Surrendered Birth Stories

I’ve heard of many moms who plan an unmediated hospital birth for their first, and then some who even plan a birth center birth for their first, and then the handful of moms who plan a home birth for their first, but it’s rare I find somebody who plans a free birth for their first. While Miriam’s heart started in the right place, as the planned free birth inched closer, so did her pride. And she would be humbled. Her first birth wa...

For your first birth, you end up having an elective induction that goes relatively smoothly with a very strong epidural and no major complications, other than a huge headache that was able to be resolved, albeit in a strange manner. Why then, would you choose to do it differently the next time? For Emma, she was blessed to be able to experience a pain-free natural birth with her second delivery when she chose to go to a different l...

The Lord is always speaking…if only we will listen. As Ariana took the journey of having five kids in eight years, God taught her so many incredibly valuable lessons. By the time she had her fourth, His voice was so clear and her trust in Him was so strong that He gave her the birth she never even knew she wanted. But He knew. Just because we’re obedient to God in one season though, doesn’t make it easy when He tells us to do somet...

Listen in as I share three different stories from my time as a doula, starting all the way back to my first year over a decade ago. Today you’ll hear how I had the honor of being the eyes in the room for a blind mother as she met her baby for the first time, how I had two first time mom clients go into labor at the same time, and at the same hospital, but who ended up having two very different experiences. And lastly, how I had to ...

Have you ever tried to do something alone, when you knew God designed you to do it in community? Christine was looking for like-minded friends during her third pregnancy that she could be in deep relationship with, and God answered her prayers. So much so, He even gave her a doula through one of those friends, and thank Him that He did, for she was the calming presence Christine would need during her overwhelmingly fast, precipitou...

When you've been trying to conceive for months, and then you finally do, you think you’d be grateful for every part of pregnancy. But that’s rarely the case for a mom with Hyperemisis Gravardarium, also known as HG. When HG hit hard for Alexandria, not only did she lose a massive amount of weight in a short amount of time, but she lost her faith too. If God was a good God, why didn’t He take this thorn from her side? To top it...

When your first labor is faster than lightning, what can you expect for your second? Well, apparently the same! Erin goes against the norm with her birth stories as you’ll hear today. She only full realized she was in labor for about fifteen minutes before she was holding her baby in her arms. She was physically alone, other than her toddler who was right next to her, but God had fully prepared her for this situation and was right ...

We’re told first labors can be long, and on average, the first labor left undisturbed is roughly 25 hours long, but can you mentally prepare yourself for a 70 hour labor? That was Mary Kathryn’s experience, and I know it’s been the experience of many other first time moms out there. Making sure you have a solid care team around you from your husband to your doula to your midwife can make such a huge difference in your experiences a...

I asked and you answered! To celebrate our 100th episode, we are running through 100 quick tips for pregnancy, labor, postpartum and breastfeeding! Some of these you may have heard before, and some of them may be brand new to you. Whether you're pregnant or know somebody who is, please share this episode and spread the news about Surrendered Birth Stories' 100th episode milestone!

• Interested in sharing your story o...

When you’re told you need to be done having kids by the time you're 25, that can feel like a lot of pressure, especially when you haven’t even gotten married yet, but trusting God and His plans always surpasses trusting in the world. On top of that, when your experience in pregnancy and birth doesn’t go anything like you had planned, prepared for, hoped or prayed for, it can seem like your world is toppling, but perspective ma...

Not many couples these days aim to get pregnant as soon as possible after marriage, but Matalin and Shane aren’t your average couple. With the understanding that children are blessings from God and wanting to have many of them, they were blessed to conceive on their honeymoon and start their family immediately. While that part of their plan worked out, the birth is a slightly different story. Be inspired by Mattie’s perseverance th...

When you have a copper IUD in place, you don’t expect to get a positive pregnancy test. But, at 16 weeks along, that’s just what happened for Mary and her husband! The surprise you must feel at news like that, being told you’re four months pregnant, but also the peace you can feel knowing it was obviously God ordained! And then God blessed her with an easy pregnancy and delivery as well! Not every first-time mom births in a hospita...

When your first two birth experiences are filled with lots of prodromal labor and a very slow going dilation process, you should expect the same for your third, right? Wrong! Often third babies are called “wild cards” for a reason, they typically are different from your first couple of times, and that was very much the case this time for Cayla. Hear her and Joel recount the birth story of their third born, and every twist and turn ...

In this heartfelt and insightful Father's Day episode, Kayla chats with a very special guest (her husband, Chris!) for a candid conversation about the power of having a family vision. Together, they explore how setting intentional vision direction as a family can foster deeper connection, clarity, and unity towards building the Kingdom of God TOGETHER.

Kayla and Christopher share personal stories from their own journey, offer p...

When you’ve had three medicated births that all went more or less smoothly, why on earth would you decide on an unmedicated birth for your fourth? Today Kelsie will share with us her four birth stories, all of which have lessons of their own, but she was amazed to see the difference having an unmedicated birth had in not only her reliance on the Lord, but on her relationship with her husband, and how well she felt physically after ...

Society says to wait to have children until after you’ve been married for awhile…but what does God say? When Amanda and Desert asked God what His will was for their family, He quickly placed twins in Amanda’s womb. And oh what a journey it would be! Amanda knew she wanted to have a vaginal and unmedicated birth, just like God had designed her body to, but she had to fight with her doctor from her first appointment all the way throu...

Starting out in marriage, you think you know the plans you have for yourself, but what does God have to say about it? Kelsey and her husband had planned on fostering and adopting to grow their family, but after God told her to give up control, they became pregnant quickly. And after each baby, Kelsey would have been done, but God’s plans reign supreme. Between moving states and homes with each pregnancy, having really good support ...

Going into your first labor and delivery, when all of the women around you have had vaginal births, it’s easy to assume that you will too. But when Joselyn and her husband were told to have an induction for borderline low amniotic fluid levels, they did not imagine it would end in a C-section. For her second baby, learning that she was a great candidate for a VBAC, she switched practices and prepared in every way that she could to ...

Instead of telling you what this episode is about...you'll have to listen in! But we've got a surprise in today's episode, so don't miss it!

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