My Mum's Radical Birth of Me!

For this, the opening episode of the Healing Birth Podcast, I interview my mum, Gay Summers, about her experiences of birthing in the 1970s. She shares about the trauma of routine interventions during the births of my older two sisters, and then about her courageous and radical birth planning when pregnant with me.

Planning a home birth in Hamilton, New Zealand, in 1976 was no small feat. My parents hosted a meeting in their humble little home for any doctors, obstetricians and consumers who wanted to share in a discussion about home birth. Although my birth ended up taking place in hospital (legendary domiciliary midwife and home birth activist, Joan Donley, was unavailable to get to Mum at home), the circumstances that took place surrounding my birth were quite remarkable, enough so that Mum was sent a threatening letter of disapproval from the hospital staff!

The culture of birth that I was exposed to in my upbringing, and hearing the story of my birth, was what inspired me to become a midwife and later, a birth trauma healer and educator... such is the power of how we are born and the conditioning we experience in childhood. I feel so much pride in, and gratitude towards, my mum for the courageous path she boldly walked when pregnant with me. Mum shifted the cultural narrative that had been handed down to her through her own birth, and the births of siblings and mother, halting the ancestral trauma that threatened to continue being handed on down through the generations.

For more information on my birth story, and to read the inspirational stories of other home birthing families (including the stories of my own three children's births), check out my book, Where the Heart Is:

https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/mybook

Follow my work on instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/healing.birth/

...and Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/healingbirthwithcarla

Or check out my website:

https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/