Pregnancy Birth & Beyond where stories, science, traditions and new ideas meet. We work and live on Bundjalung Country, Australia.
Visit us at www.pbbmedia.org (http://www.pbbmedia.org)
Standing up for Home Birth - yet again with Katelyn Commerford
Host Sally Cusack interviews Katelyn Commerford, President of Homebirth NSW, about new regulations threatening home birth access and how listeners can advocate for change.
6 Jan 2026
Reaping the rewards of deep preparation with Oni Blecher
Oni Blecher spent twelve years preparing for motherhood from the moment she witnessed one of her sisters giving birth. This event led her into exploring the many facets of women's work, in particular birth, where she served as a doula, and maternity services advocate, facilitator of the Earthed to Birth pregnancy and postpartum circle, presenter for this podcast, commenced training as a midwife and practising as a cranio sacral therapist.
This deep preparation is rare in these times where many women begin their preparation when they fall pregnant.
This is a follow up interview with Oni after an initial interview when she was 35 weeks pregnant with her first child. The first interview with Oni prior to her birth can be found here: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-most-intentional-pregnancy-with-oni-blecher--68549829
Now 18 weeks postpartum, Sally follows up with Oni who takes us through the last weeks of her pregnancy, her labour, birth and post partum period. In particular we hear about:
the impacts of having a big belly and contending with people's comments about it
how that shook her confidence in the last weeks
how she regained her confidence prior to going into labour
letting go of wanting the baby the come and just letting him choose the right time
thanking her baby in early labour for the life changing experience of growing him and acknowledging their next journey together through the rite of passage of birth
how in spite of being at 41 weeks' gestation, she couldn't quite believe that she was really in labour
labour coping strategies (e.g., not saying 'No', insteading saying 'Yes' to contractions)
birthing the baby in the water
birthing the placenta
her newborn's breast crawl
post partum support
claiming the success of her birth as being in large part due to all her preparation, leaving no stone unturned
what she would do differently next time
tips for expectant mums
Enjoy the many nuggets of golden wisdom Oni has to share for other mothers embarking on their journey.
Also mentioned: Best Birth Finder for reviews of birth services www.bestbirthfinder.org.au
Links:
www.oniblecher.com
Instagram @earthedtobirth
Produced and presented by Sally Cusack
Guest: Oni Blecher
Copyright 2026 PBB Media and Sally Cusack
All rights reserved.
www.pbbmedia.org
22 Dec 2025
At the threshold of birthing twins - again with Leila Armour
Leila Armour is the Founder of Village for Mama, a project for bridging the gap in postpartum care by fostering a supportive and nourishing community for new mothers.
In this episode Leila, so very generously shares her experiences of not one, but two twin pregnancies in the 40th week of her second twin pregnancy. We hear how she navigated the complexities of navigating the maternity care system to get the level of care she wanted when birthing her first twins, while also managing to avoid the interventions she didn't want. We explore the narratives surrounding twin pregnancies and how they're "usually" shorter and what Leila has found to be closer to the truth in her experience. We also hear of her recommendations for postpartum with twins, importantly ensuring there's plenty of support for older children so a deep, deep dive into learning about the unique needs of two different newborns, who will want and need very different things.
Leila also has a twin pregnancy and birth guide that she's very happy to share if you message her from her Instagram account. The other resources she mentions that come with her twin pregnancy guide are a reference to the book the Holistic Guide to Twin Pregnancy, which helped inform her about the various types of twin pregnancy, as well as this episode of the Great Rebellion Podcast with Dr Stuart Fischbein: https://www.melaniethemidwife.com/podcasts/the-great-birth-rebellion/episodes/2148000895.
Leila can be found at @villageformama on Instagram and www.villageformama.com.
Image credit: @bennicreative
Copyright 2025 PBB Media and Sally Cusack
All rights reserved.
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