Welcome to the Free Birth Podcast, a supportive space for people who are learning, exploring, and celebrating their autonomous choices in childbirth. exploring and

exploring their autonomous choices in childbirth. Together, we'll unpack truths, share personal stories,

and claim our ability to birth freely and intuitively.

Here's your host, Emily Sal day. Today we have Melinda from Wyoming. After two midwife assisted births, Melinda free-birthed her

third in the privacy of her home with her family

surrounding her. From her husband missing her first birth to driving six hours

round-trip to her midwife's office with her second to free birthing her third.

Melinda shares how liberating it was to experience her third pregnancy being the one in

charge. Hi Melinda. Hi Melinda. Hi welcome to the Free Birth

podcast. I'm happy to have you here. Thank you for taking the time.

I'm really excited to share my stories with you.

Why don't you go ahead and just give a little quick introduction about your mothering history.

Okay. I have currently have three children. My oldest is four. My next child is a son and he will be three next month and then an 18 month old and I'm

pregnant with our fort.

And I've always been interested in homeworth.

I grew up in a church really that had a lot of moms who did

home birth all midwife assisted births so it was all very normal that it just

grew up I grew up with that as being a normal option like an option that was considered to be safe to be something that normal women did it wasn't like seen as really far out there or weird.

So I've always had that as part of my background.

And actually when I met my husband, I pretty much

told him, if we're going to be together,

you have to know, I'm not having my babies in the hospital unless there's a major

...