#418: What Zookeepers Know & Obstetricians Have Forgotten: A Conversation with Author Milli Hill
Birthing Instincts
Dr. Stuart Fischbein + Midwife Blyss Young
4.5 • 631 Ratings
🗓️ 18 June 2025
⏱️ 92 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this edition of The Birthing Instincts podcast, Dr. Stu hosts an enlightening discussion with guest Millie Hill, a renowned writer and feminist advocate. Millie, the author of 'The Positive Birth Book' and 'Birth Like a Feminist,' shares her journey from a drama therapist to a prolific writer on childbirth and women's health. The conversation delves into the significance of positive birth experiences, the impact of fear in childbirth, and the influence of language and cultural norms on maternal care.
About Milli:
Milli Hill is a writer and freelance journalist with a passion for reframing the narrative around women’s bodies. She is the author of the bestselling Positive Birth Book (2017), Give Birth like a Feminist (2019) and My Period (2021, for preteen girls). Her fourth book, Ultra Processed Women, will be published by Harper Collins in July 2025, with a fifth book to follow in 2026. To date, her books have been translated into seven languages.
From 2012 to 2021 she founded and ran the Positive Birth Movement, a global network of antenatal discussion groups aimed at improving birth and giving women better access to support and information.
Milli has spoken nationally and internationally about positive birth, obstetric violence and female autonomy in health. As a journalist since 2013 she has been a columnist for the Telegraph women’s section and written for many publications including Mail, Guardian, Independent, ipaper and Mother&Baby, and has appeared on BBC Breakfast news, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 2, BBC 5 Live, talkradio, LBC and many leading podcasts.
She writes a bestselling substack about women’s health, feminism, and issues around sex and gender including the erasure of women from language.
Milli lives in Somerset, UK with her partner, three children and two dogs.
Instagram: @milli.hill
Website: www.millihill.co.uk
Substack: substack.com/@millihill
Resources
Stu’s 3 minute reel on Overuse of Colorflow Doppler
Milli’s books:
Give Birth Like a Feminist: Your body. Your baby. Your choices.
My Period: Find your flow and feel proud of your period!
The Positive Birth Book: The Guide to Pregnancy, Birth and the Early Weeks
In This Episode
Rising Intervention Rates in Birth
The Ideological Battle: Safety vs. Experience
Feminism and Childbirth: A Complex Relationship
The Power of Language in Maternity Care
Pandemic's Impact on Birth Practices
Empowering Women Through Knowledge
Millie Hill's Books and Future Projects
This show is supported by
- Restorative Roots | Go to https://restorativemeals.com/ code BIRTHINGINSTINCTS for 10% off weekly meal plans.
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- BIRTHFIT | Go to birthfit.com and use the code INSTINCTS for 20% off any fitness program.
- Birth Sling | Go to https://thebirthsling.com/ code INSTINCTS for 10% off your sling.
- Pique Life| Go to https://piquelife.com/birthing to get 10% off for life on Pique's Herbal Teas!
Connect with Dr. Stu and Blyss
- Join our Patreon! patreon.com/birthinginstinctspodcast
- Instagram: @birthinginstincts/@birthingblyss
- Website: birthinginstincts.com/birthingblyss.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Podcast webpage: birthinginstinctspodcast.com
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Burling Instincts Podcast. |
| 0:05.0 | I'm Dr. Stewart Fishbein, community-based practicing obstetrician and long-time advocate for birth choices. |
| 0:10.0 | And I'm Bliss Young, a licensed midwife. |
| 0:13.0 | Join us in our conversational style podcast where we talk about everything birth. |
| 0:17.0 | Sometimes we laugh, sometimes we cry, but we're happy that you're here. So here we go. |
| 0:23.9 | Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, and good middle of night, fellow travelers. |
| 0:28.4 | Welcome to another edition of the Burthing Instinct podcast. |
| 0:31.4 | It's just me today. |
| 0:33.2 | Bliss has been extremely busy with her bridge midwives project, |
| 0:35.8 | and I'm really excited for that to make its debut soon um i wanted to just uh catch people up on some of the current |
| 0:45.0 | podcasts that are out recently the one that came out with monochorionic twins i did a follow up on that |
| 0:51.2 | on our patreon uh community so if you haven't already joined that, |
| 0:57.3 | consider looking into that. |
| 0:59.9 | And I did a three-minute reel on Color Doppler Flow, which is way overused in twin pregnancies. |
| 1:07.6 | I will state that categorically and debate with any true MFM who wants to come on the show. |
| 1:15.8 | So that's the most recent podcast that came out while we're recording this one. |
| 1:23.3 | And I hope you like it. |
| 1:24.7 | Our guest today preview, just a quick preview, for too long, women have been told a healthy baby is all that matters. |
| 1:31.9 | Our guest today is Millie Hill, author of multiple books, and she dares to say that women matter too. |
| 1:38.7 | Millie is a prolific writer, author, and Substack writer as well. And I'm very excited to talk with her coming up in just a few |
| 1:46.0 | minutes. But before I do that, as usual, I have some things to clear from my mind attic. |
| 1:52.0 | And the first one is exciting for me because it's a positive birth story from a obstetrician of all |
... |
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