by Adriana Lozada
Like most everyone who’s ever given birth, I remember exactly when it started.
It was around 4 am on a cold, winter Wednesday morning. Lying in bed in the darkness, trying to decide if “this” was “it.”
Nothing else existed, and I relished in the moment. In a secret knowing between baby and me, that -for now- was only ours to hold.
She was on her way.
The rest of the story sadly didn’t carry even close to the same level of connection and intuition. Interruptions and interventions disturbed a process that nevertheless unfolded despite them.
Despite relentless back labor.
Despite nausea from a well-intentioned chicken soup on the stove.
Despite too many people in the room, and lights that were too bright, and never-ending instructions and ‘we just have to’s.
"...I relished in the moment. In a secret knowing between baby and me, that-for-now was only ours to hold."
However, stubbornness, physiology, and luck prevailed, and the most wonderful little person was placed on my chest before I had the chance to gather myself and my emotions (those that had moments before been raging like a hurricane as I was told to “get mad” and push my baby out).
It took months (OK fine, years) before I was able to sort out what became of me that day. The transformation that ensued. But the curiosity to make sense of it all and the realization that how you birth your baby, and your new self, matters more than we understand, led me to a become a doula and a postpartum educator.
"too many people, systems and institutions focus on the health of the baby and not enough on supporting and uplifting the abilities of those doing the birthing and the parenting..."
Fast-forward to four years ago, when a little nudging from my husband (“you should start a podcast”) propelled me to merge my previous background in communications with my newer identity as a birth nerd, and the Birthful Podcast was born.
That tells you a bit about how it happened, but here’s the why: too many people, systems and institutions focus on the health of the baby and not enough on supporting and uplifting the abilities of those doing the birthing and the parenting (as well as making sure they are holistically healthy). While well-intentioned, this is upside-down.
I believe in giving parents information, resources, and tools, and trust they can make the decisions that are best for their families. Professionals may be the experts of the data, but parents are the experts of their baby. Not just during doctor visits, but also in the middle
of the night, when it’s just them, their feelings, knowledge, and intuition
The Birthful Podcast
Adriana Lozada’s background is multi-layered and multi-cultural. A former print and online editor from Venezuela, the birth of her daughter sparked her passion for being a birth advocate.With over 12 years of experience in the birth world, Adriana is a certified advanced birth doula, postpartum educator, healthy sleep consultant, and bestselling author. Adriana is also the host of the Birthful Podcast, where she talks to amazing, knowledgeable, and passionate birth professionals every week, to help new and expectant parents inform their intuition. This is part of her quest to help expectant parents everywhere have truly rewarding pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experiences.Learn more at Birthful.com and listen to Orgasmic Birth’s Debra Pascali-Bonaro on Episode 190 below!