S7 EP186: Vanessa Harding: Two Home births / 26-Hour Posterior Labour at 41+4 / House Renovation + Wild Pregnancy

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

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Positive Birth Australia podcast page.