#329 | Doula Confessions: Bearing Witness to Birth and Broken Systems

Down to Birth

Cynthia Overgard & Trisha Ludwig

Pregnancy, Childbirth, Postpartum, Midwives, Alternative Health, Home Birth, Society & Culture, Newborn, Documentary, Hypnobirthing, Kids & Family, Health & Fitness, Breastfeeding, Pregnant, Birth, Maternity, Motherhood

4.8 • 586 Ratings

🗓️ 13 August 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Doulas play a critical role in supporting women through childbirth—but their work is anything but easy, and their work isn't for the faint of heart. Many face disrespect from providers and routinely witness coercion, misinformation, and violations of informed consent. Even with their deep commitment to the women they serve, doulas often feel powerless in the face of hospital systems driven by profit and control. Still, many doulas are called to this work—and despite everything, they continue ...

Transcript

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0:00.0	Doolas are very valuable because they are an objective set of eyes and ears into the industry,
0:07.4	and I think we can learn so much from them.
0:09.7	Hi, Tricia, and Cynthia.
0:11.4	This is Lauren.
0:12.7	I am a doula here in Knoxville, Tennessee.
0:16.0	My name is Megan Rizica.
0:17.7	I am the owner of Mindful Faces Dula support and I just wanted to share...
0:24.6	Hi, Cynthia and Chisha. My name is Danielle and I'm a doula and I wanted to share about a birth story that I witnessed a few years ago.
0:31.2	The OB comes in and really started harassing her and in the end told her if you don't let me put in this
0:38.6	saling lock you can go birth your baby out in the parking lot so here we are on one hand saying
0:44.5	that we're going to exsanguinate a baby if we leave the cord intact too long because the baby is
0:49.3	going to the blood is going to drain out of the baby back into the placenta and in the other hand
0:54.1	we're saying they're going to get too much blood and their heart's going to stop because their blood's going to drain out of the baby back into the placenta. On the other hand, we're saying they're going to get too much blood,
0:56.3	and your heart's going to stop because their body's going to be overflowing with blood.
1:00.8	I ain't just so ridiculous.
1:02.8	I mean, come on.
1:05.1	I'm Cynthia Overgard, owner of Hypnoborthing of Connecticut,
1:08.4	childbirth advocate, and postpartum support specialist.
1:11.9	And I'm Tresha Ludwig, certified nurse midwife and international board certified lactation consultant.
1:18.0	And this is the down-to-birth podcast.
1:22.7	Childbirth is something we're made to do, but how do we have our safest and most satisfying experience in
1:28.2	today's medical culture? Let's dispel the myths and get down to birth.
	...

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