EBB 375 - A Rainbow Baby and Preeclampsia Birth Story with Dr. Sara Ailshire and Dr. Siavash Samei

Evidence Based Birth®

Rebecca Dekker

Pregnancy, Health & Fitness, Childbirth, Parenting, Birth, Medicine, Kids & Family, Doula, Obstetrician, Midwife

4.6 • 978 Ratings

🗓️ 22 October 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Dr. Sara Ailshire, an anthropologist and Evidence Based Birth® Research Team member, and her husband, Dr. Siavash Samei, an environmental archaeologist, share the story of welcoming their rainbow baby after loss. In this episode, Sara and Siavash open up about navigating miscarriage care in the wake of changing abortion laws in Ohio, the anxiety and hope of pregnancy after loss, and Sara’s experience with developing preeclampsia near the end of her pregnancy. They describe how they worked with a supportive midwifery team, hired a doula for advocacy and comfort, and ultimately experienced an induction that honored their preferences for a low-intervention birth. Their story also sheds light on the realities of discrimination in healthcare, the importance of community support, and the resilience found in becoming parents after loss.

(01:58) Facing Miscarriage in Ohio and Barriers to Care

(07:35) Pregnancy After Loss: Anxiety, Detachment, and Hope

(13:04) Finding Midwifery Care in Kentucky and Planning a Low-Intervention Birth

(20:29) Preparing for Birth: Classes, Doulas, and Advocacy Concerns

(22:37) Early Signs of Preeclampsia and Navigating Blood Pressure Monitoring

(30:33) Deciding on Induction at 38 Weeks

(36:39) Laboring with Support and Moving Through Transition

(42:43) Birth of Ferdous and Unexpected Placenta Complications

(49:34) Advocacy, Microaggressions, and the Role of the Doula

(54:23) Advice for Expecting Parents: Finding Calm, Support, and Autonomy

Resources

Learn more about preeclampsia: www.preeclampsia.org

Miscarriage Care Instructions from Kaiser Permanente: healthy.kaiserpermanente.org

Dobbs-Era Abortion Restrictions and Miscarriage Care: kff.org

Navigating Miscarriage Management Post-Dobbs: whijournal.com

Emotional Coping After Miscarriage: americanpregnancy.org

An Account of a Miscarriage at Home: miscarriageassociation.org.uk

Supply List for a Miscarriage at Home: miscarriagematters.org.nz

Learn about the Jada System: organonpro.com

The Birthing Spa in Stanford, Kentucky: thebirthingspa.com

For more information about Evidence Based Birth® and a crash course on evidence based care, visit www.ebbirth.com. Follow us on Instagram and YouTube! Ready to learn more? Grab an EBB Podcast Listening Guide or read Dr. Dekker's book, "Babies Are Not Pizzas: They're Born, Not Delivered!" If you want to get involved at EBB, join our Professional membership (scholarship options available) and get on the wait list for our EBB Instructor program. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the EBB Childbirth Class.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi everyone. On today's podcast, we're going to talk with Dr. Sara Aleshaer and Dr. Ciavash
0:05.6	Samayi about their preeclampsia birth story.
0:12.8	Welcome to the evidence-based birth podcast. My name is Rebecca Decker, and I'm a nurse with my
0:18.0	Ph.D. and the founder of evidence-based birth.
0:26.3	Join me each week as we work together to get evidence-based information into the hands of families and professionals around the world.
0:29.3	As a reminder, this information is not medical advice.
0:32.8	See eBbirth.com slash disclaimer for more details.
0:38.5	Hi, everyone, and welcome to today's episode of the evidence-based birth podcast.
0:43.2	Today I am so excited to welcome two guests who are going to share their birth story
0:47.9	and talk about preeclampsia and how they went through that experience.
0:52.9	Dr. Sara Aleshire is a research team member here at Evidence-based Birth,
0:56.7	and she recently completed her Ph.D. in anthropology.
1:00.9	Dr. Aleshire's research focuses on birth professionals, including doulas,
1:05.5	and reproductive rights in India.
1:08.4	Dr. Syavash Samay is an Iranian environmental archaeologist who studies the relationship
1:14.2	between climate, environment, and herding and foraging societies in the mountainous landscapes of
1:19.7	West and South Asia from the Paleolithic to the present day. Sara and Siavash live in
1:25.8	Central Kentucky and are the proud parents of their daughter,
1:29.1	Ferdos. Ferdos is 15 months old, loves her cat, and enjoys making her parents clap on command.
1:36.3	Sarah and Sivash, welcome to the Evidence-based Birth Podcast. Hi, you're here. Thank you. Having us.
1:41.6	Before we get into your birth story, I know that Ferdos was your rainbow baby, meaning
1:48.3	you were pregnant with her after a prior pregnancy loss, Sarah.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Rebecca Dekker, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Rebecca Dekker and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.