
S7 EP186: Vanessa Harding: Two Home births / 26-Hour Posterior Labour at 41+4 / House Renovation + Wild Pregnancy
From Positive Birth Australia by Skye Waters
February 21, 2026 · 1h 45m · Season 7 · Episode 186
About this episode
Vanessa Harding shares her experiences of two home births, exploring themes of mindset, emotional healing, and conscious birth preparation.
Vanessa joins me from Coffs Harbour to share the story of birthing both of her daughters at home… her first during lockdown in a tiny studio apartment after a 26-hour posterior labour at 41+4 weeks, and her second in the quiet stillness of dawn - a sunrise water birth that unfolded almost exactly as she had envisioned. After reflecting deeply on her first birth experience, Vanessa immersed herself in emotional womb healing, mantra, and the teachings of freebirth philosophy. Her second labour became an exploration of mindset, responsibility, and self-trust… labouring alone through much of the night and anchoring into a simple phrase that transformed her experience. In this episode we discuss: Posterior labour and going 41+4 Labouring at home without scans or medical testing The role of mindset in physiological birth Emotional womb work and releasing stored tension Labouring solo and conscious birth preparation Having an older child witness birth Placenta encapsulation and postpartum recovery Taking responsibility for your birth choices The power of “knowing” This is a conversation about transformation… about shifting from endurance to intention, and from hoping for a positive…
People in this episode
Host: Skye Waters
Guest: Vanessa Harding
Topics covered
- home birth
- posterior labour
- mindset in birth
- emotional womb healing
- conscious birth preparation
- placenta encapsulation
- postpartum recovery
Keywords
- home birth
- posterior labour
- mindset
- womb healing
- birth choices
- postpartum recovery
- water birth
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Instagram, Wilderness Yoga, Chaitanya
Books & works: Portal
Places: Coffs Harbour
More episodes of Positive Birth Australia
- S7 EP194: Kristy Haszard: Three Positive Hospital Births / MGP / Spontaneous Labour at 36 Weeks / Low Platelets + Induction / Surprise Pregnancy at 20 Weeks / · May 17, 2026 · 1h 50m
- S7 EP193: Shari from Belly2Birth: Birth Trauma - How It’s Held and How to Move Through It · May 4, 2026 · 59 min
- S7 EP192: Jaylene: Home Birth / Breech Baby / Under 4-Hour Labour / Deep Grief + Healing · April 26, 2026 · 1h 18m
- S7 EP191: Bianca Telford: Living with Epilepsy / “High Risk” Label / Hospital Birth / Freebirth at Home · March 28, 2026 · 1h 26m
- S7 EP190: Kaitlyn Shofay: Hospital Birth Trauma / Rare Face Presentation Birth at Home / Faith-led Freebirth · March 22, 2026 · 1h 35m
- S7 EP189: Emma Evans: Pregnancy After Loss / Rainbow Baby / Shortened Cervix / Publicly Funded Homebirth · March 14, 2026 · 57 min
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