Breaking Through: Navigating Birth Trauma and Special Needs with Resilience

Breaking Through: Navigating Birth Trauma and Special Needs with Resilience

In this first episode of the Jess Ngaheu podcast, host Jess shares her personal journey and the experiences that led her to start her business, Maternal Grounding. She discusses her own rough pregnancy and emergency caesarean with her first child which inspired her to help other women through the process of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery. Jess also opens up about the extreme birth trauma she and her family went through with her second child, Hawaiki, who spent most of his first year in the hospital. 

She explains how these experiences led her to develop a course called “The Survival of Birth Trauma” and to study functional neurology to help neurodivergent children. Throughout the episode, Jess emphasises the importance of holistic support and holding space for individuals during challenging times.

Chapters

0:00:02 - Introduction to the podcast and the journey of pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and motherhood

0:01:01 - Starting a business focused on supporting women through pregnancy and postpartum

0:02:12 - Going through birth trauma with the second child and developing a course on the survival of birth trauma

0:03:30 - Introducing the business "Maternal Grounding" and offering holistic therapies for women

0:05:12 - Launching the course on the survival of birth trauma as a beacon of hope and guide

0:06:19 - Discussing adversity faced with a special needs child and the importance of advocating for them

0:07:57 - Studying functional neurology to help neurodivergent children holistically

0:09:54 - Introducing the business "Little Superheroes" focused on massage for special needs kids

Key Takeaways:

• What this podcast series is all about.
• Jess’s personal journey through pregnancy, birth, and motherhood has led her to create a business focused on supporting women through these experiences.
• How she developed a course called “The Survival of Birth Trauma” to help those who have experienced traumatic births.
• Jess is also studying functional neurology to provide holistic support for neurodivergent children.
• Her businesses, Maternal Grounding and Little Superheroes, aim to provide physical, mental, and spiritual support for women and special needs children.

To learn more about Maternal Grounding and to book Pregnancy Massage, Postpartum Massage, and Baby Massage, visit https://maternalgrounding.com.au/services/

Join our supportive community on Facebook: "Birth Trauma By Maternal Grounding" https://www.facebook.com/groups/1012299449213573

Connect with us on social media:

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maternalgrounding/

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/littlesuperheroes_/

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maternalgrounding

Interested in being a podcast guest? Fill out the form https://forms.gle/zNbMezugBZxAJxBa6

For inquiries, guesting opportunities, or collaborations, reach out to us at hello@maternalgrounding.com.au

Transcript

0:00:02 - I honestly believe that that is a big part of who I am in helping others go through scenarios like this because they can be just so damn hard. And having to cope with all of that, that's huge. It's really, really huge. Welcome to the Jess Ngaheu podcast, where we delve into the heart of extraordinary.

0:00:27 - Stories, resilience, adversity, advocacy and so much more. But I'm your host, Jess Nahi, and.

0:00:38 - Today marks the beginning of a journey, a journey through diverse of pregnancy, birth.

0:00:44 - Postpartum, motherhood, and the unique world of children with special needs.

0:00:51 - I would like to start by sharing with you a piece of my own journey.

0:00:55 - And I guess what brought me here today and the whole journey behind it.

0:01:01 - And I'll start with, I guess I am a wife. I'm a mother of two very special babies. And I actually originally started a business coordinatoring massage and fitness. And that started after the birth of my first child, Vera Rose. And I had a bit of a rough pregnancy with her and we ended up having an emergency caesarean. And I remember walking out of the doctor's office after that six week checkup, and I said, right, so what do I do now? How do I get through this recovery wise?

0:01:30 - And he said, oh, just do some.

0:01:33 - Crunches and you'll be fine.

0:01:35 - And I was walking out going, this.

0:01:38 - Is exactly what I'm here to do to help women go through this whole process of pregnancy, birth, postpartum, motherhood, and.

0:01:45 - Recovering from having a baby.

0:01:49 - So I was already a massage therapist and personal trainer, and I just went on to study further and studied pregnancy postpartum with massage and fitness and exercise.

0:02:00 - So after having Vera started this business.

0:02:04 - And then I fell pregnant when Vera was three years old with my second pregnancy, which is now our son, Hawaii.

0:02:12 - And we went through quite a bit with him.

0:02:16 - So there's a whole entire story around.

0:02:19 - His birth, but basically that little boy.

0:02:24 - When he arrived, his apgar was zero.

0:02:27 - He was somewhat dead and brought back to life. And following that, and he has been.

0:02:36 - Through a lot, he basically spent most of the first year of his life.

0:02:39 - In hospital whilst we were trying to save him.

0:02:43 - And we went through extreme birth trauma.

0:02:46 - When he was born.

0:02:50 - And I guess that's what brought me to then now also writing a course that is about to be launched called.

0:02:57 - The survival of birth trauma, because I.

0:03:02 - Found that everything that we went through.

0:03:05 - Was for a reason. I am an extremely empathetic human that.

0:03:10 - Just wants to help people. And I think that is shown in my business, which is actually now called maternal grounding, because after having Hawaii, I found there needed to be support for.

0:03:21 - Women to truly feel held, no matter.

0:03:25 - What stage of motherhood that they're at.

0:03:27 - And they need to feel held.

0:03:30 - So I went and studied even more holistic therapies for that, which was really trying to intertwine massage and holistic therapies.

0:03:42 - To be there for women.

0:03:44 - And so, yes, that business is now called maternal grounding. And throughout our amazing massages that we offer, we also include things like reiki healing, sound healing, crystal healing and so much more. And that was all intertwined with the.

0:04:01 - Survival of birth trauma. So in my businesses, I think I.

0:04:07 - Go beyond conventional practices.

0:04:11 - That's something that I think is very.

0:04:14 - A big part of me.

0:04:16 - And I don't stick to the norm.

0:04:19 - But I do my research and from experiences that I have been through, I've gone and studied so much. So whether it's supporting women through pregnancy or offering therapeutic touch for our special.

0:04:33 - Needs children, it's about holding space physically, mentally and spiritually. And it's about understanding the whole person and embracing them.

0:04:50 - So as I was just saying before, we do have a launch of the survival of birth trauma, and we are really on the brink of that coming up very shortly. And this is a course that is more than a curriculum.

0:05:03 - It is a beacon of hope and.

0:05:05 - A guide for those navigating the challenging.

0:05:08 - Aftermath of birth trauma.

0:05:12 - So that is coming up very soon. And that was developed with spending nearly that first year in hospital with my son. And what I didn't realize was, whilst.

0:05:25 - We'Re trying to save him, of also.

0:05:28 - Trying to save myself. And I went and studied practitioner levels of all these things and I didn't quite understand why at the time.

0:05:36 - But now it all makes perfect sense because I'm here to help those who have been through birth trauma and survive it.

0:05:45 - And I think it really goes for when you're so busy and particularly maybe even in hospital with your child, or.

0:05:52 - Just don't want to leave your house, but knowing that you need something to help yourself get through this, that is what this is for. This is for anyone and everyone who's been through horrific events like birth trauma.

0:06:09 - So in this podcast series, we will dive into the diverse realms of adversity. When going through all the stuff with.

0:06:19 - Our son, I have honestly had to be there for him and advocate so much as well.

0:06:27 - And the adversity that we have copped with him has been huge. Like just for instance, this year. So he's actually now four. And this year we were going on our first trip to New Zealand. So my husband, the kid's dad, he is from New Zealand and we're going back there for a reason. And we had ticked every single box on the form for him to go in.

0:06:48 - They knew what we needed for him and we were removed from that plane.

0:06:53 - Because they couldn't supply what my child.

0:06:55 - Needed and they wouldn't help us in any other way.

0:07:00 - We've had so many situations of having to advocate him with the adversity we've been put through. And I honestly believe that that is a big part of who I am and helping others go through scenarios like this because they can be just so damn hard.

0:07:19 - And having to cope with all of that, it's huge.

0:07:23 - It's really huge.

0:07:25 - So with all of those little things and having a special needs kids, I.

0:07:32 - Definitely want to try and help families and listen to stories about others with kids who have special needs because they're.

0:07:41 - Definitely not your normal.

0:07:43 - So just a look into our life.

0:07:45 - Where our son has six therapies, sometimes seven a week. It's huge, but that's because we want.

0:07:55 - To give him the best possible chance.

0:07:57 - At life and embracing who he is.

0:08:01 - But also trying to give him the.

0:08:03 - Benefits from all of these therapies. So having a special needs child is huge.

0:08:11 - And I want to talk to other parents going through this, what their strategies are, things that they know can maybe help you if you have a child with special needs. That's what we're here for and that's.

0:08:22 - What we are all about.

0:08:24 - So with everything with birth, postpartum, motherhood.

0:08:28 - And something else is functional neurology.

0:08:33 - I am currently studying functional neurology and I am sitting major exams at the.

0:08:38 - End of April this year because it.

0:08:40 - Is a holistic form of helping our neurodivergent children. And those children are kids that are autistic, ADHD, Asperger's, schizophrenia, Tourette's, all of those kids.

0:08:56 - But they also need our help.

0:09:01 - So whilst my son goes to someone who does this, which they're basically our.

0:09:06 - Brain specialist therapist and I had found.

0:09:09 - That they were doing a course for this, so I enrolled because I'm like.

0:09:13 - Yeah, I'm here for it.

0:09:15 - Why can't we help all these kids? They deserve so much as well, they deserve the help that they truly, truly need. And if we can take our kids that are neurodivergent away from being medicated.

0:09:28 - And being treated holistically in finding the.

0:09:33 - Connections in why the brain is unbalanced, then I'm all for it. So I'm also studying that and that will be intertwined with my second business, which is already going called little superheroes. And little superheroes is a business about massage for our special needs kids.

0:09:54 - So each episode will be a conversation.

0:09:58 - A shared experience, and a source of inspiration. So whether you're a parent or a warrior who's faced adversity, or someone simply.

0:10:07 - Curious about this holistic path, join me.

0:10:11 - Every week as we unfold stories, share insights, and walk together on this incredible.

0:10:17 - Journey of life, love, and resilience.

0:10:22 - This is the Jess Ngaheu podcast, where every story matters and every voice is heard. Let's go. See you next week. Close.