Shows / Birth Stories Mzansi
Birth Stories Mzansi
Creating positive birthing experiences in South Africa through story sharing and collective wisdom. Prepare, heal, share, or learn, this collection of honest, unfiltered birthing stories will have something for everyone going through preparing to conceive, pregnancy, breastfeeding and the post-partum. Hosted by Dr CC Verster, each episode takes us through one woman's journey to motherhood.
Episodes
Birth Stories MzansiCherize: Elective Caesarian Section, Hyperemesis Gravidarum (excessive nausea), Small age gaps, Step by Step through CS and Spinal block,
Cherize Vermaak (a.k.a Mammas Mag Moan) joins me to talk through her personal account of pregnancy and being mom to three under three! Cherize's journey to…
Birth Stories MzansiNina: Home birth, positive birth, birth preparation, working as a doula.
Nina Spears talks us through her two vaginal home births and how her experience in attending over 300 births as a doula shaped her own birth preparation and…
Birth Stories MzansiBianca Part 2: Home water birth, learning to trust your body after loss, healing birth anxiety, TFMR and advocacy, incompatible with life diagnosis
Bianca completes her beautiful story in Part 2. Her reflection includes the healing process of having a home water birth and comparing this experience to her…
Birth Stories MzansiBianca Part 1: termination of pregnancy, miscarriage, unmedicated vaginal birth, rainbow baby.
"Parenting after loss comes with anxiety I didn't ask for and joy I didn't know I'd get to have." -Bianca Johnson In today's episode I sit down with Bianca…
Birth Stories MzansiAmy Glynn part 2: Spontaneous conception during IVF, Difficult breastfeeding, mastitis, C/S, NICU, GBS infection, Blood transfusion, Cardiac arrest, Adjusting to Mom life
This is part 2 of Amy’s story. In this honest, thrilling account of unexpected turns on her road to becoming a mother again, Amy lays out what it took. After a…
Birth Stories MzansiAmy Glynn Part 1: IVF step by step, Miscarriage, Loss of Twin in Utero, CPAM lung growth, Grief-joy tension, Induction, Bonding after birth trauma
Amy shares her journey to motherhood through her first pregnancy and caesarian section after induction at 38 weeks. This story is deep, honest and contains a…
Birth Stories MzansiMatrescence: what EVERY mother should know
You weren't just having a baby. You were becoming someone new. What if the hardest part of motherhood isn't the sleepless nights... but the fact that no one…
Birth Stories MzansiAnea: working mother, 2 caesarians, pregnancy weight gain,Infant epilepsy, west syndrome, Service dog, Positivity in adversity
Anea shares her journey to motherhood, and the process of finding out that her second child has West Sydrome (a rare form of infantile epilepsy). She talks…
Birth Stories MzansiAnne: Pregnancy termination for medical reasons, PCOS, grief, miscarriage, healing after loss, caesarian section, Vacterl syndrome
Anne's story shares the depth of a lived experience through pregnancy loss that you may never before have heard so openly shared. Anne takes us through her…
Birth Stories MzansiIlse: IVF, Age disparity in parents, Gestational diabetes, caesarian section and setting family boundaries
Ilse takes us through discovering that they would need an assisted fertility route, the route itself, and deciding to stop trying. She then takes us through…
Birth Stories MzansiSam: miscarriage, waterbirth, vaginal birth, Midwife care, positive birth
In this beautiful story Sam shares her journey to motherhood. She takes us through an unexpected pregnancy loss, and her subsequent pregnancy. Sam elected to…
Birth Stories MzansiNomzamo: Unplanned pregnancy, single parenting, breech, VBAC, state care
Nomzamo is a mom of two. In this episode she opens up to us about her journey to motherhood and raising two children as a single mom. She walks us though her…
Birth Stories MzansiJess: un-medicated vaginal delivery, private care with Doula, extended delay in cord clamping
In today's episode Jess takes us through waiting to fall pregnant, battling pregnancy symptoms, and mapping out her birth plan for an un-medicated vaginal…
Birth Stories MzansiDanelle: Unplanned caesarian section, Sensitive Caesarian section,Pre-eclampsia, Prematurity, NICU, reframing birth trauma
This episode is a must! Danelle is a Midwife and nursing educator. She takes us through her birthing experiences; where book knowledge became wisdom through…
Birth Stories MzansiElbé: 3 Vaginal Births, Faith Journey, ECV, Trisomy 21, Water Birth
Elbé passionately takes us through her experience of three vaginal births. One in Australia, one in a private hospital in South Africa, and the third - the…
Birth Stories MzansiMarie: Fertility treatment, three vaginal births in hospital, forceps, epidural
In this honest account, Marie takes us through waiting to conceive and her three subsequent pregnancies and deliveries. We touch on her experience with…
Birth Stories MzansiQueen 2 natural births, state care, amniocentesis, cleft palate
In this episode I chat with Queen, a medical doctor and Mom of three. She takes us through her first two pregnancies and natural births while still a medical…
Birth Stories MzansiAmy: Planned caesarian, baby blues, Mom life balance
In this episode, I chat with Dr Amy Berlyn. She takes us through her pregnancy and planned caesarian section at term. We delve deeper into the emotions…