October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. In honor of this month, we are launching an important new resource to better support families in our community navigating the grief of loss while serving cross-culturally. LaDonna joins us to share about the Perinatal Loss Debrief Packet and The Virtual Village CARE Facebook group.
On October 15th we will be participating in the International Wave of Light to honor each child who is no longer here with us. We will create a virtual candle in honor of your child and post it. We ask that all name submissions be sent by October 13th to ensure time to create the posts.
Link to the debrief page:
https://chandler-gilow-s-school.teachable.com/p/perinatal-loss-resources
Link to the Virtual Village Care:
https://www.facebook.com/share/g/AjJn6kKSwJ8irwaU/?mibextid=K35XfP
Link to A Beautiful Remembrance Instagram Page:
https://www.instagram.com/abeautifulremembrance?igsh=dW1iMGtwdGVqeDhk
In this episode, we have the joy of experiencing a shortened version of a Birth Story Listening Session with Christine Rollings. Birth Story listening is not a well-known service, however, I think it is such a gift to our community as we process all the layers of birth abroad. Since this is a new service, we thought it would be helpful to do an episode to answer some common questions and provide a demonstration. You can compare this episode to Season 1 Episode 3 (A Healing Vbac in the Middle East) where I tell my full birth story to see how this differs from a traditional sharing format.
You can also check out Christine's first birth story from abroad in Season 2 Episode 3 (Leaning into the Culture: A Vaginal Birth in Turkey).
You can find Christine's Birth Story Listening information at https://www.ivyandrill.com/ or follow her on IG @ivy.and.rill
In this episode, Alex joins us to share her story of navigating pregnancy and birth in her first 13 months of living abroad. She shares about figuring out a new medical system, inducing labor, leaning on a newly formed community to care for her older son, being unable to get an epidural, and much more!
She also shares about her Facebook community for parents of TCKs 0-5 years and her upcoming services to offer fertility awareness coaching and education for families serving cross-culturally.
In this episode Jamie shares three birth stories from Belarus. We discuss: universal v private healthcare, c-sections, VBACs, moving internationally while pregnant, transverse position, leaning on the expat community, postpartum depression, and navigating testing after a prenatal marker for Down Syndrome.
Iris joins us to share two home-birth stories. The first is a home-birth in Nigeria with visiting midwives and a subsequent medical evacuation to South Africa when their daughter was experiencing respiratory distress. The second birth is at the beginning of the pandemic in Canada with local midwives.
Madelyn joins the podcast to share her story of an unplanned home-birth in Thailand. In this episode we discuss: relocating for birth, doula support, finding your team in a new city, depending on other expats for resources, being admitted to a public hospital, and navigating anxiety postpartum.
In this episode, LaDonna shares her story of VBAC in Ghana. In this episode we discuss an surprise breech birth with her first, finding a provider, pressure to have another c-section, and navigating the birth culture in Ghana.
In this episode we discuss: Navigating infertility while moving abroad, a pregnancy soon after arrival, depending on your new community, embracing birth in your new culture, mental shifts in pregnancy, not getting an epidural when you want one, and navigating Postpartum Anxiety
Rachel joins us to discuss two very different cesarean experiences and planning a VBAC birth.
MaKenzie joins me to share her family’s story of infertility, late term loss, deep grief, faith, and pregnancy after loss.