In this episode, we are so incredibly fortunate to have the beautiful Claire share her birth stories with us. Claire is an absolute wealth of wisdom, and the beautifully articulate and insightful way she shares her journey with us opens up some gorgeous, deep conversations with our co-hosts Katelyn and Aimee that you won't want to miss.

Claire takes us through her first pregnancy, where it was flagged that her baby may not have been growing as they should, and the growth scans she underwent, along with a diagnosed breech position and an unsuccessful ECV, led to booking in a planned caesarean. Claire did go into spontaneous labour just before the scheduled date, and was able to labour for a period, but ultimately ended up birthing her baby via caesarean.

Claire openly and vulnerably shares her first postpartum experience, involving a postpartum haemmorhage once she was home from hospital, and the intense physical and mental journey to recovery. We are so grateful that Claire shares a powerful poem she wrote in the trenches of that postpartum, 'Go Home Woman', which beautifully expresses the raw, visceral emotional experience of leaving the hospital with your baby in those fresh days post-birth. We know her words will resonate with so many of our listeners, as they did with us.

After trying to conceive for a year, Claire was able to fall pregnant again. This sadly resulted in a miscarriage, and Claire speaks about the need for women and families to talk more about these experiences.

Not long after, Claire fell pregnant again and began preparing for her VBAC. She talks us through consciously choosing her care provider and place of birth, and gathering her birth support team, which included a particularly-requested third-year midwifery student and her wonderful doula.

Claire's labour and birth is a stunning story, and she takes us on the journey in a beautifully intimate way, generously sharing her insight and wisdom. We won't spoil too much for you, but just know it involves so much power and strength, and will be a wonderful source of inspiration for all women on their VBAC journeys. Claire reflects with us on her birth journeys, and talks about discovering she was worthy of investing in an experience that, for Claire and her family, was momentous and important and worth treating with the reverence it deserved.

We know you are going to absolutely love Claire's story and know it will be an incredibly popular episode. We can't wait to hear what you think.

Find out more about the poetry anthology that Claire mentions in the episode:

What We Carry: Poetry on childbearing brings together the voices of more than 60 contemporary Australian poets. Featuring diverse perspectives on experiences of infertility, conception, termination, loss, pregnancy, birth and the early postpartum period, this collection illuminates the endlessly different ways the potential to carry life is experienced.

https://recentworkpress.com/product/what-we-carry-poetry-on-childbearing/

Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook. 

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If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below:

PANDA https://panda.org.au/

Gidget Foundation https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/

COPE Australia https://www.cope.org.au/

If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations:

Maternity Choices Australia https://www.maternitychoices.org/

Maternity Consumer Network https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/

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