Exposing Birth

We tend to use birth photography and videography to create a model of what we think our birth should look like. All of these images and videos can give us inspiration but they can also concrete the experience in our minds. We look to confirm our views and values with other people’s but it often doesn’t work out that way. In this episode, I’m discussing how our values play such an important role in the birth experience. I’ve found by working with clients that our conscious values can often be very different to our unconscious values. By taking the time to explore with your client, you’ll unearth the true values they weren’t even aware of leading to a completely different, but truly aligned, birth plan. LINKS: Click here to learn more about Doula Unschool visit We officially begin on the 17 January 2022 with the cart closing 24 January 2022. Sign up for my FREE mini-course Persevering Through Pain In Pregnancy (and birth!) here! Instagram: @birthphotographer Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/exposingbirth2

All of the work we do as doulas is prior to being in the birth space. Our job is to teach clients how to advocate for themselves, create a plan that reflects their values, and mitigate pain before they go into labour. This amazing work is centred around powerful conversations that empower our clients to take control of their own birth experience. In this episode, I’m exploring what doula work means to me. I’m so grateful for this opportunity to talk about the motivations behind the decisions we make and how my work as a doula is centred around values. I always focus on the ‘why’ behind my client’s choices because it’s so important to bring clarity and ensure their decision is based on their values and not on societal conditioning. LINKS: Click here to learn more about Doula Unschool visit We officially begin on the 17 January 2022 with the cart closing 24 January 2022. Sign up for my FREE mini-course Persevering Through Pain In Pregnancy (and birth!) here! Instagram: @birthphotographer Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/exposingbirth2

I’m so interested in the energies of masculine and feminine, especially because of the roles my husband and I play in our household. We’ve taken a stereotypical role reversal where I’m the sole income earner and he’s at home with the kids but it’s taken me a while to see how this would affect us emotionally. In this episode, I share why I’ve struggled with being in feminine flow and how I’ve come to realise that being masculine was the most feminine thing I could do. I explore the polarity between the two energies and how these work together to make magic. LINKS: Click here to learn more about Doula Unschool We officially begin on the 17 January 2022 with the cart closing 24 January 2022. Join the Exposing Birth Conservatory today How to Book and Exactly What to Charge 5 Day Training - Exposing Birth Instagram: @birthphotographer Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/exposingbirth2

Manifesting is such a powerful tool, it’s something that I love and I am definitely not alone. One of the steps is to imagine yourself in the future once you have achieved your goal and feel how you would feel at that time. I’m lucky enough to visualise things like this easily but I know it isn't so easy for lots of people. In this episode I want to share an exercise in journaling that will help you better visualise, and manifest your goals. LINKS: Join us in Doula Unschool here Discount Code: freakyfriday500 for a $500 discount! Join the Exposing Birth Conservatory today How to Book and Exactly What to Charge 5 Day Training - Exposing Birth Instagram: @birthphotographer Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/exposingbirth2

Accepting compliments is really hard. When someone reaches out with something positive, our first reaction is often to dismiss their words and question their judgement. It comes from a sense of unworthiness within us - not believing we deserve compliments and hunting for reasons to deny ourselves them. This extends beyond compliments too, we can't struggle to accept anything that might signal our worth - praise, success, money. This habit leaves us shying away from everything that’s meant for us, unconsciously keeping distance from things we consciously want. We need to acknowledge this pattern, to challenge ourselves and to affirm ourselves. If we can make a new habit of holding our worth, we can learn to better receive. LINKS: Join us in Doula Unschool here Discount Code: freakyfriday500 for a $500 discount! Join the Exposing Birth Conservatory today How to Book and Exactly What to Charge 5 Day Training - Exposing Birth Instagram: @birthphotographer Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/exposingbirth2

Birthing is such a special, sacred time where we are often incredibly vulnerable. It’s a time we may want or need support from people we love but sometimes people we love aren't the people we’d love to have with us. If the people at your side are nervous or scared or panicked, it’s natural to pick up on that energy and internalise it. It can feel powerful to create boundaries for people you believe would hinder your birth but it can also leave you feeling a sense of guilt. We also can’t be sure if the people we invite will be as supportive and calm as we hope. In this episode I want to talk about finding strength in yourself and reflecting negative energy away so you can be your own source. LINKS: Join us in Doula Unschool here Discount Code: freakyfriday500 for a $500 discount! Join the Exposing Birth Conservatory today How to Book and Exactly What to Charge 5 Day Training - Exposing Birth Instagram: @birthphotographer Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/exposingbirth2

Trauma will follow you wherever you go. As birth workers, I see many people begin working with births as a photographer or as doulas, become triggered and drop out. This is a very real problem that is impacting many people so I wanted to discuss how trauma affects us in our work. In this episode, I am exploring the trauma we experience during births and how it can lead us to avoid discomfort and steer clear of particular environments. I’ve worked really hard to work on my generational trauma, secondary trauma and first-hand trauma so I wanted to bring you what I’ve learned to help you stay present for your clients. Have you felt pale white, shaky, light-headed and triggered during a labour? I definitely have and I’m taking you through the method you can use in real time to deal with your trauma to truly serve your mothers. After all, this is not the mother’s trauma, this is your trauma. It’s not fair for us to not attend a mother’s birth because it makes us uncomfortable and triggered. We don’t have to view it as a negative experience. Being in the presence of life and death is keeping us alive. Instead of feeling stretched thin, reframe the moment to view the moment as expansive. This episode encourages us to delve into self-discovery to find our traumas and triggers to be truly present and support our clients throughout their birth journey. LINKS: Join us in Doula Unschool here Discount Code: freakyfriday500 for a $500 discount! Join the Exposing Birth Conservatory today How to Book and Exactly What to Charge 5 Day Training - Exposing Birth Instagram: @birthphotographer Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/exposingbirth2

Our job as a doula is to give our clients the information they need to empower themselves, we don’t empower them. We guide women through the process to discover themselves and find their power within this transformative moment. In this episode, I wanted to explore the powerful benefits of NLP for my doula clients. I was so inspired by Hayley Carr’s NLP course that I started using it with my clients. We’re all already doing NLP every day in our lives, but now we can do it more intentionally. I’m very excited to announce that we’re launching a new course called Doula Unschool in January 2022! In this course, we’re talking about how to communicate effectively with our clients, quantum linguistics, the emotional evolution process and how we use it, and the miracle of hypnosis. Check out the link below to join us in January. We’ll create breakthroughs for our clients and learn how our values dictate our experiences. I can’t wait to see you there. LINKS: Join us in Doula Unschool here Discount Code: freakyfriday500 for a $500 discount! Join the Exposing Birth Conservatory today How to Book and Exactly What to Charge 5 Day Training - Exposing Birth Instagram: @birthphotographer Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/exposingbirth2

I have been MIA for a while. There have been a couple of huge things that have been going on in my world that I wanted to fill you in on in this episode. Firstly, we have five children and our youngest is 4 years old. His kindy teacher told us last year that he may need extra support. This year we discovered through appointments with a paediatrician that he is autistic. I was initially quite disappointed that I missed the signs but when you’re really close to something, it can become hard to see past the love and connection of everyday life. I gave myself grace and was filled with gratitude to the people in his life that are working to help him get the help he needs. There are really incredible people with autism doing amazing, remarkable things and I’m so excited to see what my son will create. This experience is teaching me more about myself through empathy and learning to hold space. After all, the best way to teach our children is by example. Secondly, we’ve just finished Birth Photographer of the Year! It was such an exciting time and I’m so incredibly proud of every photographer who entered their photos. I’m so grateful to everyone that participated, the sponsors and the judges. If you haven’t seen them, head over to our Facebook page to see the remarkable, show-stopping images. I know you’ll be inspired by them just as much as I was. LINKS: Join the Exposing Birth Conservatory today How to Book and Exactly What to Charge 5 Day Training - Exposing Birth Instagram: @birthphotographer Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/exposingbirth2

I have five children and I own three businesses. One question I’m asked frequently is ‘How do you do it all?’. I wanted to let you know that - I don’t. I have a fantastic team that supports me. When we begin in business, we all start off thinking we have to do everything on our own but it’s not the case. One thing I have learnt through my extensive experience over the past 10 years of being in business and even before that in the corporate world - you can’t do it all. In life there is both masculinine and feminine energy. One cannot exist without the other. It can be really difficult to navigate these energy polarities because of societal norms. This goes for women in business, when stepping into an entrepreneurial role or any role that is outside of social constructs. My husband is a stay at home Dad and I am the breadwinner, I have seen it break people’s brains. It took so much strength for me to break out of the mould for what is inherently feminine or motherly. But I want you to remember that you don’t have to always be both masculine and feminine at the same time, you can outsource roles to someone else. If you’re in business and you’re struggling to do every single task, it’s OK to ask for help and assign them to someone. Try and ask yourself, ‘what is one thing that I can do today to reach my goal?’ and, remember, you can ask for support! It’s not all on you. LINKS: Join the Exposing Birth Conservatory today https://birthphotographeroftheyear.com https://www.wisdom.audio/ Instagram: @birthphotographer

Let’s talk about money. We have strategies to handle every aspect of our lives, and money is no different. What’s your plan of action to make money and, more enjoyably, to spend money? I have always found that money came at the right time. It wasn’t until I took a step back to realise that it only came at the right time because I was super motivated to make it! Everyone has an energetic connection to their minimum remaining amount of money before they act and pull the trigger. I followed this strategy and discovered it led to a toxic relationship with myself. I had two different value systems working: Business Lacey vs Personal Lacey. My energy wasn’t in alignment to create abundance and have more than enough. So I shook up my money making strategy and changed my beliefs surrounding the meaning of money. I now know I can make money anytime and everyday. Ask yourself, how do you know when it’s time to make money/spend money? Let me know on Instagram, I would love to hear your thoughts. LINKS: Join the Exposing Birth Conservatory today https://birthphotographeroftheyear.com www.laceybarratt.com.au/exposing-us www.atkins.com.au Instagram: @birthphotographer

We all know that life happens. Circumstances happen suddenly and can feel beyond your control. It’s at this point that many people will start to feel themselves spiral into anxiety and helplessness. This topic is so important and I have seen it come up so often with my coaching clients. You may feel yourself becoming defined by the situation, one thing leads to another and you begin to adopt them into your identity. But what if you made your circumstances align to you? Remember that things only hold the power that we give them, so what if you took that power back and changed your awareness to make the circumstance align to you. We have the ability to shift the situation to fit around our goals, wants and desires to manifest the life we actually want to create. Ask yourself, where have you been putting your energy and is it serving you? Foster your self awareness in your identity to change your thinking and build the reality you really want. LINKS: Join the Exposing Birth Conservatory today https://birthphotographeroftheyear.com Instagram: @birthphotographer

You can only invest in your business if you invest in yourself first. In this episode, I want to talk about how important trust and investment are in your business. So, do you trust yourself? I always ask myself this question in my business whenever I create new content or hire someone new because I fully understand that I’m my own best investment. I know it can be so scary to invest in your business, but if you trust in yourself it’s always the best investment. So much emphasis is put on money. It’s actually all about you and if you trust yourself to deliver and commit to follow through. Remember to be your own hype girl! LINKS: This episode is sponsored by Atkins Lab Join the Exposing Birth Conservatory today https://birthphotographeroftheyear.com Instagram: @birthphotographer

The best way to show up is by being free. When I am free, you are free. And vise versa. I believe so much in community over competition. It’s not just the right thing to do, it’s deeply ingrained in my ethos. Because when one person thrives, we all thrive. That’s why I love being in spaces where vulnerability is not just accepted, but encouraged. The vulnerability to say out loud what you truly want, and for those desires to be witnessed and validated. Come join me. Come be free. LINKS: This episode is sponsored by Atkins Lab Join the Exposing Birth Conservatory today https://birthphotographers.com/2021-ieee/ Join - IAPBP | birthphotographers.com

Are you on the verge of a massive uplevel? You know things are shifting but you’re not quite there so you’re stuck between the old and the new. This was me about a month ago. The old me no longer felt in alignment with the evolution of who I was becoming but I didn’t know how to bridge the gap. I felt stuck in between... until I started personifying the two versions of myself. The old me and the expanded, upleveled version of me. So let me ask you...what would the up-leveled version of you be doing right now? LINKS: https://birthphotographers.com/2021-ieee/ [Join - IAPBP | birthphotographers.com]

I know it can be so hard to choose an image for a competition! You can be really proud and happy with an image but it may just not be what the judges are looking for. To help you reflect and choose your photos, I have opened up the judges training to anyone that wants to attend because I want to make judging clear and transparent. Our judges panel incorporates both experienced and fresh judges because we acknowledge that we need different perspectives from different people experiencing different walks of life who will bring diversity to the judging in the competition. Not just old hags like me! In this episode, I give you great tips on what I look for as a judge and will share insights from the judges training that can really benefit you when you are choosing which photo to submit. I wanted to share these with you because I want the judging process to be clear and transparent to help you win. LINKS: https://www.exposingbirth.com/conservatory/ Become a member for discounted entry, access to our vast learning library, Honours Programme and heaps more!

There are so many incredible educational platforms out there for birth photography. We don’t have a gap in education. What we do have, however, is a gap in the willingness of birth photographers to grow. I recently teamed up together with some amazing photographers to create the Image Evaluation Educational Event to help bring education to its max. Afterward I jumped on a panel with some incredible women to discuss what growth means for us as an industry. We asked some hard questions, we answered some hard questions and I want to share this amazing conversation with you today. LINKS: https://birthphotographers.com/2021-ieee/

I’m a firm believer that we need more money in the hands of powerful women. And something I’m seeing a lot in business circles at the moment is that we need to know our worth and raise our prices. Although I agree, I think we need to pull it back a layer and go a little deeper. If you feel unworthy, uncomfortable, or anxious about raising your prices, the question you need to ask yourself is, why? Because there’s no point raising your prices until you’re in the energy to hold that money. What’s stopping you from asking for money? What can you do to start holding an energetic space for it?

A little while ago I did an episode about sleep and why it’s important, which is one of the most popular episodes I’ve ever done. Clearly this is a topic you all want to know more about so I’m going to dive back in and share the story behind why I value sleep as much as I do. It all happened a few years back in the height of my pregnancy photography when I was completely overbooked. I’m going to be completely honest and share the rough times, the mistakes I made and the lessons I finally learned. I hope you can take away something from this so you don't need to push yourself to breaking point like I did. Links: Matriarchal Marketing www.exposingbirth.com/matriarchal-marketing

Most families adhere to the societal pressures that have the man work and provide for his family while the woman stays home and takes care of the kids. This works really well for a lot of people but it’s not the best or only way to live your lives. Many people are too scared to step outside these roles and stay stuck unable to reach their full potential. When I started my business my husband and I agreed to reverse these roles and have him stay home to look after the kids so I could fully pursue it. We faced questions from strangers, family, friends, and even ourselves but it worked incredibly well for us. Today he joins me on the podcast to share out story and I ask him some of your biggest questions about our lives, how he felt about this shift, and the best and worst things that have come out of it. Links: Matriarchal Marketing www.exposingbirth.com/matriarchal-marketing