu makes the case that many of the "rules" of obstetrics (age 35, 24-hour rupture of membranes, post-dates, standard of care) are arbitrary constructs rather than evidence-based thresholds. The conversation ranges widely: informed consent, financial incentives in hospital billing, breech and twin birth outcomes, ultrasound overuse, newborn resuscitation practices, and why he believes women are turning to free birth not out of recklessness but as a rational response to a system they no longer trust.
This Episode Is Supported By
INBLUEM Skincare Pure, plant-based skincare made in Byron Bay — no toxins, no fillers, no fuss. In Bloom is offering Return to Wisdom listeners a discount. 👉 Use code RETURNTOWISDOMPODCAST at inbluem.com/returntowisdompodcast
Kim Anami Holistic sex and relationship coaching for reconnecting with your body and your partner. https://kimanami.ontraport.com/t?orid=511555&opid=2 to register for courses— using it also supports the podcast.
This Episode is brought to you by Superfeast
Enjoy 10% off your order with the code RETURNTOWISDOM
https://www.superfeast.com.au/
 
 
Topics Covered
Reactions to The Guardian's free birth investigation — what it got right and where it fell short
Why Dr. Stu believes free birth is "here to stay" and will keep growing
The financial and liability incentives baked into hospital birth (C-section pay structures, NICU admissions, billing for extra ultrasound features)
Informed consent vs. "motivational interviewing" (his term for coercive counseling)
Rupture of membranes: is the 24-hour rule evidence-based?
Meconium: what it actually indicates vs. how it's used to justify intervention
Where "age 35 = high risk" actually came from (the amniocentesis/Down syndrome coincidence)
"Post-dates" vs. term — and why 42 weeks isn't inherently dangerous
Vaginal breech and twin delivery: the data, the de-skilling of OBs, and why cesarean isn't a risk-free alternative
Ultrasound overuse, Doppler billing incentives, and the precautionary principle
Delayed cord clamping and newborn resuscitation on the mother vs. at the warmer
How to "interview" an OB or hospital before choosing where to give birth
Why podcasting has become a major source of birth information — and why the medical establishment doesn't like that
Dr. Stu's own birth story and how it shaped his views on maternal-infant bonding
 
Resources Mentioned
Dr. Stu's papers via birthinginstincts.com: Home Birth with an Obstetrician, home breech birth paper, home twin birth paper (with Rixa Freeze, Breech Without Borders)
The Guardian's free birth investigative series
An Inconvenient Study (documentary referenced re: vaccinated/unvaccinated health outcomes)
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) Green-top Guideline on breech birth (2017)
Breech Without Borders training seminars
The Birthing Instincts podcast and Patreon community
 
Where to Find Dr. Stu
Podcast: Birthing Instincts (with Midwife Blyss Young)
Website: birthinginstincts.com
Instagram: @birthinginstincts

"Helping a baby breathe at birth, is a parenting skill" - Reclaiming Common Birth Knowledge with Billie Harrigan
In this instalment of the Birth Series, Keshia sits down with Integrative Perinatal Health Consultant and Educator Billie Harrigan to talk about "becoming a more useful human" — the idea that ordinary, common-sense birth skills have been co-opted, medicalised, and locked behind licensing requirements that Billie argues make birth more dangerous, not less.
The conversation traces the history of "calling the neighbour" — the once-ordinary practice of a knowledgeable community member attending a birth — back through the criminalisation of midwifery in Canada, and asks what was lost when that knowledge left common hands. From there, Billie and Keshia work through nutrition's role in preventing preeclampsia, cholestasis, and gestational diabetes; the three birth emergencies Billie believes everyone should know how to respond to; and what trauma-informed care actually requires from anyone in a birth space. They also revisit the fallout from the Free Birth Society exposé, and where Billie feels the reporting missed the mark.
This episode doesn't land on a tidy verdict either — it's an invitation to think about who currently holds birth knowledge, who's allowed to use it, and what that's costing women.
 
This Episode Is Supported By
INBLUEM Skincare Pure, plant-based skincare made in Byron Bay — no toxins, no fillers, no fuss. In Bloom is offering Return to Wisdom listeners a discount. 👉 Use code RETURNTOWISDOMPODCAST at inbluem.com
Kim Anami Holistic sex and relationship coaching for reconnecting with your body and your partner. Link https://kimanami.ontraport.com/t?orid=511555&opid=36 to register for courses— using it also supports the podcast.
This Episode is brought to you by Superfeast
Enjoy 10% off your order with the code RETURNTOWISDOM
https://www.superfeast.com.au/
 
Key Topics Discussed
"Being a more useful human" — reclaiming everyday birth and first-aid-style skills that Billie argues have been unnecessarily medicalised and gatekept
The history of "calling the neighbour" — how midwifery was made illegal in Upper Canada, why it stayed criminalised for most of Canada's history, and what the mortality data from that era suggests about community-based care
Common birth knowledge and skills — prenatal nutrition, tracking baby's position, recognising the difference between a baby needing time versus a baby needing help, and basic kitchen herbalism (shepherd's purse, yarrow, bay berry, ladies mantle, witch hazel)
Nutrition as prevention — Billie's perspective on diet's role in preeclampsia, cholestasis, and gestational diabetes, including a discussion of folic acid fortification and insulin signalling
The three birth emergencies — Billie's framework for what she believes everyone in a birth space should be equipped to respond to: a baby getting stuck, a baby not reviving, and postpartum haemorrhage
Trauma-informed care as a learnable skill — maternal mortality from suicide, the brain-injury model of birth trauma, and what Billie's course for the "childbearing client" is designed to teach
Restricted birthing legislation in Australia — the push for other states to adopt South Australia-style laws restricting unregistered birth workers, even within hospital settings
Revisiting the Free Birth Society exposé — where Billie felt the reporting was fair, where she felt it missed the broader context of birth trauma in the medical system, and how online discourse shaped the narrative
"Refugees from the medical industry" — Billie's description of the women she supports who've had coercive experiences with maternity care, and how nervous-system safety factors into their outcomes
 
Mentioned in This Episode
Billie Harrigan's Traditional Birth Companion Course - https://billieharrigan.com/becoming-a-traditional-birth-companion
Billie Harrigan's trauma-informed care course for childbearing clients - https://billieharrigan.com/becoming-trauma-informed
Breech Without Borders - https://www.breechwithoutborders.org/
Dr. Brewer's research on nutrition and preeclampsia
 
Links:
 
billieharrigan.com
thehivecollective.life
birthtraumaontario.ca
harriganhive.com
 
@billieharrigan
@birthtraumaontario
 
FG:
https://www.facebook.com/billieharriganconsulting/
https://www.facebook.com/birthtraumaontario/

In this instalment of the Birth Series, Keshia sits down with her longtime podcasting partner and friend Chloe Pacey for a wide-ranging, unfiltered reunion conversation. Sparked by the recent Guardian investigation into Free Birth Society and figures like Emily Saldaya and Yolanda Norris-Clark, the pair dig into the messy middle ground between free birth advocacy and mainstream maternity care — where both women land after years of birthing, researching, and living rurally with young families.
Topics range from the psychology of influencer culture and echo chambers, to stillbirth statistics and how to interpret them responsibly, to the training (or lack thereof) behind "radical birthkeeper" courses, to proposed legislation restricting who can attend a birth. Along the way: reflections on friendship in different seasons of motherhood, and a fair amount of unfiltered, expletive-laden honesty.
This episode doesn't land on a verdict. It's an invitation to sit with the nuance — and to think critically about who you're trusting with information during one of the most vulnerable windows of your life.
 
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Key Topics Discussed
Digesting the Guardian's Free Birth Society investigation — how the story reads differently pregnant vs. postpartum, and what felt fair vs. sensationalised in the reporting
Radical responsibility — what it really means to opt out of the medical system, and where the accountability sits when outcomes go wrong
Reading the stillbirth statistics — trying to contextualise the numbers cited in the investigation against broader hospital-birth stillbirth rates, and why the data gaps make real comparison difficult
The "claiming life" moment — unpacking one of the most controversial passages from the reporting, and how instinct (human and animal) shows up differently when someone is alone versus supported
Influencer culture and epistemic humility — how to tell the difference between someone sharing lived experience and someone qualified to teach a skill, using a personal-trainer analogy to make the point
Radical birthkeeper and doula training programs — what these courses do and don't prepare people for, and the gap between "holding space" and clinical emergency response
Language and framing — how phrases like "I've never seen a hemorrhage in 17 years" shape a listener's sense of safety, whether or not that's the intent
Free birth as "trend" — distinguishing women who arrive at free birth through deep research and genuine risk tolerance from those swept up by algorithmic pressure and social proof
Scans, shame, and the pressure to prove trust in your body — the social dynamics around choosing (or skipping) ultrasounds in certain birth-culture circles
Proposed regulatory changes — the RANZCOG/Australian College of Midwives statement calling for legislation modelled on South Australia's Restricted Birthing Practices laws, and reports of child-protection involvement in some free birth cases there
What a better middle ground could look like — informed, individualised risk assessment with a trusted care provider, regardless of setting
 
 
 
A Note on This Episode
This series doesn't offer a definitive verdict on free birth — it's designed to be sat with, questioned, and weighed against your own circumstances. As always, nothing in this episode constitutes medical advice. If you're navigating a birth decision, please seek guidance from a qualified healthcare provider you trust.
If this episode resonated, the biggest support you can offer is sharing it or leaving a review — that's how these conversations reach the people who need them.
 
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