Shows / Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Is there anything more magical than a new life arriving into this world? Every single person, no matter who they are, begins their life here the same way - with someone giving birth to them.
It's no wonder we love birth stories - birth is an amazing feat. And beyond the wonder of it all, birth stories have served an important role in history, helping to educate and support women as they embark on their own births.
At some point though, birth started being portrayed to us mostly one way -…
Episodes
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
How to have a safe Pitocin induction, elective C-sections, and “learn before labor”
This week, Merelise is joined by Gina Mundy, a mom, childbirth attorney, podcast host, and author of a Parent’s Guide to Safer Childbirth. Gina shares her…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
A joyful hospital birth, the mothering gene, one and done, and postpartum depression + anxiety
Trigger warning: this episode contains brief reference to fetal loss. This week, Merelise is joined by mom, attorney and host of the How Do I Do This? podcast…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Three kids under three and a half, pelvic floor PT, big babies, and breastfeeding
This week, Merelise is joined by her friend, mom and fellow podcaster, Katie Kennedy. Katie, who is just three months postpartum with her third, shares her…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Replay: A successful VBAC, an Aussie birth perspective, obstructed labor & episiotomy complications
This week, Merelise is joined by her friend, fellow podcast host and Australian “twin”, Clare Hambridge. Clare shares the birth stories of her son and daughter…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
A midwife doula, a C-section, the UK midwifery model of care, and protecting birthing women
Trigger warning: this episode contains brief reference to fetal loss. In this episode, Merelise is joined by Charmaine McNeil, a UK-trained midwife and doula…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
A birth center birth, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a retroverted uterus, and a bifurcated placenta
Trigger warning: this episode contains brief discussion of pregnancy loss. This week, Merelise is joined by her friend Dr. Charlie Watts, mom, doula and pelvic…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
A great induction, becoming a mom at 40, polyhydramnios, and a 99th percentile baby
This week, Merelise is joined by mom, entrepreneur, writer, speaker and wellness expert, Chinae Alexander. Chinae walks Merelise through her planned induction…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
The Positive Birth Movement, a 10 pound baby born at home, water births, and the matriflux
Merelise is joined this week by Milli Hill, mother, author and founder of The Positive Birth Movement. Milli shares how her birth experiences were inextricably…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Two hospital births, welcoming the unknown, escaping the Woolsey fire postpartum, and accepting help
This week, Merelise is joined by her friend, photographer and director, Kathryn Brolin. Kathryn reflects on her experience giving birth to her two girls and…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Unmedicated hospital birth, grief during pregnancy, firing a doula, and the fetal ejection reflex
In this week’s episode, Merelise invites her husband, Chris Wilson, back into the spotlight to share their experiences surrounding the birth of their second…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Positive breech vaginal hospital delivery, true surrender, bonding struggles, and the “midwife OB”
This week, Merelise is joined by Ellie, who shares the story of her successful breech, vaginal delivery in a hospital. Ellie walks Merelise through the shock…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
A breech VBAC, autism, surrogacy, home birth, spirit babies, and a magical medium mama
Trigger Warning - this episode includes discussion on pregnancy loss. Buckle up, listeners, you’re in for a packed episode! In this episode, Merelise is joined…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
PCOS, false alarms, COVID babies, and three hospital births
Merelise is joined this week by her friend, Melanie Green, who shares her three birth stories. Melanie walks Merelise through her three births, which all took…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
A home birth VBAC, a midwife mama, community birth, and opening a birth center
This week, Merelise is joined by mom, grandma, midwife, doula, lactation consultant, and co founder/owner of Kindred Space Birthing Center. A mom of six and an…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Part II: A dreamy home birth, an AirBnB birth, Isoimmunization, and posterior baby challenges
In the conclusion of this two-part episode, Merelise is joined by mom, actress, podcast host and founder, Teresa Palmer, who shares her fourth and fifth birth…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Part I: A home birth transfer, a 72 hour labor, breath work, and birthing with your sisterhood
In Part I of a two part series, Merelise Wilson sits down with mother, actress, podcast host and founder, Teresa Palmer, for a powerful conversation about…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Vaginal twin delivery, four under three, an unexpected C-section, and an OBGYN mom
Join Merelise as she interviews her friend Jessica O'Connor, an OB specializing in fertility, to explore her journey through a twin pregnancy, two subsequent…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Replay: An ideal vaginal birth with a singleton, followed by a C-section birth with twins
Join Merelise and her guest, Karen Robbins, who shares the birth stories of her three girls, one singleton and one set of twins. They discuss Karen’s first…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Positive birth, a fourth degree tear, epidural limbo, surprise genders, and advocating for your body
This week, Merelise is joined by her friend, Whitney Byerly, who shares her three beautiful birth stories. They also chat about drive through pregnancy…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
The dance of labor, separation trauma, hypnobirthing and the beauty of a postpartum doula
This week, Merelise is joined by mom, actress and postpartum doula, Sarah Morris Brower. Sarah opens up about postpartum healing, the vital role of postpartum…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Soft birth, prenatal depression, and revolutionizing maternal health care
Trigger Warning: This episode discusses pregnancy loss. In this week’s episode, Nicole Connell, mama and founder of Mère, shares her raw journey through…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
11 pound babies, shoulder dystocia, cervical swelling, trusting your body, and joyful birth
Trigger warning: this episode discusses pregnancy loss. This week, Merelise is joined by mom, actress, podcast host, author and so much more, Sarah Wright…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Two hospital births, a home birth, PROM, becoming a doula and the importance of choosing a care team
Merelise is joined this week by Ann Morris, a mama, doula and childbirth educator. Ann shares her three birth stories, which include two unmedicated hospital…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Replay: An emergency C-section, a miraculous birth, maternal mental health, and naming babies
This week, Merelise is joined by model and mom, Baskin Champion McFarland, who shares the miraculous story of her son’s birth via emergency C-section. Baskin…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
A breech baby, a crash C-section, fourth trimester guilt, and finding your village
Merelise is joined this week by Shannon Howell for a conversation on all "the things they don't tell you" about birth, seasons of life, fourth trimester guilt…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Navigating deep grief with a newborn, a 52 hour induction, and finding love again after loss
This episode is a candid, deeply emotional look into the realities of motherhood, trauma, and hope. Listener discretion advised for sensitive content involving…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Two birth center births, precipitous labor, and optimizing your birth experience
This week, Merelise is joined by Kait Swafford, who shares her two amazing birth experiences at the Atlanta Birth Center. From the moment she became pregnant…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
A bicornuate uterus, uterine irritability, and navigating pregnancy after fetal loss
Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussion of fetal loss and miscarriage. Merelise’s guest this week is Carolyn Donaldson, who shares her experience…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
A successful VBAC, an Aussie birth perspective, obstructed labor, and episiotomy complications
This week, Merelise is joined by her friend, fellow podcast host and Australian “twin”, Clare Hambridge. Clare shares the birth stories of her son and daughter…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Finding purpose after tragedy and the fight to end the maternal mortality crisis
This week’s episode is a heavy one. But this podcast was created to be a space for every type of birth story: the miraculous, the devastating, and everything…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Replay: Gestational diabetes, precipitous labor and the power of saying no
Join Merelise and her guest, Alexi, this week, as they discuss Alexi’s three vaginal births in the hospital. This episode has it all - one birth with an…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
NICU life with triplets, appreciating your scars, PTSD, and supporting friends in hard times
Join Merelise and triplet mom, Mindy Zeh, for Part II of their conversation. Make sure to listen to the end for a special guest (x3) appearance! Part I ended…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Triplets, HELLP Syndrome, framily, and controlling the control-ables
Join Merelise and her dear friend and triplet mom, Mindy Zeh, for Part I of their conversation where they discuss navigating pregnancy with multiples and all…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Low intervention hospital birth, the power of pelvic floor PT & the importance of birth “prehab”
Merelise is joined this week by Dr. Amy Meehan, who is a mom, entrepreneur and physical therapist specializing in women’s health, with an emphasis on pelvic…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
A birth center transfer, epic back labor, epidural failure, boundaries, and trusting your gut
This week Merelise is joined by her friend and Clover by CLOVE + HALLOW founder and CEO, Sarah Biggers Stewart. Sarah really wanted a low intervention birth…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Two hospital births, a wonderful induction, and a healing birth experience
Trigger Warning: This episode discusses pregnancy loss. Merelise is joined this week by founder + owner of Sculpthouse fitness studio, Katherine Mason Beasley…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Three home births, painless birth, the mind-body connection, and chiropractic care in pregnancy
This week, Merelise is joined by chiropractor and mama, Dr. Rachel Stockwell, who shares the incredible stories of her three, beautiful water births at home…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
A due-date baby, raising good humans, working mom struggles, and the myth of having it all
This week, Merelise is joined by her friend and former colleague, Kiersten Saunders of rich and REGULAR. Kiersten shares the birth story of her son, Beau, one…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
An emergency C-section, a miraculous birth, maternal mental health, and naming babies
This week, Merelise is joined by model and mom, Baskin Champion McFarland, who shares the miraculous story of her son’s birth via emergency C-section. Baskin…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
A surprise unmedicated birth, breech release options, signs, and surrendering to the process
Join Merelise and her guest, Meg, as they delve into Meg’s two vaginal birth experiences, with an extra special guest appearance from Aubrey, Meg’s 10 week old…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
An unplanned C-section, C-section guilt, and celebrating the positives of a planned C-Section
This week, Merelise is joined by her friend, Davis, who shares the stories of her two sons' births. Her first son was born via unplanned C-section after Davis…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
An unplanned, solo, home birth and finding the beauty in every type of birth experience
Join Merelise and her guest, Alison, who shares her two VERY different birth experiences. In this moving episode, Alison details what happens when the best…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Two C-sections in the eighties, the importance of a postpartum doula and changing birth trends
This week, postpartum doula, Penny Gilchrist, joins Merelise to not only tell her two birth stories, but to talk about the importance of the postpartum doula…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
A redemptive home birth after three hospital births, a surprise pregnancy, and taking back control
This week, Merelise is joined by Jessica, who shares her four birth experiences. Jessica’s first three birth experiences in a hospital left much to be desired…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Ectopic pregnancy, high-risk pregnancy characterized by preeclampsia, and a C-section preemie
In this episode, Merelise and her guest, Leah, dive deep into the world of preeclampsia and high risk pregnancy. Leah’s journey to motherhood was complex and…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
A successful induction, two very different labors, and an enema PSA
Just like during birth, all modesty is out the window in this episode! Join Merelise and her sister-in-law, Abby, as they reminisce on the birth of Abby’s two…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Gestational diabetes, precipitous labor and the power of saying no
Join Merelise and her guest, Alexi, this week as they discuss Alexi’s three vaginal births in the hospital. This episode has it all - one birth with an…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Low platelet count, preeclampsia, laboring down and advocating for your pain management
Join Merelise and her guest, Courtney, as they discuss Courtney's first birth, which started with a Foley bulb + Cytotec induction. Her birth story has quite a…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Three straightforward, vaginal births in hospital, surprise genders, and big baby fears
Join Merelise and her guest, Heather, who shares the birth stories of her three boys, all born vaginally in uncomplicated, peaceful, hospital births. If these…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
An ideal vaginal birth with a singleton, followed by a C-section birth with twins
Join Merelise and her guest, Karen, who shares the birth stories of her three girls, one singleton and one set of twins. They discuss Karen’s first birth, a…
- Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast
Positive birth, a hospital birth without an epidural, and a doula husband
Join Merelise in the debut episode of Arrivals! She discusses her path to choosing an unmedicated hospital birth, going past her due date, induction fears…