Speaker 0
Into the wild, I'm going into the wild, I am. It's been a wild freedom child since I left my roots back home. Into the wild, I'm good. Into the wild, I'm here. It's been a while, freedom child, since I left my roots back home.
Speaker 1
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.
Speaker 0
It's been a wild freedom change
Speaker 2
Imagine a land where women and girls run wild and free, where we're supported to feel, encouraged to express, and where we experience true collective healing, a place where we can play, laugh, and how will under the moon. Here, you can let your guard down and come back to the essence of wild womanhood, your nervous system finally able to relax in the total absence of men and the total presence of sisterhood. Women call this the magic place. And as female only spaces continue to dwindle, securing land of my own for women's festivals has been been a lifelong dream come to fruition. So I'm thrilled to announce and invite you to the second annual matriarch rising festival that will take place here in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, June nineteenth through the twenty fourth. This is an exclusive wild woman's summer solstice gathering, a week of dancing, nude sunbathing, communing with the elements, singing, and falling in love with what it means to be alive as a woman. Tickets are officially on sale, and they will sell out, so head over to matriarch rising festival dot com for all the details and to get your ticket. Can't wait to see you there. This week, I'm talking with Anna from Sweden. As an Rh negative first time mom, Anna was swept up in the fear mongering and control of the hospital system. And despite what she determined at the time was a natural hospital birth, she entered motherhood feeling alone. As she started questioning everything that had happened to her during her birth, she finds free birth. And with her second daughter, Anna went from questioning to knowing as she brought her into the world, surrounded by family and love.
Speaker 3
Okay. So, yeah, kick us off.
Speaker 2
Tell us tell us start your story wherever you wanna begin.
Speaker 4
Yeah. So I have two daughters, Ayla and Riley, and Ayla is born in two thousand and fifteen. So it was before I before the podcast, and I had I hadn't heard of rebirth before then. I wanted a home birth. And in Sweden, which is where I live, to have a home birth midwife, it cost forty thousand krona, which is I'm not sure how many how much that is in dollars, but I at the time, I wasn't prepared to pay that amount when the alternative is free. And now that I know better, I would just be inviting the, medical midwife into I'd be inviting the medical system into my home.
Speaker 3
Totally. When you say the alternative is free, you mean the hospital. Right? Yes.
Speaker 4
Yeah.
Speaker 3
Okay. So forty thousand krona Yeah. To USD is four thousand six hundred.
Speaker 4
Four thousand six hundred. Yep.
Speaker 3
Yeah. So that's, like, a little bit less than what it is in America. Mhmm.
Speaker 4
Yeah. Like I said and that's with your first born.
Speaker 3
The second Sweden does a weird thing with this. Yeah. Yeah. Will you explain that?
Speaker 4
Okay. So with your first born, you, if you employ a medical midwife, then you pay the the four forty thousand or I think they've actually it's it's not forty thousand anymore, but at the time in two thousand and fifteen, it was. And but with your, consequent children, it's free.
Speaker 3
That's very strange.
Speaker 4
Yeah.
Speaker 3
So the health care system pays for the medical midwives from your second baby on. Yes. That's very strange.
Speaker 4
Yeah.
Speaker 3
Yeah. I didn't know that till, I think, last year or somewhat recently.
Speaker 4
It's probably me that told you.
Speaker 3
So what's the reasoning there? Like, you just have to prove that you're
Speaker 4
So you know what you're doing.
Speaker 3
Yeah. Yeah. What if you had a baby in the hospital with your first, then is the medical midwife at home free with your second? Yes. So you just need to pop a baby out. Yep. That is very strange.
Speaker 4
I
Speaker 3
know. I mean, you know, on that note, I know medical midwives who will only attend second time births.
Speaker 4
Yeah. Okay.
Speaker 3
Like, first time moms, they're like, nope. Not available.
Speaker 4
Oh, no. So for
Speaker 3
me basically
Speaker 4
the same. Yeah. For me, I would definitely, attend, or support a woman having her first baby. And also I wanted a water birth. I well, I thought I wanted a water birth. You never know when you get there, dear. That also wasn't allowed at the time in twenty fifteen. I thought that I had to go to all my prenatal appointments. I thought that you had to do that.
Speaker 3
Mhmm. Totally.
Speaker 4
So and I found it so stressful. I was running down there. You know, they they have, like, a a schedule, and I went to every single one, every single prenatal appointment, and it was stressful. I had to take time off work to go down there and yeah. And you never know how long it's gonna take. So, anyway, I went to all of those and at my last and I did ultrasounds. I did three ultrasounds in total. Of course. Now now I know. And at my last prenatal visit with the midwife, she said I was measuring too small. She sent me for an ultrasound, or she booked me in for an ultrasound. And on the morning of that ultrasound, I could feel that I could feel sensations coming on. Mhmm. And I thought, well, there's no point in me going for this ultrasound if this is the birth process starting. So I phoned and I said, there's no point in me coming, surely. And they said, no. You should come anyway.
Speaker 3
And just to be clear, you did not pay the forty thousand krona for a home birth midwife. Right?
Speaker 4
No. I like I said, I wasn't prepared to pay that at the time.
Speaker 3
Totally. So you you're in you're in the hospital system. You wanted the home birth. You wanted the water birth, but because you just didn't know all the options yet
Speaker 4
Yeah.
Speaker 3
You go with the hospital.
Speaker 4
Yes.
Speaker 3
So it it's it must be so I know that so many women deal with this, but that just sounds so depressing. Yeah. You know, like, in this exciting time and your body's changing and you're feeling this, you know, little alien come into your womb and, like, everything is so magical, it just then it's, like, paired with what I'm projecting is, like, yeah, like, depressing to, like, go into the place that you don't really wanna be and Yeah.
Speaker 4
No. And and even the prenatal appointments is Mhmm. You meet the same midwife every single time. So, you know, it's familiar, but it's so, so stressful. And every you know, oh, well, you take a blood sample. I'm gonna do this. Oh, I forgot to say that I'm Rh negative. So I did, the anti d. Yeah. Mhmm. I wouldn't do that today knowing what I know now. And also so two days prior to, these sensations starting, I woke up and I had felt I felt a little bit wet in bed, and I wasn't sure are these my water's releasing or how do I just pee the bed? I don't know. And they were very, very clear that if you think that your waters are broken, you need to phone the hospital straight away. So and they kept drumming that in, and it just made you feel like, wow. So this is really, really important. Totally. So I phoned anyway, so that is in my records. Two days prior, something happened. She thinks it's the water's releasing. That's in my record just to be clear now. My appointment was for eleven AM, and by then, my I had taken I was I had taken the dog for a walk with my sensations, and I had to stop every now and then, like, breathe through them. And, like, people were looking at me like, what she do? And I got home, and my husband came to pick me up, and we did bring a bag just in case. And got and the the car journey was horrendous. Like, you just wanna move around and now you're stuck in a car sitting down. We get there and the room is full the waiting room for the ultrasound is full of couples there for their first ultrasound, and I'm standing there in front of all these people. Oh my god. Yeah. And that was horrendous. Yeah. Yeah. And it just I just felt all the eyes on me. Like, what is she doing here? She's in the wrong room. Actually. Wrong part of the hospital. And, of course, I was the last one to go in. Everyone came and went. And so I just the whole time, they're all staring at me, and I'm just trying to, like, ignore them all. And then I come in for the ultrasound, and she's like, wow. So things are actually happening. We'll just do this ultrasound, and if you want, I can check you and see how far along you are. Now I know that's obviously doesn't matter. But I was like, okay. That's that's cool. Yeah. So we did the ultrasound and she said, yeah. Your baby is quite small and your four centimeters op dilated so you can just go go straight up to the labor ward.
Speaker 3
How how worried were you about the two small comments?
Speaker 4
Not at all really. Okay. I yeah. It was just words to me at the time. It didn't matter. It didn't mean anything. And I think she thought that by saying, oh, the baby's small, then I actually had peace of mind because I thought, oh, well, this will be easy, an easy birth, you know, or something like that. It felt to me like that's what she thought. Yeah. Anyway, I I don't know. That's just a story I've made up, but it that's what it felt to me at the time. Yes. So then we went up to the labor ward, and by then, I was quite uncomfortable. I'd been standing in front of all these people, and we get to the reception and the woman is just so rude. And like, you need to calm down. Like, okay. And then they show me into a room and they leave us there for quite a long time. And they tell me to get up on the the the bed, and and I don't wanna lie down. I wanna be moving around. And I'm in there for a long time, so I'm very, very uncomfortable. And in the end, they come in and they check me, and then they take me through to another room where a midwife who has checked my chart sees that I think that my waters have broken. That's right. No. No. They didn't check me. That's right. She just assumes that my water waters have released. And she starts sticking an IV in my arm, with antibiotics and, like what sorry what's happening? And she's like, well, you know, your waters have broken and need to have antibiotics. It was two days ago. And at the time, I believed her I believed that to be true. So I'm like, okay. I don't really don't want to subject myself and my child to antibiotics. If you're saying that that's what I need, then okay. And, you know, I don't go to the to the hospital or a doctor. I don't see medical. But for some reason, and I think a lot of women think this, that, when it comes to childbirth then you know that goes out the window. And and I this is why I think it's so important that I have come on the podcast to let people know that, you know, it it doesn't it's not important. You know, you're the authority. Yeah. So she then goes off her shift and two new a a midwife and a nurse come in, and they're there for the entire birth process, which was very nice. And they came on when it started, and then their shift ended at the end. They haven't seen anything about they don't know why I have an IV. So I told them that I didn't want any pain relief. And and they looked at me like incredulous and later told me on after the birth that they had gone and spoken to their colleagues and said and they'd laughed and said, We have a first time mom thinking that she's gonna give birth without pain relief, and they had all laughed. And they told me this after. Yeah.
Speaker 3
I mean, and from where they sit, that is that is almost unheard of.
Speaker 4
This was strange to me at the time, but now I know better. Yeah. Totally. Yeah. Really strange to me at the time. Anyway so I came in with, like, my music system, and I had my music playing, and they thought that was really lovely. They were they were pretty hands off, actually. Actually. I think they thought it was gonna take longer, and then they left me to it.
Speaker 3
Totally.
Speaker 4
Yeah. So I'm I'm lucky in that in that respect. So I remember during this birth that I was totally in that zone. You know? I was where you know, that place where women go, when they're in the birth process. And I remember them disturbing me. I remember being pulled out of it. I just and then asking questions and they thought I was they were like, what's wrong with her? What what she's in some sort of psychosis. Yeah. I I and I heard this. I was in there, but I could hear their questions and they kept pulling me out. And then, you know, after a few hours, I my body just took over and need and pushed needed to push. And the midwife was like, are you are you pushing? And I was like, yeah. I think I'm pushing. And she was like, oh, okay. I I felt like I needed to poo. And she's they gave me this stool to sit on. And and then they also asked me no. They didn't ask me. They said, you need to empty your bladder before the baby comes. Would you like to try yourself, or would you like a catheter? And I was like, I would like to try myself, please. And, you know, with everyone watching, nothing came. So they they're just digging. Then by the time I'm pushing, they're like, oh, right. You need to get on the bed now. So I'm scrambling up on this bed. And by the time I'm up there, I'm so exhausted that I just have to lie back, and that is how I gave birth. And to their in their defense or or to their credit, they were actually encouraging me. They said, would you like let's try another position, which is also coaching as well you know I might have wanted to be on my back but I, I couldn't physically try anything else because I was so so exhausted. And you know then you know this was so six hours later she was born. The midwife said, oh, feel reach down and you can feel the hair coming, and I could feel this big head of hair. And that was amazing. But it's also, you know, a a midwife telling you to feel. You know? It's not you deciding you want to feel down there. Also, just as the head was or her head was about to emerge, and I was totally aware unaware of this, but the midwife had pressed, like, the alarm button because the fetal monitor had, come off. So all these people were rushed into the room and but she was, like, out. And she and they were like, oh, it's just the fetal monitors has come off. I was walking around telling people that I hadn't had a natural birth. Mhmm. I was, like, just being in the hospital is unnatural. But yeah. So I was like, I have a natural birth. No no epidural, no induction, no, gas and air, but I had antibiotics in my arm. Yeah. So any oh, I I forgot to say that just before, her head came out, my water's released. So that wasn't obviously, it wasn't my waters, and she was like, oh, those are your waters. Did you feel that? And I was like, yeah. Of course I felt that. And she was like, why did they stick any IV in you? So she was like, why did they do that?
Speaker 3
Just to be safe.
Speaker 4
Yes. I know. So safe. And then, she told me that, the wig maker told me that I had torn, and, she was, like, just stuck a, an, anesthesia in oh, whatever it's called. Yeah. And then to do the stitches. Yes. Lidocaine. Yeah. Yeah. So at the time, I was like, yes. This was totally natural. I loved it. Absolutely loved it. And even when I went to see the midwife who I did my prenatal care with and she asked me. And I did tell her, well, I have antibiotics where which I work completely unnecessary and other things that that didn't feel right. And she then I was like, well, that was what was necessary, you know of course she says that. And my postpartum I was very stoic. I didn't have a support group. I didn't know that I needed one. I would take the dog out for walks and it was February it was freezing cold. I got plugged ducks. I would just cry through the whole walk or try to hold back tears and I didn't have any family. My mum has moved here now but she wasn't living here at the time, and I didn't have any of that in place. So yeah. And, obviously, I didn't know that I needed that. So that's my my thing I tell all women. Right.
Speaker 3
And Postpartum. For postpartum to feel hard like that is so normalized. Yeah. It's just like, oh, this is just how it is. Like, I'm lonely, and I'm struggling, and and this is just how it is. I spend long days alone with the baby, and it's just all kind of on me. And this is just motherhood is hard.
Speaker 4
That is why it was hard because I told myself it was hard as well. Yeah. And as soon as my husband would come home from work, I would hand her over. Like, oh, you know? I I bitch about, technology and Instagram and social media and everything, but it was a woman on Instagram, and she had had her baby out in the woods. And I was like, wow. I want to have my baby in the woods. You can do that. Yeah. Okay. And then because I had this experience and we didn't have that special bonding because of her birth and everything. I took a a conscious motherhood boss, and she had also had two free births at the time. She's had three now. Three free births. Yeah. So I was like, oh, a free birth. What is that? And then I discovered a podcast. Yes. And then I realized I realized that my birth was just so unnatural. Yeah. And I was like, well, you know, I could have just done this myself. And I think it's so important because you can do it yourself as a first time mom. Absolutely. Well, and
Speaker 3
it's it's not even like you can. It's that you will. If if you don't if you don't hand it over if you don't leave your home, if you don't go get surgery, if you don't actively choose otherwise, the end result guaranteed distinction to make. It's not you can. It's literally that you will. It is impending destiny. You know? It's going to happen Yeah. Unless you.
Speaker 4
Yes. Thank you for pulling me up on that. Yeah. And I I mean, I didn't find Ayla's birth traumatic at all. Mhmm. But now I you know, when I started listening to these women's stories, I'm like, yeah. That didn't need to happen. Didn't need to happen. And, you know, that could have just gone so much easier and without interventions at home. I had two losses in between Ayla and Riley, and that just I just let them release naturally. And the the thing that was upsetting mostly was that the second time we had told Ayla that she was gonna be a big sister, and it they were very early. There were six weeks, both of them. So then Riley yeah. The wild feral one. So did
Speaker 3
you know pre pregnancy that that was how you were gonna do it? Yes. Definitely. So how did that go with your husband and your mom and, like, the people that matter to you if you entered into the pregnancy what you wanted it to look like?
Speaker 4
Yeah. So you got him? Yes. I think he was a bit, like, cautious at first, but then he kind of just knows that I'll do it anyway. And mom, she just she'll trust me. She yeah.
Speaker 3
So it wasn't a big deal?
Speaker 4
No. Not with my immediate family. Not my sister and my dad. My husband's family, I was a little bit oh, we didn't really maybe tell them exactly how things were gonna go down. They're very into the medical system. Some of them, not so much. But, yeah. And and I I I had a wild pregnancy. So I I did tell some people, but I was very, very I had kept kept it to my chest. I didn't tell everybody because I did tell mom one mother, and she was like, aren't you afraid the baby's gonna get stuck? No. I didn't feel any fear during during, you know, the the weeks prior to. I did feel some because I'd had those two pregnancy losses, they were still in there in my head. So I with Ayla, when I was pregnant with her, I would do stuff. I would, like, jump off jetties into the lake. And and with this, I was like, I mean, I don't think I should do that, like, when the water's fourteen degrees and, Celsius. But, yeah. So wild pregnancy, apart from I went to the the same midwife one time when I was thirty two weeks pregnant just for proof of pregnancy, and she was very surprised to see me that far along.
Speaker 3
Did you tell her the truth, or how did you kinda navigate that?
Speaker 4
No. I was like she said, okay. Well, we'll put you in for the next appointment. And I was like, no. I don't think I wanna come back. And she was like, oh, well, can I ask why? And I said, oh, I just don't think I need it. And that was it. That was okay for her. So yeah. Okay. Sweet. I didn't go into details, and I didn't try to tell her
Speaker 5
her job.
Speaker 3
Going rogue.
Speaker 4
Yeah. Yeah. So, anyway, on the the day of her birth, me and Ayla were just hanging out. It was a really, really nice day, and it was at the end of May. And by then, I had gone ten days over. And in Sweden, if you're in the medical system, if you if you're past forty one weeks, then they induce you. And my mom phoned me and she asked me what we were doing. I was like, well, just hanging out. And she was like, why isn't she inviting me around? She felt she knew there was something something was gonna happen. Then she kind of invited herself. She's like, can I come round? And I said, yeah. Go for it. So we hang out hung out, and, Ayla was singing songs, and she was making us laugh. And we just had such a wonderful day. Yeah.
Speaker 2
Sounds so nice.
Speaker 4
Yeah. It was. And I was feeling kinda crampy, but, you know, nothing, like, big. We had dinner, and then I put Isla to bed, and I would just fall asleep next to her every single night. At the end of that pregnancy, it was I was tired. And I woke up at half past nine in the evening when my husband went to bed, so he must have kind of woken me up, by going to bed. And I woke up, and I was like, wow. Something's actually happening, and I don't think I can lie down anymore. So I went up, and I for some reason, I was like, oh, well, I'll time these contractions, birth sensations. Three minutes. That can't be right. You don't know what you're doing, Anna. I was, oh, well but if this is the start of the birth, I will go back to bed because I might need I'll need my energy. And I went and lie down. I was like, no. I can't lie down anymore. So, we had a room and it we called it the yoga room. And I had prepared I had a birth altar. I had take I took all the pots off the windowsill, and I turned the fairy lights on, and I lit candles on my birth altar. But by this and I, pulled down the curtains, like, just prepared, and it was dark, and it was quiet. And, but by that point, I I I couldn't put the music on, and that was very important for me in my first birth because it was kind of like a little piece of home in the hospital. But by the I didn't have music anyway. So I was just hanging out there on the Pilates ball, just kind of leaning on it probably for about forty five minutes an hour. And then I felt like, I really want to have a bath. That would be really relaxing. And I went to the bathroom, and I tried to fill the bath. Oh, god. No. I can't do it. So I went and I woke my husband up, and it's the middle of the night. And I'm like, can you pour me a bath? And he's like, what? A bath? I was like, yeah. Because he had no idea what was going on. So he did that. And he's like, okay. So then he did that and I jumped in the bath and, he went and got all the candles. There's no wind there were no windows in that bathroom, so it's really dark. Four candles. Got my water, coconut water, and I had made labor aid. And he put it out of reach, which was annoying. So but I got the water and the coconut water anyway. And I was in the bath, and I was on my knees and hanging on the the tap. And in my head, from Ayla's birth, I had this, you need to empty your bladder because there's no one gonna stick a catheter in you here. I had that in my head the whole time. I thought, well, let me just lie down first in the bath. Nope. Nope. Can't do that. And turn around, and I was hanging on the, we hang our clothes or hung our clothes. And then I thought, alright. I'm gonna get up and have a a wee. And then I as I was on the the loop, two two pushes, was it? Like, my body just, like, totally took over again. One push, two pushes, and I'm sitting there thinking, what? What? This is this has gone too fast. This is not happening. I'm not gonna feel because I'll just be disappointed. And now I'm gonna have a feel. And then I fell, and I was like, there's a head. A head. So, like, oh, I'm trying to get off the toilet, and I can't I literally can't get up because the head's right there. And so I'm like, babe, the I think the baby's coming. So he, like, jumps out of bed, comes in, lifts me up, helps me up from the toilet. And then one more push, and the head's out. I held her head. And then this was the coolest part, watching it rotate, watching the head rotate. That was so cool looking down. And then the next one, the body and he grabbed her body and then we lifted her up together on my chest. And then he runs out. He's, like, gone. Where did he go? I've just given birth to a baby. He comes back in. He's, like, eleven forty six PM. Because I was like, very I had told him several times, you need to keep an eye on the time. I want to know exactly when it was. Exactly. So he had that in his head. I'd drummed that into his head. And then two minutes later, mom comes. It she's like, this is this somebody's crying. She thought it was Ayla. I said, she's why is she crying like a baby? The baby is the baby. So she came in and she's like, wow. And she is still in awe today about this amazing experience.
Speaker 5
Aw.
Speaker 4
She's like, do you remember? Like, that's so sweet.
Speaker 3
That's so cool she was there.
Speaker 4
Yeah. I know. She'd stayed the night. So then I jumped back in the buff, and I was like, get Ayla. Well, you know, because I wanted her to be there. I want her to know that this is normal. This is the normal way of giving birth. Like, that she can do it, like, this way. She will do it this way. But, you know, she was asleep. So she came in and she was like, what what is it? And I hadn't really even bothered to check. I was, like, counting fingers and toes and just, like, oh, loving her. And my husband had asked what what is it? And I was like, oh, maybe I have a look. So I asked Tyler, what do you think it is? And she says it's a girl. I said, yes. A girl. Yeah. She said, I knew it. And then we took some pictures. It was still so dark. I still had the four candles. So, like, the pictures are really, really grainy and dark, but I love them anyway. I did have my friend lined up to come and take pictures, but, a, it wouldn't have been the same experience if she had been there, if I had been watched. And and also I I I didn't have time to phone her. I I wouldn't know. I was oh, yeah. This this is, what I'm wondering because I didn't ever feel like I was in that zone, but I wonder if that's because I was never undisturbed from that zone with the free birth. Mhmm. Because I remember always being pulled out of it in my first mhmm. I started to feel like the placenta was ready to come. Ayla had asked if she could go back to bed now. I'm tired. Can I go back to bed? Bed? Like, I get it. It's cool. Yep. Yeah. Whatever.
Speaker 3
We gotta get to the point where birth is so normal. Yeah. We don't even wake our kids up.
Speaker 4
Yeah. You know what
Speaker 3
I mean? Where it's like, it doesn't even matter because it's so integrated. Right?
Speaker 4
Yeah. Definitely. Absolutely. Totally. And so then I birth the placenta. No problems. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to do, Lotus because I I'm quite an impatient person, and I didn't think I would have the patience to do that. Knowing when the, the, the, cord actually came off in the end, I could have done lotus. We kept it attached for seventeen hours. So after the birth, we we just hung out on the sofa for a bit and chatted and, like, just oh, she we were skin to skin. We were both naked. I had, a dressing gown, like, around me and towels and blankets and but we were skin to skin, and then I fell asleep. And mom, she was my postpartum birth keeper. She went she was washing the placenta, like, making sure everything was okay and, like, because she was attached to the placenta. She couldn't take the placenta away. She had to bring a bowl, and she was washing washing it. And she did all that for me. And, yeah, it was so amazing to have her there to do that. And and then I woke up, and I found that she had, like, set up camp next to me on the sofa. She'd fallen asleep, and I was like, mommy.
Speaker 0
So cute.
Speaker 4
She helped me get up for a wee. And, and then at four in the morning, I woke up and was covered in meconium. So I had to wake her up again, and that stuff doesn't come off. Like, now I know how to do it. Someone told me, you know, you use, oil. Mhmm. But now I didn't know that, so I was scrubbing that off. Yeah. And so we did the, the cord burning ceremony seventeen hours later. And it was just it was so beautiful. We have music playing and candles and yeah.
Speaker 3
Yeah. So So who are who are you now after this
Speaker 4
epic I'm a radical birth keeper, Emilee.
Speaker 3
Like, who are you as a as a woman now, as a mother, and, yeah, as a radical birthkeeper?
Speaker 4
So def I set up my postpartum. I had a proper village around me, people doing things for me, food, da da da da. I feel like, I am a confident person anyway, but I think in mothering and birthing, women can kind of you know, second guess themselves. And here, it was like, bam bam bam. I know exactly what I'm doing. This is what I want. My relationship with Riley has changed my relationship with Ayla. Yeah. Definitely. So it's completely changed me as a mom, as a woman. Yeah. And both of their births inspired me to become a radical birth keeper and take the radical birth keeper school, to support other women. Like, first time, second time, whatever. I I'm there for you.
Speaker 3
And how can if there's women
Speaker 2
in Sweden listening to this,
Speaker 3
how can women find you locally?
Speaker 4
Turtle goddess birth. This is my email. Turtle goddess birth at proton mail dot com. And I'm turtle goddess birth on Instagram. Yeah. Awesome. I'll just end with, so many years ago many, many years ago, my mom bought me a card, and it says, things work out best for the people who make the best out the way things work out. And that is me. And that, you know, that's Ireland's birth. Yeah. It could have gone differently, but it was for me. Totally. Yeah. That's why I went on to free birth, and that's why I went on to become a radical birth keeper. Yeah. And, you know, just the work meeting women. And I did a a birth trauma debrief and, you know, just the gratitude from just, from listening to a story. Just amazing.
Speaker 3
Beautiful. Thank you so much.
Speaker 4
Thank you.
Speaker 2
Simple and sweet.
Speaker 4
I love it. I know it is. And but I still think it's, because I was like, well, you know, my story is just a bit, you know, simple. But But
Speaker 3
most of most of the free birth stories are like that. But that's the point
Speaker 2
is to let women know it doesn't need to
Speaker 3
be some, like, big dramatic
Speaker 4
Exactly.
Speaker 3
Thing. Totally.
Speaker 4
Yeah. Because I was like, well, I didn't have a a traumatic story, but it's still even though I was happy with my birth story at the time, then I started unpacking it. And that's
Speaker 2
Of course.
Speaker 4
That because yeah. That is, that's why I'm here. And, it's always a pleasure speaking to you, Emilee. Yeah. Thank you for
Speaker 3
your time.
Speaker 4
Thank you.
Speaker 2
And that's it for today, my sisters. Check out everything we do, including one on one and group coaching. Learn about our private membership, in person retreats, and more on free birth society dot com. Our online courses are on free birth society courses dot com, including our flagship course, the complete guide to free birth. Don't miss the radical birth keeper school if you're ready to become the authentic midwife that women are searching for. Together we rise, and the revolution starts inside each of us. I'll leave you with our free birth society theme song, Wild Woman by Aruba Red.
Speaker 5
I honor you for the wisdom you held, the ancient traditions of plant medicine and womb magic. 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 our 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 poison. We reject your fear. We choose love. Everything with intention. Death, ascension. I will fly and bring her back to the star.
