Speaker 0
When you need guidance from someone you can truly trust, someone who aligns with your values of sovereignty and natural living, look no further than doctor Jennifer Theis. Doctor Jen's expertise in homeopathy and naturopathic family care is unmatched. She is my personal go to when I need an opinion on how to best support my family and myself when we are healing. And something I'm always telling everyone about, doctor Jen runs a very specific food intolerance test. Having this information has quite literally changed my life once I decided to take it seriously. Knowing what our specific foods were to avoid has radically improved the health of myself and my children. So if you're looking to uplevel your health, head over to doctor jennifer tice dot com and you can find her on Instagram at doctor jennifer tice.
Speaker 1
Into the wild, I'm going. Into the wild, I am. It's been a wild freedom challenge since I left my roots back home. Into the wild I'm good. Into the wild I hid. It's been a wild freedom child since I left my roots back home.
Speaker 2
Welcome to the Free Birth Society podcast. This is a radical space for women who are ready to celebrate their autonomous choices in birth, motherhood, and beyond. Together, we'll learn about wild birth through personal narrative, we'll explore the politics of birth, and we'll analyze everything that relates to our lives as women from a feminist perspective. Here's your host, Emilee Saldaya. It's been
Speaker 1
a wild freedom change since I left my roots back home.
Speaker 0
Women, it is twenty twenty five, which means it is time for you to take your place in the sovereign birth movement. I am thrilled to announce that our absolutely groundbreaking, life changing, consciousness shifting, super popular program, the Radical Birthkeeper School is now open for enrollment. This is your chance. We run the Radical Birthkeeper School once a year, so now is the time to jump in. You love this podcast. You're obsessed with birth. You want a better world for women and families. So here it is. I am inviting you to join the eight hundred and fifty women from over thirty countries who have taken this program and now are confidently bringing this work forward, protecting the sacredness of birth, being an option so desperately needed for mothers and babies. From women brand new to birth to curious mothers pregnant with their first child to disillusioned midwives and doulas, even OBGYNs and nurses, women are flocking to this new paradigm of birth consciousness and the Radical Birthkeeper School is the gateway. The RBK School is the place to gain the language and the knowledge to communicate and step into the sovereign birth paradigm with confidence. If you feel the call, answer it by taking your place in the RBK School. Head over to w w w dot radical birthkeeper school dot com today to preview the full curriculum, hear from our many graduates, and learn more. Mentorship, sisterhood, lifetime access, the knowledge, wisdom, and guidance you need to take your place in the sovereign birth revolution all totally unlocked. Be the change, join us, radicalbirthkeeperschool dot com. Every now and then a product comes along that our entire family can't get enough of, and lately it's masa chips. Delicious chips made the way food was meant to be. Just three simple ingredients, organic corn, salt, and beef tallow. No seed oils, no fillers, no ultra processed garbage, just real whole food that nourishes rather than depletes. What we put into our bodies matters. It affects our energy, our mood, our resilience, and yet the food industry today is completely disconnected from what's real and nourishing. Just like birth, food is one of the most powerful ways to claim sovereignty over our bodies. And, it's no surprise that a sovereign birthing family is who makes these chips. When you snack, snack on something real. Go to masa chips dot com slash discount slash free birth society, and use code free birth society for twenty percent off your first order. Alright. Welcome to the show, Sarah.
Speaker 3
Thank you for the invitation.
Speaker 0
Yeah. This is really exciting. You know, for any of you listening who have been a part of the free birth world, you know, for any amount of time, you will have heard of Sarah. She is a freaking legend in the unassisted childbirth community. She has so generously shared, her her work, her stories, her birth videos to to the world, and so I'm really excited to have you on today. Yeah. Okay. So I'm just gonna throw it to you for you to start wherever you want. Like, how how do you even come into making these choices? How long ago was it? How many babies have you free birthed? Just tell us a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 3
Yeah. You could start really early. I mean, I could start with my mother. She had five children, and I was the first. And she told our birth stories, and everything was always fine. But in the hospital, things went, yeah, not and then unnecessarily complicated. But not the birth itself, but what the stuff made out of it. So at my birth, I was my my mother told me the story that everything went fine and but then when the baby was just when I was just about to come out, the heart rate dropped, and they sent my father out of the room, and then I was there. And thinking about my birth story, I was like, Why? Everything was fine. When my mother had a few books about birth and, when I was a kid, I read them. I hid I hid under the table and I read these adult books. And she had this modern books about I don't know what it's called in English, but how to deal with with labor pains, with breathing method methods and stuff like this. And there was also, there were pictures of a real birth. And the pic the birth there seemed to take place in an operation room. And it seemed really sterile, and I was like, why why are they doing this? So I I I understood the normal birth process, but I didn't understand why do does the woman need to go to the operation room and why so I I it was it seemed strange to me from the beginning. So my thoughts as a kid were, I think I I I I don't I don't mind giving birth, but all the rest, maybe this is not necessary, or I will figure figure something else out because it seemed strange, out of place for this event. So later, after school, I, started I studied medicine. And when I was preg became pregnant with my first, I was, working in the hospital. And I choose to, do a part of my, internship, or I don't know what it's called in in English, the exact, term. But I I I decided to do a part in the labor and delivery delivery unit to see how birth is done in the hospital. It was the same where I was born, by the way. So and the midwives, they were really old fashioned. So they were all still still from GDR times and, like, military and push push push, and it came in and it will come out. And and, it it it it looked like violence to me often times. And I was standing there as students beside just watching and, like, I I saw the midwife standing there with the scissors to cut the woman, and it didn't
Speaker 0
feel good.
Speaker 3
It looked like watching somebody do something violent to somebody. So I was confirmed in my imagination. I can give birth, no problem, but I don't want this stuff. I don't want this. So when I was pregnant with my first, which was the case, I was I looked for a home birth midwife. And I also found one. They said she's experienced. She was recommended to us. And so I went with her. I did my prenatals with her. And, yeah. She she was I I I I thought I have figured out everything. She's experienced midwife, and she will come to my birth, and the baby will be there. Mhmm. But then when the birth started, this midwife my midwife was at another birth. So her colleague came, and I had only seen her pre so just for just walking by or something like that. I didn't know her really. And and I didn't feel comf comfortable with her. So I was like, somehow, I'll get to get through this. Like, in German in German, we say, close eyes close your eyes and get through it, but you can't do this with a bird as I figured out later. So I had, labor stalled, and I was in pain. And they didn't know what the the the she ordered another midwife because they would do birth with two midwives. And they thought birth was imminent because I was fully dilated. But obviously, something didn't progress. And later, they figured out that, the baby's head had not turned fully into the pelvis yet. So I was fully dilated, but the baby would not turn in the pelvic inlet. Though it was painful and they didn't know what to do. And at that moment, I realized it's me that has to give birth here. They at the beginning, it was a subconscious process that made me hand over the birth to them. I thought now that the professionals are here, they're gonna take care of it. And I just, whatever. Do nothing. And, at that moment, I realized they don't know what to do. If I want to birth this baby and not end up in the hospital with a c section, I have to birth this baby. I have to figure this out out here. So I started to listen to my body and to move what my body was telling me. And then also the midwife that I had originally hired came from this other birth, came to my birth, and the baby was born at home. And I was completely exhausted, but the baby was there. And it took me weeks and months to process everything and to find out what what happened and what went wrong and what can I do better for the next time? And I figured out that having midwives there was the first mistake I made. Not because of the midwives, but because of me, how I react reacted to them. And, that's why for the next birth, I thought
Speaker 0
A little bit a little bit because of the midwives too.
Speaker 3
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 0
You know, they're giving you vaginal exams. You can't rely on who's gonna show up.
Speaker 3
But if I had not invited them, they would have been there, and everything else would have been different. So but I I I had not I I think I had not calculate calculated it to the end. I I because I was I just knew hospital birth, how they work, and I thought, home birth midwife, she would just be hands off and Right. Whatever. I don't know. I I didn't I I think I didn't think about it too much.
Speaker 0
Well, I also don't think you could have possibly known.
Speaker 3
Yeah.
Speaker 0
Right. You know? I mean, that's what we hope with with women sharing their stories now. They can learn about the sensitivity of the birth process prior to going through it. But if your reference point was just avoid the hospital, you did just that.
Speaker 3
Yes. Yes. Right. So we moved to Sweden in that time, in the time between the my the birth of my first and my second. And I had some time to process everything. And in Sweden, home births, midwives are really rare, and you have to pay them fully. And where we moved, the next home birth midwife was was about an hour away. And so I was thinking, what do I do? Do I need a midwife? Do I want a midwife? Or do I better skip the midwife? Because will she make it to my birth if she is one one hour away? Will will we will we somehow match or not? Or will she cause more more problems than solve? So in the end, I decided I don't want any of this. I just I'm just pregnant, and I give birth. And if something should be not as expected, I can still go to the hospital. Right. The hospital was was about twenty, thirty minutes away. So but yeah. That's fine. You
Speaker 0
at this point in your life, had you ever heard of a woman birthing without a medical provider?
Speaker 3
Yes. At that at that time, it was two thousand and eight. There was the movement had already started in in the United States. So there was almost nothing in German, but I read a lot of stories, on the internet, about, the United States. And there were a lot of lots of birth stories I could read in, I think mothering dot com or whatever. They had lots of stories. And I especially picked those stories where the they transferred to the hospital to find out why did they transfer, why was it necessary, or how could I if this happened to me, how could I prevent the transfer? And most transfers, they were just because of the placenta would not come. You know, I I was like, well, if it's just that, then, why bother? So because I I also wanted to figure out how dangerous is it, how often do things happen that really need immediate care, and really the drama. You know? And I I almost found no drama. So it was really, really rare to found any drama. Right. The most drama was, the placenta that didn't come. So and that's that really made me confident in that, yeah, why not? You just give birth and that's it.
Speaker 0
Mhmm.
Speaker 3
And that's what I did. So we we left we lived, in the countryside. So just a few houses along the roadside and forest behind. And one day, I walked in the forest and I found my place to give birth. And, there's nobody there in the forest. Just birds and, you know. So compared to Germany, because where we lived before, we also lived beside the forest, but there were always people walking with that door open everything. But in Sweden, nobody there. And this was the perfect place for my birth, for my first, free birth. So in the night of the free free birth,
Speaker 0
I went to What season? What season of the year is it?
Speaker 3
In the summer, of course. Okay. Because it's in in the winter, no. Right. Of course not. You
Speaker 0
That would be crazy.
Speaker 3
Through. You can't even get through the snow. But it was in the middle of the summer. It wasn't it it doesn't even get really dark in the night there because it's so much north. And so it was perfect for browsing outside. Wow. And so I I and the birth started in the night with and it started with, rupture of membranes. And, I told my husband, well, I don't know how long this is gonna go. Just go to sleep and we'll see. And so but I couldn't I couldn't lay down and sleep because contractions already started. And so I walked around the house, and my oldest my older daughter, she was she my my, mother-in-law took care of her, and they were sleeping in the same house. And I heard her getting awake because I was moving around the house. Yeah. So I decided to walk around the the garden outside. And when when I felt, like, going into the state of trans that you do at some point in the birth. I took my my little package I had with some stuff I I thought I would need for the birth, and then I went to this place in the forest. It was maybe five minutes away, so it was not not far. Yeah. And there, I gave birth maybe an hour or one and a half hours later.
Speaker 0
And was your husband there?
Speaker 3
He was not there. I let him sleep Because because I had I had my fears from the first birth. I was afraid that this could happen again. The baby wouldn't turn well into the pelvis and all of this. So I my my husband has had his own fears. And I thought I have to deal with my fears first now. I don't I don't need his fears also. I just You
Speaker 0
you just walk into the forest with a little basket of things Yes. And do your thing on your own. At what time of day?
Speaker 3
It was in the night. Like, he was born three twenty or something like that.
Speaker 0
In the middle of the night. Wow. Was there moonlight? How bright was it?
Speaker 3
It was not really dark because it was summer in Sweden. And then you still see, light on the horizon, and it's not really dark. You cannot you cannot really distinguish, colors, but you see black and white. So you still see something. Yeah.
Speaker 0
So what was that like to be totally alone? I mean, and outside.
Speaker 3
I I'll I beforehand, I figured out that I can relax really well when I'm in the forest, and I have this feeling nobody sees me. I'm just I'm just, nobody I'm I'm just not not not not observed at all. I can observe everything, but nobody sees me, and I that makes me really relaxed. I all I fig figured this out already before my in in my first pregnancy because I was walking in the hospital, and it was really stressful, and I couldn't go to the to the, bathroom because it was so stressful. But when I walked in the forest, just fifteen minutes, I could go. And I had to run home to to make it. So I I knew already I can relax really well in the forest, and that's why I used the forest. And it's not forest doesn't scam me at all. I I love it. I love it if it's when it's just nobody there and just melting with the trees and nobody sees me. Mhmm. It really makes me relax. And that's why I I I choose the forest. So it was I I I loved it. And it was but it was that's just such a surreal, feeling to sit there in the middle of the night. And the first bird, it it shot it it started to get light again because the nights are really short in in in the summer in Sweden. And I heard the first first bird say make its noise, and and I was like I was thinking, everybody else is in the hospital right now at this point. This is really weird.
Speaker 0
So you just, like, lay a blanket out? You have an area that's cleared that you lay a blanket and and you give birth on your hands and knees? And what's it like to to catch this baby alone at three AM in the woods? And and then when do you walk walk back home? And is your husband bummed he missed it?
Speaker 3
Well, I had my picnic blanket that I rolled out, and, yeah, then it was just on my hands and knees that I gave birth. And, I had my mobile with me, so I called him when the baby was there. Okay. And I told him to bring me something to drink because that's what I had forgotten. And I usually get thirsty while while birthing, but, I I didn't know that before. So he came with and, like, because I was I was getting cold. That's usually you do after the birth when the hormones drop, and then you start, being cold. So he brought me, my jacket, and he brought me something to drink and, yeah, and picked us up. And the placenta caught came fell out on the way back home. So we walked through the forest back.
Speaker 0
Wow. So you started walking before the placenta had released. Yeah. And then fell out on the walk.
Speaker 3
And placenta was still in, and then the placenta just fell out just a few meters walking.
Speaker 0
I mean, that's a that's a surefire way to get it out. Right? Just to walk.
Speaker 3
Yeah. I hadn't even thought about it at that point, but I think maybe half an hour I had went or something like that.
Speaker 0
Wow.
Speaker 3
So we just went home, and I took a shower, and we went to bed and got warm. I got warm again. Yeah. That was my first unassisted birth. And with the next birth, my husband was always present. So I had solved my peers, and I had solved his at the same time because he saw I could do this. So he was not afraid again. Mhmm. He's also a doctor, so, you know, he's, it's it's a challenge for somebody like him to have a woman that wants to give birth just on her own. It took some time during the pregnancy to to get comfortable with this for him. So I I think he he wasn't really comfortable with it to till the till the end. But, yeah, he he let me do my thing. And I'm really grateful for that that he didn't make the drama. Mhmm.
Speaker 0
Well, you also snuck off to the forest. He didn't really have a big choice. I mean, I know of lots of women who with nervous partners or partners who are totally against it, they just don't wake them up.
Speaker 3
Yeah.
Speaker 0
You know? I mean, it's a pretty good plan. That's awesome. So how do you how do you feel about yourself after this? How does it change you? Because, obviously, you go on to have several more children. How many children do you have?
Speaker 3
Ten. I have ten children now.
Speaker 0
And so this was in your first child was two thousand eight?
Speaker 3
My first was two two thousand six. This was the home birth. And then two thousand eight was the next was the first free birth. Gotcha. Yeah. Of course. Afterwards, you feel like cloud nine, and you can do everything in the world. And, yeah, it's a really great feeling.
Speaker 0
And so, I guess, just keep going. Like, tell us about the next one and and how Yeah.
Speaker 3
The next one was also an outdoor birth. He was, born in the end of May, and it was we are we were we were still in Sweden. So four no. Three of my kids were born in Sweden, and then we moved to France. And number three was born in the house because it was April and still cold. Mhmm. But everything was always just birth. You know? Nothing complicated that happened. And the the next kids, number five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten, they were born in France. Number seven and eight are twins. So I had to prepare for twins, little extra, because I
Speaker 0
Did did you know that there were twins?
Speaker 3
I figured out you're doing the pregnancy. So, like, twenty four weeks, twenty five weeks, I palpated two and two so, like, four bumps. And I was thinking what else could it be than a twin. Right. So I went in for one ultrasound to have it confirmed because my husband wanted this for the car because we only had one spare place in the car. And now we had maybe two. And that would have to he would have to change his plans, with the car, how we transport everybody. So I had one ultrasound. So this was confirmed that they were twins and they were head down both at that point, and they were boy and girls. So the really low low most but low low complicated twin pregnancy you can have if they're two how do you say that? When they are two egg? No. I don't know how they how they call this in English. Yeah. So they are not have not the the same genes. And, if they they have their separate placenta and their separate sac, and, when they're head down, it's also perfect. So I was not I was not afraid that it would not work. Why shouldn't they be just born like everybody else?
Speaker 0
Okay. So it didn't it didn't rock you all that much?
Speaker 3
Not the not the thought of the birth, but the thought of having took care of two babies. Because I think one is already quite a lot of work, but two
Speaker 0
is double from three to five.
Speaker 3
No. It was even seven and eight. So it was going from six to
Speaker 0
Oh, you already had six. Later.
Speaker 3
I just jumped over a few.
Speaker 0
Oh, okay. So the third the third was in Sweden, and that was in April when it was kinda cold.
Speaker 3
No. No. This was number four. And then the third was in May. In Sweden, also outdoor. He was he came so fast. I wanted this time, I thought I put up my my teepee. I have an an an native American tent, and I thought I could give birth in there in case it it rains. But this birth was so fast that I just managed to to run outside when I when I noticed okay. Now the baby's coming. And half half the way to the teepee, he was born already.
Speaker 0
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3
So he was really fast. So there was not not much, to talk about. He was the only baby that came on his due date, and everybody else came after the due date. Yeah. So I was not expecting it, you know, because because I was I'm always expecting my babies after the due date because that's usually when they come, and he came precisely on the due date. So yeah. And he was really fast.
Speaker 0
And then four and five and six. Four.
Speaker 3
Yeah. Number four was born in Sweden in the living room because it was cold outside in April. And number five was born in in France where we moved to an apartment. He was also born inside because it was February. And number six was born outdoor because it was the best weather you can think of in the beginning of September, and I dropped him. He was so tiny. He was he was, a little lighter than the other babies, and he shot out so fast that I somehow, I I I didn't manage to catch him. And the cord tore
Speaker 0
It happens.
Speaker 3
Yeah. But he was fine. So nothing's fixed.
Speaker 0
What what was your living situation with the sixth child where you were able to be outside?
Speaker 3
Yeah. We had moved to a house. So from with baby number five five, we were living in an apartment. There was a garden also, but it was, shared with another apartment.
Speaker 0
That'd be a little intense.
Speaker 3
Yeah. So but for number five, we had moved to a house and a garden for for our own, and, he was born there. We are still living in this place. So number this was number six. And number seven and eight were the twins. They were also born in April, and it was cold outside, so no way to birth outside. And
Speaker 0
Yeah. Tell us nine Well, tell us about the twins' birth because that's, you know I mean, on the one hand, it's like you just give birth twice. Right? And on the other hand, it's a really big deal because most twins are not born this way.
Speaker 3
Yeah. That's true. But I would say it was my one of my easiest birth because it I don't know why, but maybe because the hats were a little bit smaller. They was one centimeter smaller than the other hats. So I didn't even have this this, phase where you think you can't do it anymore. It was just like, okay. And now we push them out. So it was not this desperation phase that I usually get at that at one point. But it it was really, really easy. I had somebody I had a friend that was taking photos and someone that was filming. And I was talking to them and how I would usually usually do it. And then I I stand there with between my chairs, and then I push them out. And that's I I told them. And then the pushing contractions started, and I pushed the first one out. So it was it was really simple. And then when the first one was out, the the the cord was super short. So I could barely hold I could only hold him between my legs, and and that's how how much cord was visible. And, so I didn't really know what to do, but we decided, yeah, we have to cut the cord now. And it looked white, so I thought maybe it had stopped posing. But I think also the the traction made it made it look. So when we cut it, we we we we didn't think of tying it first, so there was some blood. Oh, yeah. But that we we tied it afterwards. Anyway, I I don't think I don't think it mattered to it. So we had him, and then, I was feeling the contractions coming back, and I felt if the head of the other one was down, if I could feel it. And I did. And so I thought, okay. That's the way we go. And then nine minutes later, number two was there. So it was it was not nothing not really spectacular. Just two coming out. Right. Yeah. And what
Speaker 0
was it like mothering two babies? Did you breastfeed them? How was your recovery?
Speaker 3
I recovered well. Like, with the others, I didn't bleed much. So there are people who say, oh, many kids and twins, and you bleed. I I I didn't I didn't bleed with any of my babies. So and I recovered well, like, with the others. I who was there? I think my mother. Yeah. My mother. She takes I all I always get somebody who cooks for me, like, ten or four to fourteen days. First ten fourteen days. Because I don't like food that's just warm from the freezer. I I don't like that. And I have so many kids. I I I don't know how to get so much food in the freezer either. So somebody has to for me.
Speaker 0
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3
Cook for me. And, yeah. That's basically basically what I need. But having two at the same time is just less sleep, and you just do everything double. You get routines and doing things, and it's good if it's not baby one and two with with with twins. But are you I also I already had some routine in doing things, so it was not that hard. And they were quite calm, so not fuzzy. And so it was it was okay, but it's still it's not as as relaxed as just having
Speaker 0
two babies.
Speaker 3
It's still two babies. And they all I I breastfed them both from the beginning to the end, and I never gave a bottle to anybody. So but my body is doing this really well. Good for you.
Speaker 0
Anything to say about the breastfeeding of twins? Because that's also something that's quite rare nowadays, sadly.
Speaker 3
In the beginning, I stacked them. I fed them on laying on my side, and I stacked them on one on the on the other. The
Speaker 0
babies or the boobs?
Speaker 3
I stacked the babies. I swaddled them, and then
Speaker 0
I stacked them. That's funny.
Speaker 3
Yeah. I I tried everything that, I could think of, what what would make it easier for me. Sure. And I had these cradleboards. I have this, Native American cradleboard that I once ordered from the United States. And, I I I let someone make another one, so I had two. And for a long time, when I wanted to put them to sleep, both at the same time, I put them both on on on their cradle board and, sitting and put them on my breasts and they would fall asleep, feeding at the same time. And I could take the cradle boards, just put it away without them waking up. So this was this was a really game changer. I love the cradle board for this. Yeah.
Speaker 0
You must have felt you must have felt like the most victorious person in the world to successfully get two babies nursed in the sleep. That's, like, true magic. Wow. And it this whole time, you said your husband is a doctor. Is he, like, gone a lot, or is he around with all these kiddos?
Speaker 3
Yeah. He comes home in in the evening, and on the weekends, he's home.
Speaker 0
Yeah. Works like a normal
Speaker 3
Yeah.
Speaker 0
Doctor job?
Speaker 3
Yeah.
Speaker 0
Okay. So now we're at wait. That was seven and eight?
Speaker 3
Yes.
Speaker 0
Okay. So now eight children. What year are we now? How long ago was this?
Speaker 3
Two thousand nineteen.
Speaker 0
Oh, a minute. Okay. So with your children, were you just you know, it's all it's it on the one hand, I was gonna say you don't see as many large families these days, but that's not necessarily true. It depends where you go. Like, plenty of communities have large families. But I guess what I was gonna ask was with regards to having a lot of children, did you have you and your husband always dreamt of that, or did you just feel open to what God gives you? Like, what was the
Speaker 3
Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
Speaker 0
You know?
Speaker 3
So when we're married, we we said we agreed to we would probably have four. First, we have two, and when they are nice nice kids, then we have another two. It's a great plan. So it came, it it came out that the first two were not so nice. They have autism and HDH HDH. Yeah. But I I felt the challenge. I like, how can it I not have healthy children? So I I felt challenged in this. Yeah. Because I thought I would do everything. I was doing everything right, nutrition and not giving medication.
Speaker 0
Right.
Speaker 3
But I I didn't take into account myself and the health that I had prior to be coming pregnant. I was addicted to sugar. I had had multiple rounds of antibiotics before getting pregnant. And, yeah, I felt I have to change something. And it really I I it was a journey I went on to become more healthy and to have more healthier children.
Speaker 0
Right. So both so your oldest two children have autism?
Speaker 3
Yeah. The one one has autism and one is h ADHD.
Speaker 0
Okay. And then any and then the rest of the children do not?
Speaker 3
Some have tendencies to ADHD, but not really. So I would say they are at the border, but only maybe one, number four. Number three is normal, and the others are also normal, what I can see. So and and I I could really see how they would become more healthy as I became healthy.
Speaker 0
Totally. Also, in reverse, you know, imagine if you had had industrial pregnancies and given your firstborn, given, you know, her all the shots and all the stuff. I mean, I see these children in the free birth world who are, you know, have, what's the right word, have divergences or whatever, have autism. And I just imagine, like, oh my god. What if they had been given all the ultrasounds, all the vaccines, and how much worse they would be.
Speaker 3
Mhmm. Mhmm. Oh, yeah. That's that's what I've been asking myself too. What I I mean I mean, it's it's not nice. It's really not nice to have a child grow up like this and having to deal with it. She's eighteen now, oldest, and it's still I mean, she doesn't work. She doesn't want to work, and she's just, she claims she's sick. And it's hard to convince her otherwise or that she can influence her situation. So it's just like I'm addicted.
Speaker 0
What are her limitations?
Speaker 3
She is exhausted really fast. She has iron deficiency, and she's taking supplements, but it didn't doesn't really push her up. I don't know. I I don't I also cannot cannot say how much is just make she's making up in her mind.
Speaker 0
Totally.
Speaker 3
Much is really physical thing. Because if you feel something in your body, you can really feel into it, and then you feel I mean, I feel I think about it. I can feel everything. I can get a headache, and I can feel Totally. I mean, you know? And so I I I cannot really say what's real and what's just she's making up. So it's just really yeah.
Speaker 0
Totally. And a lifelong story. Right? There was a lifelong story of her being autistic or different or yeah. Totally. That's really interesting. So you've you were inspired to get even healthier and see how that was going to affect your future babies.
Speaker 3
Yeah. Because yeah. And and it would really it challenged my, I don't know, my my pride a little because I here I am. I'm a doctor, aesthetic medicine, and I don't know how to have healthy children. And I didn't even learn anything about it. I just learned how to recognize and to manage sickness. And but but what's what's this about? It's not about sickness. It's about we want to be healthy, of course. And I didn't learn anything about this. So I had to learn this after my studies. Mhmm. And, yeah, that's what I did.
Speaker 0
So what kind of doctor are you?
Speaker 3
I don't have a specialty. I just did the basic thing, and then I worked a little in the hospital, but I don't have this special special specialty. In Germany, it's it's divided in two, so I have this basic studies, and then you continue in some direction.
Speaker 0
Yeah. Okay. So those are we got through the twins. So now we have two more children.
Speaker 3
Mhmm.
Speaker 0
So tell us about number nine.
Speaker 3
Number nine. Number nine, I was thinking, oh, no. It's twins again. I was palpating them. No. Because it was my belly was so huge, and I couldn't figure out what it was it what what it was. And it felt like I thought, is it the placenta, an anterior placenta? But I I in other pregnancies, I also had a placenta that was a little anterior, and I could hear it with with a stethoscope, but I couldn't hear this one. Otherwise, I was like, what is this? And but it wasn't an anterior placenta. So I got another ultrasound one ultrasound in this pregnancy to just figure out what's going on here. Is it two or is it just a placenta and a baby? And I was so happy that it was just a placenta and a baby.
Speaker 0
Oh my goodness. I do know three I know three different women who have had twins twice and won three times.
Speaker 3
Yeah. Yeah. That was my my feeling. I I I totally like to have one baby, but two is it might it was a good experience. But if I can choose, then I would choose rather one
Speaker 0
at a time. Of course. It's nothing, like, against the babies. It's just just you only have so many hands and breasts and yeah. Of course. Okay. So you confirm that it is just one single baby. Yes. And
Speaker 3
and we Yeah. That's the placenta was really
Speaker 0
You're still in this home in France. Right?
Speaker 3
Yes. Yes. And my my my husband is working in a in a in a what's it called? He's a doctor. So he was working. He has this, what do you call this place where the doctors work? So there's an ultrasound, machine as well. So we checked it on our own. We checked if there is one or two babies and wears a placenta. And the placenta was really low. It was, at that point, like, twenty seven weeks or so, it was before the cervix. So I was like, okay. Let's see what's happening. Mhmm. I was not bleeding or anything. And the baby came fourteen days after the due date, and it didn't it didn't, move into the pelvis until the day of the birth.
Speaker 0
The day. It moved
Speaker 3
in the pelvis, and and contractions started. Oh my god. The placenta was so low and had just barely moved away, and that's why the baby decided to wait as long as possible. And then Totally. Yep.
Speaker 0
So smart. And so how how worried were you about the placenta?
Speaker 3
A little, but I I also knew that most of the time, it just moves out of the way. So that it was not completely on on the cervix, but more in the front. So the chances of moving away were just good, I was thinking. And as long as I don't bleed much, I think everything is fine. Yeah. So
Speaker 0
you were just gonna wait and see if you bled Yes. And then you didn't.
Speaker 3
Yeah. And I didn't. Okay. So and but it was fourteen days after the due date, and she was my my heaviest baby. She was four four kilograms. And her shoulder had trouble to move at the birth. So when when the head was out, I I recognized that the it was really hard to get the head out out in the first place. So a typical sign for a shoulder dystopia. And then, the shoulder wouldn't move. And I pushed like, whoop. And then I remembered, okay, the gas can maneuver. You move on your you move on your knees on all fours, and then the shoulder should be become free. And that's what happened. So I knew what to do in this case, and so that that's why it was, yeah. It was hard to push her out, but, no drama afterwards because I could solve the problem fast.
Speaker 0
So do you think it was shoulder dystocia?
Speaker 3
It was some kind of it because usually, when you push with one push, there comes the head, and with the next comes the baby. And here in this case, I it didn't happen. So the shoulders took more time to turn. But I also know this, this debate in English in in the English speaking birthing community where they distinguish between a sticky shoulder and a shoulder shoulder dystopia. And I don't really know where they put where they put the the the line.
Speaker 0
Yeah. I mean, shoulder dystocia is stuck. You know? Sticky shoulders, that's like, that's like when when midwives say a cervical lip. It's nothing. It's nothing. It's not sticky shoulders means it's still coming, right, which is not shoulder dystocia. Mhmm. Just like a cervical lip just means there's still cervix. It's it's they're just like silly medical medical terms. You know? But shoulder dystocia means stuck.
Speaker 3
Well, it's I got it unstuck, so
Speaker 0
I don't know if I
Speaker 3
knew what to do.
Speaker 0
And so you the Gaskin maneuver, meaning you just flipped onto your hands and knees. And in doing that and so you didn't need anyone from the outside to help get the shoulder unhooked? Yeah.
Speaker 3
Yeah. Yeah. I just, switch I I usually I I go standing, and so I just went from standing to an all fours. And that's where the shoulder released and the baby came out.
Speaker 1
Mhmm.
Speaker 0
Yep. And so then number ten, are you are you are you at any point and sorry if this is a, like, an annoying question. But are you at any point feeling like this is a lot of babies? Like, I might not want to keep having more children, or or you just, like, bring it on?
Speaker 3
It's usually like this. When I have a baby, I'm, like, full full, I'm busy. I I don't have space for another one, and I don't think about another one. But then the youngest gets older, and there's more space to do the same things. And then my stomach comes back, and my ovaries, they start asking. Mhmm. And, yeah, somehow then my body wants another baby. And Yeah. Fair enough. It tells me to have another baby, and then this thought is circling around my head all the time, especially around ovulation. You know? Mhmm. And that's how it has been with all the babies. I don't know how how it will be in the future. I have no idea because I'm forty three now, and at at some point, you you you you you you stop. You stop.
Speaker 0
Totally. At some point. Yeah. But it will only still be in a while. I mean, I just heard about a fifty year old woman free birthing.
Speaker 3
Oh, I but when I was younger, people always said, oh, when you get forty, it's hard to get pregnant. And so I was thinking, okay. Until forty, and then it's done anyway. And now I'm over forty, and I notice it's not so easily done.
Speaker 0
Yeah. Totally. No.
Speaker 3
Okay. Know when. Go ahead. So right now, I think it's final ten. And but it could happen in, like, two years that my ovaries again
Speaker 0
And how old is your youngest?
Speaker 3
He is six months.
Speaker 0
Oh, okay. So he's a little guy? Yes. Okay. So you only birthed six months ago. What was that birth like?
Speaker 3
Yeah. This was my last one. And now we have bought a farm where we want to move soon. And on the farm, there are so many nice spots where you could give birth. And, his birth was in June, so I decided to give birth. We have we already we have, sheep that are already on the farm. And I decided to give birth where the sheep are because I thought this is just a relaxing place here. And one of our sheep gave birth there in April at the same spot where I gave birth later to baby number ten. So I thought I could do something else than just here in the garden or in the living room.
Speaker 0
So were you alone, or was your family there?
Speaker 3
No. I was not alone. We had we had friends living on the farm in their caravan at the time, and I had a photographer coming, and I had friends coming. And so it was a family event. But when I was giving birth, I wanted to stay every wanted everybody to stay away and quiet just, so they were just standing and watching and
Speaker 0
Yeah.
Speaker 3
Having letting me do my thing, and that's fine. And afterwards, it was not everybody. No. No. So it was it was nice.
Speaker 0
That's awesome. So do you do you work in the birth realms? Like, you you've written a book. Right?
Speaker 3
Mhmm. Mhmm.
Speaker 0
Tell us about your your work in birth. Do you work with women?
Speaker 3
Mhmm. So I wrote this the the book Free Birth, after number baby number four, I wrote the book. And at first, I didn't want to because I thought I don't I I I don't have time. But my publisher asked me, you would be the best person to write this book? And I was like, oh, I don't have time. But I really like writing, so I I did night shifts writing this book.
Speaker 4
Wow.
Speaker 3
And, I have been working with women, like, being at birth also, like, for four years now. So I, I am at free birth. So I I'm I'm not a midwife, and I'm not doing the midwifery stuff, but like a doula or, like, yeah. I'm I'm just they are helping, with my experience and helping what is needed at at the place. So
Speaker 0
But that but that is true midwifery.
Speaker 3
Yeah. But you can't you are not allowed to say it because the state has conquered the the the term midwife. And that's why I just don't give it a name. I don't give it a tag. I don't give myself a tag. And this way, I can do what I like to do.
Speaker 0
Totally. Like, wink, wink. Oh, gosh. Okay. So that's cool. So you started attending, and you've written this book, and you've had ten children. Anything else you wanna share about your life or your work?
Speaker 3
Yeah. We started, a free birth academy in German. So we, we train women to learn about birth, about for preparing their own birth or also attending others. Yeah. I I want the knowledge about birth to get out to the women as much as possible and not be confined to a special a special group of people who feel very about it. So and I have groups on Telegram where about birth and pregnancy and having a baby and teeth and all all the stuff that I have learned in the over the years, and I like to share and to, that people come together and learn new ways and more than just what the doctor says.
Speaker 0
Yeah. We need it. We really need it. Well, how can women find out more about you and find out about your free birth academy?
Speaker 3
You could go to my website. Well, it's in it's in German too, but there's an English sub subpage. It's called dot d e. I don't know. I, maybe you can link it if you like to. You can they can also go to my YouTube channel. The YouTube channel is just my name, so it's easy to find. And there are my birth videos. One was taken down by YouTube, but I haven't fixed
Speaker 0
the watch list one.
Speaker 3
Yeah. You know? So but the others are there. And, on my, YouTube channel, I think also my my website is linked and with my contacts my contacts are on my website. And I think my Instagram is also linked on my YouTube. So I think on YouTube, you'll you'll find
Speaker 0
all the other. You'll find everything. Okay. Wonderful. Well, I can't believe we got through ten birth stories in an hour. Pretty simple and sweet. Well, thank you so much. It was really nice to connect.
Speaker 3
Yeah. I like to connect to the English speaking community. It's naturally that I am more in the German speaking realm, but, yeah, it's always nice to also hear what everybody else is doing.
Speaker 0
Mhmm. Awesome. Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 3
You're welcome.
Speaker 0
I hope you enjoyed the show today. You can support this podcast by donating to it through the link in the show notes below and of course leaving an awesome review on whatever platform you listen on. The more reviews, the more visibility the show gets, so let's spread the good word of Sovereign Birth. Don't forget, you can watch our podcast interviews on YouTube and see the women as they tell their birth and power stories, and you'll also find our viral free birth collection of epic, raw birth videos on our YouTube. Make sure you're subscribed to our channel. We've always got a lot going on at Free Birth Society, and you can find out all about it at free birth society dot com, at free birth society on Instagram, and opt in to my newsletter below. We offer courses on free birth, authentic midwifery, the blood mysteries, as well as one on one coaching, in person retreats, and, of course, our annual women's gathering, the Matriarch Rising Festival. Our exclusive private, vetted membership, The Lighthouse, is definitely something to check out if you're looking for a community of wise sisters sisters to get guidance from and to meet in real life. Together, we rise sisters. We must speak our stories, fully claim our lives, and support one another. This is the living revolution, and I am so grateful to be in it with all of you. I'll leave you with our gorgeous Free Birth Society theme song, Wild Woman by Aruba Red.
Speaker 4
I honor you for the wisdom you held, the ancient traditions of plant medicine and womb magic. I feel the spirit of the ancestors as I place my hands upon my belly. This sacred portal will be honored. Eons upon light beams of survival, withstanding the eradication of our power by design. I will not allow the separation of our young to be forced upon me. My sisters will no longer birth in captivity. The picket line redefined from burning our wild women to paralyzing us and drugging out babes. Strapped down in a clinical white bed, drying up the milk from our breasts, keep your needles. My family will never again be doomed to chase those dragons all your present. We reject your fear. We choose love. Everything with intention, death, ascension. I will fly and bring her back from the star.
