EP217 Alana, Two Pregnancies and Births, Two Unmedicated Vaginal Births, Hospital Birth, Planned Homebirth, Preeclampsia, Grief & Joy

About this episode

Alana shares her experiences of two pregnancies and births, navigating grief and joy along the way.

This week I share my chat with Alana, who talks me through each of her two birth experiences. Alana dedicated a lot of time and effort to preparing for birth, making sure she stayed fit and strong throughout both of her pregnancies. With her first baby, she laboured at home for as long as possible before heading to the hospital, arriving just in time. Her baby was born shortly after, with the support of her husband and the amazing midwives she speaks so fondly of. Alana experienced profound loss with the passing of her much loved father and later mother-in-law in a very short space of time. Throughout this time she discovered she was pregnant with their second baby which leads us to chatting through the juxtaposition of coping with raw grief and the joy of pregnancy. For her second birth, Alana planned a home birth with the support of her midwife. However, late in her pregnancy, she was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia so home birth was no longer an option. As labour began naturally, Alana was keen to avoid an induction and asked the hospital to give her more time. Trusting her instincts, she continued to labour and was able to stay on that path without intervention. She welcomed her…

People in this episode

Host: Corah Gernon

Guest: Alana

Topics covered

• pregnancy
• unmedicated birth
• grief
• home birth
• hospital birth
• preeclampsia

Keywords

• unmedicated vaginal birth
• hospital birth
• planned home birth
• preeclampsia
• grief
• joy
• midwives

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Ireland's Birth Stories, She Talks Productions

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• EP213 Stephanie, TTC, 3 Positive Vaginal Hospital Births, Early Pregnancy Losses, Expecting 4th Baby · May 11, 2026 · 1h 48m
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