The Birth Keepers: I choose this – episode one

Today in Focus

The Guardian

News, Daily News

4.6 • 5.7K Ratings

🗓️ 29 December 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Free Birth Society (FBS) was selling pregnant women a simple message. They could exit the medical system and take back their power: by free birthing. But Nicole Garrison believes FBS ideology nearly cost her her life. This is episode one of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is The Guardian.
0:03.5	Hi, it's Helen here. Today in Focus is taking a little Christmas breaks that we can recharge
0:12.3	our batteries ready for 2026. While we're off, we're bringing you the latest series of Guardian
0:17.7	Investigates. It's presented by reporters Shirin Kala and Lucy Osborne,
0:22.4	and it tells the story of how two influencers made millions radicalising pregnant women around the
0:28.0	world. Today, part one.
0:33.3	Hi, I'm Shirin Kala, and I'm Lucy Osborne. You're listening to The Birth Keepers, a new six-part series from The Guardian Investigates.
0:43.1	Just before we start, this series contains references to baby loss and maternal harm.
0:55.8	Yeah, I have it. You have it.
0:56.9	I have it.
0:57.9	You have the crown.
0:58.9	Yeah.
0:59.9	I don't believe it.
1:03.0	That's the crown.
1:05.0	It's one of them.
1:07.0	Oh, gosh.
1:08.0	I recognize it.
1:10.0	Yeah. Yeah.
1:17.5	It's summer earlier this year.
1:23.0	And my guardian colleague, the investigative reporter Lucy Osborne, is in Omaha, Nebraska.
1:36.1	She's interviewing a woman called Serendipity Day, who works for a business called the Free Birth Society, FBS, led by the influencer, Emily Saldair.
1:43.4	It is gold medal, or like, you know, it's gold-plated metal, probably not real gold.
	...

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