Ep 161. Philosophies of Birth: Navigating Natural vs Physiological Approaches

In this episode, Kelly and Tiffany dive into the differences between natural (unmedicated) and physiological birth approaches, exploring the philosophies behind each. They discuss personal experiences, including the empowering but challenging aspects of unmedicated births in various settings, and emphasize the importance of providing supportive environments for physiological birth. 

00:00 Introduction

04:09 Listener Review

05:10 Magnesium Supplement by We Heart Nutrition

09:51 Personal Birth Experiences

12:00 Philosophies of Birth: Natural vs Physiological

17:48 Supporting Physiological Birth

Links to all the extra good stuff:
Birth Vision Worksheet: HERE
Down to Birth Podcast: HERE
We Heart Nutrition Magnesium - code Beautifulone for 20% off: HERE
Childbirth Education Wait List: HERE
Join our email community: HERE
Submit your answer-on-the-show questions: HERE

Transcript

0:00

Welcome to At Home with Kelly and Tiffany, where naturally minded women gather together as we pursue simplicity and confidence in health alternatives, so we can show up better in our busy lives and feel more at home in our bodies. Join your favorite home birth midwife duo for conversation, candor, and community. You are at home with Kelly and Tiffany and I'm Kelly and I'm Tiffany, I'm taking over the intro and I potentially you're at home potentially. You're in the car wherever you are, but you are with Kelly and Tiffany in my home. We are recording in your home are told Jenner. Out playing. There they are quiet. It's wonderful. I don't even care if they're giving into something that they shouldn't. They are quiet. And, you know, it really is. I know we've said this before. It's such a little gift to me that like our kids actually enjoy each other. This would be really hard if. And it would be an absolute nightmare. It would be terrible. I mean, there's people in our lives that my kids are like, do we have to. Like, I mean kind. Sometimes. Gotta defend yourself. It was all the time. It would be quite a problem, but. But now also our puppies are playing together. The backyard, little brother and sister and mommy. It's quite a little quite a little. Trifecta. It's adorable. They had to work through some issues, but that's okay. Yeah. I mean, like, Puppy from the old pack wants to come play with The mother son pack that has stayed here in this home. But Kelly's puppy was a bit of the alpha when she lived here with all of us. So everyone forgets who's in what place. And it just takes some, a lot. It takes some growling and wrestling and chasing each other and some pain on things. It reminds me of birth. Some Groundlings and peeing. That's accurate. Is that accurate? But today we are talking about birth. We are talking about the idea of a natural birth, an unmedicated birth, right. Versus what we talk about when we are speaking of physiological birth. So we're not like pitting these things against each other. And it's not like birth is like some hierarchical. Cole experience where you're like this one is. In and of. Itself better than the. Other, anything like that? It's mostly just to share a bit of birth philosophy as you are sort of. Assessing your options, looking forward to birth planning for birth or somebody who is supporting. Other women as they are giving birth, just some ideas to kind of consider. As you think about birth and what your own personal philosophy of birth is. But before we jump into any of that we wanted to read yet another review because you all have been so incredibly kind to share. I have only five star reviews. And that is really what we're looking for. Just just the good ones, but we wanted to share one because it's just it's encouraging to us as we've mentioned, but hopefully it's encouraging to you to listen as well to be like, yes, like you're in this together with other women who are listening alongside you. There is a community piece of the reviewing. It's like, oh, we all get to meet together in this place where we read the reviews. But we also just like to pat ourselves on the back a little bit too, like to toot my own horn. See, this is good. Anyone who's listening right now who was thinking. I don't know what I'm, why I'm listening here. You are in the minority. Okay. Okay. How about that? How about that? Okay. So this review is called wonderful podcast for all the things. Oh, all of them. And it is left by our friend Shan, Hardy. Oh, Shan. We've never called her Shand before, but I'm going to now, Cheyenne. Cheyenne. That's very sweet of her. She left a five star review that goes like this. Love Kelly and Tiffany and their hearts for sharing such valuable information and education. As a doula, I feel like I've learned more from them in their podcast of wisdom and information. Their Instagram is. Also a treasure trove for all things. Women's health. Anyone who's interested in prenatal, postpartum, and even into menopause. This is the best podcast out there. Thank you ladies. Oh, That is really encouraging. Think Shannon. If you are listening Shannon, as you say that you do. You can reach out and let us know that we read your review and we will send you a drink to say, thank you. Oh my gosh. Yes. And if you are in San Diego, if you are a local and you need a excellent birth doula. This lady makes the top of our list. Every single. Time we give referrals. I'm pretty sure you can find her@shannonhardydoula.com. Hopefully that's correct. Or just Google Shannon, Hardy doula, San Diego yet. She's wonderful. So good. And another exciting little turn of events that has happened since we have last met and recorded and chatted, is that a company that we have shared about before added a new supplement to their lineup. And I am so happy they did so, but we got to be a part of the encouragement and the creation of this. So the lovely family, Jacob and Kristen, over at we heart nutrition. Created a magnesium supplement to push out after their multivitamins, their prenatals, their postnatals, their Iron and there. Officially. Yep. And something else. Vitamin B. Yep. Oh yeah, yeah. For morning sickness, like not just stuff in pregnancy. But they have been behind the scenes since the beginning of their company wanting to put out a magnesium because we cannot stop talking about how great magnesium is, especially for women. In any stage of life, but certainly as we're talking about pregnancy a game changer and in my opinion, a must have yes. So it was actually really fun because I mean, they just so graciously asked our opinion about their formulations and. I mean, like, I don't consider myself a supplement expert by any means, but we have spent a ton of time. Researching and understanding just nutrition at its foundation. And so supplementation just ends up being a huge part of what we help women achieve their health goals with. I don't know. And so. Jacob was asked. It was talking to me about, like, what do you think for the capsule size and what do you think about like, you. You know, this amount, I can get this into this, but will women actually like, be able to take that? And I'm like, I have. No idea. I'm the wrong person to ask because I will, I will swallow a huge pill. Yep. And I forget that that's a huge barrier to women. So I was, I was like, I don't know, just like go in the middle with that one, Jacob. But he chose the smaller, the smaller capsule size. And it was, it was like thoughtful that he did that. They did that so thoughtful. So there's so much that goes into these supplements. That is not even just about the ingredients, that the other thing that absolutely blew my mind while we were collaborating with them on this particular magnesium supplement. Is how crazy the market is for magnesium supplementation and the additives and the different types of magnesium that they're putting inside of the supplement that is not pure magnesium Mycenae. And so when that was brought to my attention, With that, you know, the research that they were doing while they were formulating this magnesium. Museum. It just, it blew my mind and it didn't. It shouldn't have, because we know that the supplement industry is like completely rampant with. Terrible ingredients and fillers and cutting corners, et cetera. And so that's one of the reasons that we just put a hundred percent of our confidence behind we heart nutrition, because they do not do that. There. In fact, this supplement has 100% pure magnesium glycinate, and it is one of the only ones on the market that you can get 100%. Pure magnesium. Yeah. So if you were interested in more information about why women need more magnesium. We have an episode that we'll link in the description. The show notes for you to kind of check out And we will also link you can go to we heart nutrition.com/beautiful one midwifery. If you would like a discount on this magnesium or any of their other incredible offerings, you can use the code. Beautiful one. For 20% off. Woo. That's a good chunk then. Anyway, there's all right. There's our apply, but we love them over there. And it's been really fun to watch them kind of share this supplement because when I shared. On our social media, that they. You know, started. Selling this People went and they bought a lot of it. You know, they're just excited because of what. What you were saying, like it is. It is quality and it's, they comes in pretty packaging. Oh, and that matters. It matters a lot to me. I have mine like set up and I'm like, I actually will take these because you're out on the counter looking so cute. Yeah. And I mean, their, their entire company is just absolutely like. Overflowing with beautiful family values that support so much more than just women's supplements. It's. It's a wonderful, yes. Beautiful thing happening. Okay. So we are going to chat about birth now. I wanted to share a little bit, and then I was going to ask you TIF to share a little bit as well. My experience going into my own birth was. My own first birth, I took a childbirth education class, the, my goal, and I don't even know why it really was, but it was to have an unmedicated birth. I really wanted to give birth without an epidural, wanted to feel all of the things and kind of get to the other side of that mountain. It felt really important to me. And so I put everything or what I thought was everything into place to. You know, go and do that. And the outcome of that experience was. An unmedicated birth, right. I'm like, okay. That's amazing. It's a good, it was good empowering experience to be able to get that the end goal of that. But while I, while it was happening, I was like, At one, I feel like I'm fighting for this and two. Yes, I'm without medication, but I have, where is my support for this? Right. Like, great. I'm I'm experiencing this thing, but it felt lacking in so many places. I feel like I was taken out of my. W, you know, labor land so many times by bright lights and talking and questions and telling me what to do and getting me on. My back and you know, cutting the cord super quickly and rushing a lot of things. And I was left realizing, and I didn't know how to put it into words or really processed that until I started learning more about birth as I got into birth work, but I realized. What I wanted was an unmedicated birth, but what I wanted was so much more than that. And I didn't really have a, a word to put on it. And I know we've talked about this before, but we both were doulas. Before we became a midwives and I know that your experience. You know, you had your own birth experience of course, but then experience supporting other women in hospital births with their desire to have an unmedicated birth. I'm just interested to hear of your experience the first time you feel like you actually I saw potentially what, like I was hoping for or what a lot of women were hoping for in not just an unmedicated birth, but like a truly supported. Physiological birth. Yeah. And I think it's important that as we explore these two concepts that we touch on the fact that it's not just an outcome. It's a philosophy. So. The difference between looking back and saying. Yeah, I had an unmedicated birth. That is one that's one piece that's separate. Having a physiological birth, there has to be philosophy involved because the setting that you're in, the providers that are around you, the people that you've invited to support you in your space, they all contribute their philosophy. And if they do not have the philosophy of a physiological birth being the best way for that to unfold. It will be very, very difficult for you to be able to experience that. And I know some women are listening. Listening right now. And they're thinking. What's the big deal. I don't understand, like I had. Okay. So maybe I had an unmedicated birth. That was wonderful for me. I felt very. Achieved and not accomplishment. And I look absolutely. And like Kelly said, we're not pitting one thing against the other. But the women who are listening right now who have had an unmedicated birth and it felt lacking still, and they're trying. To figure out, well, I did actually get the outcome I wanted, but it didn't happen in a way that made me feel very empowered. It's because it was not physiological and your heart is longing for a physiological experience. And for the women who have had an unmedicated birth and then went on to have a physiological birth, they know that difference. They know what that feels like. They know what it is like for that philosophy to be. In motion to experience the. The action of what a physiologically supportive birth can be. And so if you're sitting here and you're wondering, like, does this matter? Like, do we even care? Just to know it's because there's just, there's. It's a lack of perspective. And that's where I found myself as a doula because my bursts were not physiological in the soul. Litas and I've shared that story on other podcasts before. I cannot say with confidence of any recollection, and this will ruffle feathers, but that I have. I've experienced a hospital birth that was truly physiological. I can't even with wonderful providers. Even with unmedicated smooth, uncomplicated births. I cannot say that after experiencing physiological. Birth. In a different, more supportive setting that, that I would say that was the same thing as a physiologic, a potentially physiological birth in a hospital. So the very first time that I saw a truly physiological process unfolding before me was the first home birth that I went to. And it blew my mind because. The mom was doing, basically everything that she would have been doing in any setting. It's just birth. It takes over, you have to go with it. But everything around her was completely set up to support that process. And there were not. Not unnecessary interventions, unnecessary words, unheard, full suggestions, anybody pushing their agenda or their protocols or their. His desires on the process. It was just allowing it to unfold and trusting that process. And it was intense. I actually left that birth thinking. I don't know if that's better. That was so intense that I'm not sure if that is a better experience. But then later on packing it, recognizing that although it's intense and like birth is just, it should be intense. It is absolutely. It's insane. Unpacking that leader. I recognized that. It was the experience that every single doula client that I had worked with up until that point, they wanted to have that. All their goals were surrounding. Somebody trusting and allowing and supporting their body. To do the thing that it was meant to do. And it's just. Heartbreaking. To see. The disparity in those pieces. Yeah, it almost feels like there's a secret, right? That's like not being told to women or it's like, Just birth just gets so covered up that we don't really get to see, like, it can be so much, it can be so much more. Right. And so. I've had very similar experiences with doula clients, especially who were, and I'm, this is not to change. Anybody's Impression of their own. Birth. When they say that was. Incredible and the most amazing. I'm like, yes, of course it was. Yes. I would never say anything to like, shift to that for them, but in my mind, as I'm processing things, I'm like, Wow. The trajectory of how things played out was impacted by what other people were doing or saying, or policies that were in place or things that were rushed. And yes, that's so great for the setting that you were in. That, that outcome, the way they think things happened. Wonderful. But there is. Like you're saying. There, there is more there. And so You know, avoiding the idea of avoiding medication, that idea of being like, I want this UN or this unmedicated, this natural birth. That's like, it's a very good, very worthy goal. Absolutely. So if that's your goal, like yes, absolutely. You can work towards that. But what we saw right. When we were doulas and what we hear from women who come to us for a clinical care. What we see in our DMS on Instagram is that women are fighting for that particular thing. It's an uphill battle to simply avoid an intervention, to avoid medication within the medical model. Right. Which at the end of the day, if you're thinking about that, like my one goal is this I'm, I'm in a situation. Situation in which everything else is kind of pitted. At it against me in this, it really comes down. To this idea of what you were talking about this general philosophy. Sufi. Within a particular model within a particular space that you're choosing within a particular provider that is taking care of you. Like asking the question. What is the underlying belief then about birth? If this is the case, right? If, if the case is. It is hard to have an unmedicated birth in the hospital that feels empowering, but it doesn't feel like a fight. Then what are we walking into? Right. Like, What's the philosophy of birth that we are knowingly walking into. If that's the case. Yeah. And I know like there's like who gets to decide what's physiological? Where does that word come from? Who created the definition for that? I don't know. In my mind. It is what happens all by itself. When nobody intervenes. and 95 plus percent of the time that cascade. SCADE of normal birth event. Happens really well on its own and we can trust it. Without other like high-risk factors or other. Complications that. You know, coexisting within pregnancy or birth dynamic. We, we do have the opportunity to take our hands off and say, we're expecting this to. Well on its own, where areas that we can intervene in order to help the process along. Only if it contributes to it, what. It was already going to happen well on its own. And this excludes things like complications or. Things coming up that you're like, well, I trusted. The physiological process. Process and I was at nine and a half centimeters. For 14. Ours and what's that, you know, like, oh, we can get into that. Like some other point. But, but the huge, huge, vast majority of women. Do you have the opportunity to allow this to unfold well on its own and it. In some ways. That oversimplifies things and makes it seem like all you have. To do is. Just give birth at home with a midwife who doesn't mess with you. But usually that. Choice. Creates an opportunity for. The woman and her partner taking a whole lot more responsibility. Truly understanding and trusting what her body is meant to do. Supporting that in a really radical way, or at least radical in our current society right now with the standards that are surrounding birth in the way that we teach. Young girls. About, you know, Birth and motherhood, and it means reprogramming all of that. It means working throughout your whole pregnancy to like psychologically and emotionally engage in what is about to happen. It means educating yourself. And educating your partner about ho how are you going to respond when you come across some of the challenges like physical pain, like physical exhaustion, like. Some kind of complication that, you know, can potentially come up and finding a provider and a care setting that aligns with some of those pieces. So it's not going to mean the same thing for every single. Woman. Or how it gets played out. And I have seen. Physiological birth get completely wrecked. At home birth with midwives. So there's no good. There's no guarantees out there about how the outcome is going to be. We can only rely on the philosophy of it. Yeah. And this, it just brought up. The thing that's been happening on Instagram recently over the last couple of weeks has been like a few people have shared their birth. Videos and talked about like their, Our lived experience right. Of like, this is my birth and here's what I. Believe happened or here's what how it went down in my head and people have been. Commenting about like, oh yeah, well, they put their hands in so XYZ or that wasn't really a shoulder dystocia because it didn't have to be resolved in this particular way or whatever. And women being like, Yeah, but this is, this is my perception, right? My experience. And I think that that is a very helpful place to come from of like, we don't get to judge. What is, what for you in particular? And we don't even get to judge, like, maybe you don't want a physiological birth. Fine. Right? Maybe you don't want an unmedicated birth. I'm not really a hundred percent sure why you're listening to this episode. But helpful to look at all of your options and whatever it is that's right for you is right for you. But I think understanding. That underlying belief. Those are two very separate things that we're actually talking about there that underlying belief of unmedicated birth. Basically. Being an uphill battle in that place. Meaning birth should be something that's controlled, meaning. I feel better as a clinician or potentially even as, you know, a birthing mom who comes And says, like, I want to be in this place because it makes me feel better because I. Potentially. I'm not fully trove. Maybe I don't fully trust birth, or maybe I'm. You know, whatever. And so just to helpful recognition of like, there's. Two separate places that you can go with this and this whole other philosophy. That's more. It's just deeper than simply avoiding something, right. We're not just avoiding an intervention, really a deeper understanding. Ending of like what can happen? In birth again, when it is left. To its own devices. And left to this idea of a really undisturbed hormonal orchestra that happens. So. What is impacting? What, how is, you know, how has your adrenaline messing with this? What is your cortisol doing? What's your oxytocin, all of these pieces, how they all interact with each other and what can we do to support that? So that everything is You know, Playing their particular tune in a way that is actually going to Come out of you know, a beautiful song will come out of that versus. Something where it sounds like my fourth graders playing the recorder or something. Right. Like trying so hard, but not quite. Allowing the pieces to truly come together. It reminds me of a discussion that we had a little bit ago for the down to birth podcast, we were guests on their podcast. I don't know if this. That episode will have been out. By the time this airs, but if it was, we'll link it in the show notes, but we were just exploring with them this concept of like traditional midwifery and hands-off midwifery. And what does that look like? Like what did, what do you mean hands-off and this is a part of it. The philosophy. Sufi of, I'm not going to use my hands to try to influence what I think needs to happen next. I'm going to notice what's already happening well and support that. And then I'm going to use my hands. If we have to like have hands. Part of it, right. Two. To support it and to use my observation skills and to use. My again, philosophy about birth to incur. I encourage you and to create a more peaceful environment. When we encounter a woman who is having a very difficult time with her labor, whether it's her. Process of a normal labor. Or whether it's a very, you know, physically trying. Labor. We are always looking for how to support. Physiology inside of that. So in the medical model, they would be like, oh, well, you're having a very hard time. Let's give you pain medication. Let's help to move things along so that this hard time is. In shorter duration. The philosophy behind physiological birth is like, oh, you're exhausted. You're scared you have a sense of privacy that you're not getting. You have unmet needs. We need to figure out how to help you rest. We need to kick everybody out of the room. We need to feed you. We need to talk to you about how you're feeling. Those are the interventions we use in order to restore physiology or to help support physiology. And so it's, it's not apples to apples. There is not a whole lot of crossover that happens in these two. Specific lanes just because it's a whole different way of viewing birth and supporting birth. Yeah. And so if we're coming from it of this place of really trusting and intentional design,