Down to Birth

Updated: 14 May 2025 • 321 episodes
www.downtobirthshow.com

Join Cynthia Overgard and Trisha Ludwig once per week for evidence-based straight talk on having a safe and informed birth, which starts with determining if you've hired the right provider. If we had to boil it down to a single premise, it's this: A healthy mom and baby isn't all that matters. We have more than 30 years' experience between us in midwifery, informed rights advocacy, publishing, childbirth education, postpartum support and breastfeeding, and we've personally served thousands of women and couples. Listen to the birth stories of our clients, listeners and celebrities, catch our expert-interviews, and submit your questions for our monthly Q&A episodes by calling us at 802-GET-DOWN. We're on Instagram at @downtobirthshow and also at Patreon.com/downtobirthshow, where we offer live ongoing events multiple times per month, so be sure to join our worldwide community. We are a Top .5% podcast globally with listeners in more than 80 countries every week. Become informed, empowered, and have a great time in the process. Join us and reach out any time - we love to hear from you. And as always, hear everyone, listen to yourself.

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Send us a text Did you know that how you breathe on a daily basis can influence how your birth goes? Yes, your rib cage impacts your pelvic tension! On today"s episode, we have Lindsay McCoy, a birth doula, exercise physiologist, and co-founder of the Body Ready Method. She explains how breath, mobility, and pelvic bal

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Send us a text Preeclampsia is an increasingly common diagnosis, but are we getting it right? This episode tackles the alarming reality of misdiagnosis and the rush to intervene prematurely with induction. Join us and functional medicine expert Sarah Thompson, researcher and author of Functional Maternity, as we dive i

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Send us a text Welcome to the April Q&A episode! Today"s episode begins with your answers to our question: How do you cope when you are at your breaking point in parenting? If you are looking for some creative ideas, you will find them here! And someone, please tell us where one Mississippi, two Mississippi came from?

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Send us a text What happens when we invite our children into the sacred space of birth? In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Morgan MacDermott, a naturopathic doctor, perinatal health specialist, and mother of four, to talk about the transformative experience of having siblings present at birth. We tackle the key quest

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Send us a text Today we’re talking about one of the most important—and misunderstood—topics in maternity care: the unnecessary cesarean. In the U.S., about one in three babies is born by C-section, but in physiologic birth settings, that number can be as low as 2–4%. So what’s driving the difference? In this episode, C

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Send us a text In honor of Black Maternal Health Week, we’re joined by Stephanie Etienne and Kanika Harris, creators of the documentary Listen to Me. The film follows the pregnancy and birth journeys of several black women. It reveals a devastating reality: Black mothers in the U.S. and U.K. are dying in childbirth at

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