The Sage Sisterhood

“I have dreamed of a vaginal birth since I was a little girl. That dream was shattered twice. My first birth being an emergency due to very sudden and severe eclampsia, which went untreated after my son was born causing me to develop HELLP syndrome and almost die as a result.

My second birth was a very unnecessary induction that also “lead” to a c-section due to unsupportive and impatient providers.

When I became pregnant the third time, I knew deep within my bones that I wanted to and could freebirth. My pregnancy was a dream. Our lives continued as normal and my husband and I felt so much peace with our decision.

I was in no rush for my baby to come, and told everyone my due date was July 5th (which was actually 41 weeks).

The night of July 3rd I had prodromal labour all night, making it impossible to sleep. We went about our day as usual the next day, and as soon as 8pm rolled around, prodromal labour started again, leading to another sleepless night.

Contractions were stronger, but still not getting any closer together or intensifying.

The next day (July 5th!) I got up expecting contractions to stop, but they never did. My doula/friend came over and we spent the whole day moving around the house in different positions, watching soccer, and just enjoying the day with our kids.

By evening time the contractions ramped up. I was still in complete and utter bliss and control, laughing and chatting in between.

By 9:30pm I decided to get in the birth pool. At this point I had been awake for about 65 hours due to the prodromal labour, so mental fatigue started to make things harder to handle.
Transition hit around 10pm and lasted almost 3 hours. I felt my water break at around 12:30am (something I never experienced before!), and around 1am my body started pushing. I reached up inside at 1:35 and was able to feel baby’s head.

One more push brought her down to crowning, and then about 26 minutes later I finally pushed her out, right into my arms. My husband and I were is utter disbelief and euphoria. It was the most incredible, redemptive, and empowering moment of our lives.

Our surprise baby girl was perfect and healthy, and my placenta birthed itself 17 minutes later when I stood up.

30 hours of labour (42 with the prodromal labour)
3 hours of transition
1.5 hours of pushing
2 previous c-sections
A healthy baby and Mama.

We are capable of anything. 💕”

Adrianna’s story:

“Immediately after my sister gave birth, i began to have bloody show. I had been planning on having a hospital birth most of my pregnancy, with my sister in my ear telling me the do’s and don’ts of the hospital. When i arrived at the hospital, they did a cervical check and told me that my waters hadn’t broken, and that i was 4cm dilated. Prior to the cervical check, i wasn’t having any contractions. After, though, i began having them immediately and they were close together. In hindsight i believe they did a membrane sweep without my consent. My fiance and I were extremely uncomfortable in the hospital, and they were already pushing pitocin and artificially breaking my waters. My fiance and I decided it was best to leave and head to my sisters to give birth instead. Three hours after she gave birth, we arrived back at her house.

She had already added a new liner and began refilling her birth pool. At this point my contractions were about 3 minutes apart and extremely intense/painful. I was up and down off her couch, walking around hysterically, and unable to manage the pain. When the pool was ready, I immediately got in. I was a bit panicky, and she was feeding me protein shakes, water and chlorophyll.

Around 12:30 i began pushing, and pushed for about 45 minutes. My daughter was born at 1:15 & she was perfect. She did take a moment to completely come around but nothing outside of normal. After I gave birth, my sister and I laid on her couch and ate macaroni and cheese with mashed potatoes.

After having this birth experience, I plan on birthing at home for the remainder of my children.”

Thank you so much to McKayla and Adrianna for sharing this amazing story! ❤️

Mckayla’s story:

“My birth story with Kash truly starts at 35 weeks when I began having super consistent and somewhat painful contractions ever. Single. Night. I chose to do a wild pregnancy this time around, no ultrasounds or testing - so I was not totally sure EXACTLY how far along I was. I was leaning on my intuition, and listening to my body. I have a deep understanding of undisturbed physiological birth, and this understanding along with my intuition truly got me through the hard nights of contractions. There is no such thing as “fake labor” or “Braxton hicks” - our bodies are preparing for birth from the moment we become pregnant & I just knew that these contractions were leading me to a precipitous active labor & birth.

The night of June 17th, I did some squats with my sister on FaceTime as we were pregnant together & due a week apart. I began having my usual contractions, but nothing different than what I had already been experiencing. I woke up at 4:05am the morning of June 18th to my waters leaking, contractions began shortly after. I called Sam to let her know, and then called my best friend & my mom. I had my fiance fill the birth pool, which had been set up and ready for weeks at this point. I labored in the side lying position on my couch & waited for Sam and my mom to arrive. I got in the pool probably around 4:45, and was going back and forth between the pool & bathroom.

Thinking back, I don’t think I ever experienced a “transition” with this birth, I just knew I was getting close & my body began to push very shortly after Sam and my mom arrived. I only pushed 2 or 3 times, & I got to “catch” him myself - it was the most beautiful experience. I knew he was a boy from conception, I just KNEW it. I didn’t even think to check his gender until everyone around asked me to check - and confirmed what I had already known. In total, I was in active labor for an hour and 10 minutes. None of this experience was unbearable, or excruciating. Birth is not meant to be torture, when we are left to birth freely, and when our bodies are allowed to do what they are meant to do without expectation & monitoring.

Postpartum was absolute bliss, my placenta came as soon as I got out of the pool & baby latched perfectly.

I was surrounded by my beautiful family, & we all basked in the joy of a new beautiful and healthy baby. We decided that we wanted to end the birth process in ceremony, and did so by burning the cord and thanking The First Mother (the placenta) for all she had done to assure our baby arrived safely & healthy.

Overall, I am so glad that I chose freebirth, and took responsibility. Life IS risk, we can either take the responsibility and understand the risk ourselves or hand that responsibility off with the misconception that the risk no longer exists.”

Immediately after McKayla gave birth, her sister Adrianna began to have a bloody show. Story to be continued next week..

It’s unfortunate that countless birth workers have not witnessed the magic of a true physiological birth.

A mother deeply connected to her innate wisdom.

Swaying and moving in a way that allows her baby to descend naturally.

Vocalizing with a primal call that only a labouring mother can make.

Trusting fully in her body’s ability to birth her baby.

No gloved hands, bright lights, cold rooms or interference.

No need for a mother to advocate for herself, fight for her wishes to be respected or to hand her power over to someone who simply doesn’t trust birth.

Here we know that you are more than capable of bringing your baby earth-side.

We’ve witnessed it time and time again.

We praise you for choosing something greater for yourself than todays birth practices, and we are honoured to walk beside you along the way.

We are so excited to begin connecting with the Mamas due in 2025! Register for support through the link in our bio ❤️

📸 Image by Oahu Birth Photographer

“I began experiencing on and off cramps for a few weeks leading up to Evolets guess date which gave me the impression that she would come early. However, her guess date came and went. I had to rumble through a lot and let go of expectations around when she would finally make her arrival. Some days I felt very frustrated and other days I was totally at peace.
By 41 weeks I was feeling immensely uncomfortable and like I’d be pregnant forever.
On November 16 I started cramping around 6pm but I ignored it at first as this was nothing new after experiencing on and off cramping for the last few weeks. As the night went on, the cramping intensified and I finally started to believe I may be in labour. I let my husband know around 9pm that I thought labour may have finally begun.

After we got our older son to bed, we posted up downstairs to hangout and monitor the cramping. By midnight I knew I was in for a long night so we began prepping the birth pool and getting things sorted for our birth.
I was up all night texting with our birth keeper and wrestling through contractions. By 8am the contractions were a few minutes apart and quite intense. I assumed Evolet would arrive before noon. Our birth keeper arrived and helped me find positions to labour in and support me through contractions. Unfortunately labour slowed down around noon so our birth keeper left and my husband took our son for a walk. Around 2pm cramping intensified again and I called the birth keeper back.

Labour was really hard. Evolet was posterior facing which can make labour longer, harder and more painful. There were many times I started to panic, shake and scream “I cant do this”. I was relieved however to feel that her head was close and labour was nearing its end.

I was not finding labour was progressing when I was in the birth pool so my husband held me and we walked a few laps down the hallway to encourage baby down. Our birth keeper suggested I try labouring on the toilet which ended up being the most comfortable and effective position for me. Evolet began emerging fast once I was seated on the toilet. I went from feeling discouraged and exhausted to hopeful and confident as I screamed her out (and I really screamed her out). The pain was horrific but I knew it was almost over. Evolet emerged and my husband’s hands were at the ready to catch her.
Evolet was very tangled in her cord and it took a minute to unravel her. She was born at 4:44pm. (Amazing because our son was born at 3:33am).
After she was out we moved to the couch so I could deliver her placenta and rest a bit while my husband and our birth keeper started to clean up.

My entire pregnancy all I wanted was to be able to bond and connect with my baby once they arrived and I got what I prayed for. I was able to bond and connect with Evolet immediately and just sit and bask in her beauty after her birth.
I only have a minor tear and Evolet latched immediately to my breast just like her older brother did.

This birth experience was incredible and I couldn’t be more grateful. Free birth has empowered me unlike anything else and gifted me the most sacred and beautiful birth experiences. I have free birthed both of my children and will continue to do so if there are more babies in my future.”

Join us for a sacred gathering where we embrace the beauty of winter, a season of stillness, reflection, and renewal. Together, we will honour the themes of warmth and rest, creating a space to nourish our spirits and reconnect with the rhythms of nature.

Through ceremony and rituals, we will celebrate the gifts of the colder season—a time to slow down, seek inner peace, and kindle the light within.

This ceremony is open to women of all paths, inviting you to pause, reflect, and find solace in the shared wisdom of winter. Wrap yourself in warmth, bring an open heart, and step into the quiet magic of this sacred season.

Ceremony is by donation, dm to register.

Pregnancy and birth will always be a profound journey that we hold with deep reverence.

However, it’s a fleeting journey that ushers us all too quickly into yet another stage of our life- postpartum, motherhood and beyond.

We believe that in order to honour the sacredness of pregnancy and birth, we must hold ALL phases of womanhood with the same recognition.

From Maiden to Crone and every journey in between, we honour you and the magic you bring to this earth.

Shifts will be occurring here on this page for the next few moon cycles. You can expect to see educational posts, in-person and virtual sisterhood circles, story sharing and resources to support wherever you are on your path of reclamation.

Welcome Sister, we are so happy that you’re here 🤍

✨ The placenta and her many variations ✨

❤️ Velamentous Cord Insertion occurs in approx 1% of singletons. With this variation, the umbilical cord is attached to the placenta via exposed vessels that are not protected by Wharton’s Jelly.

❤️ Succenturiate Lobes occur in approx 3/1000 pregnancies and describe a placenta with an extra or “accessory” lobe.

❤️ Circummarginate and Circumvallate placentas occur in about 1-2% of pregnancies. Both describe a placenta with membranes that extend off of the discs edge creating either a flat (circummarginate) or raised (circumvallate) ring.

❤️ Marginal Cord Insertion or Battledore, is a more common variation occurring in 2%-25% of pregnancies. The likelihood of having a marginal cord rises with pregnancies of multiples and is simply a description of the off-centre location in which the umbilical cord is imbedded into the placenta.

❤️ Bilobed placentas occur in 2% of singleton pregnancies and describes a placenta which is divided into two equal sized lobes.

Did you experience any of these variations?

* Early Labour *

You begin noticing that you are having rhythmic cramping or maybe your water has broken.

This time can bring so much excitement, your baby is finally on their way!

Things are slow during this phase of labour and many will feel urged to “keep things moving along” by being active.

Before you begin bouncing on your ball or tirelessly climbing stairs, remember that this phase is designed for preparing for the journey ahead.

So what should you *actually* be doing during Early Labour?

✨ Resting as much as possible

✨ Nourishing yourself with a high protein meal (this may be your last meal until after birth, make it count!)

✨ Getting your mindset in check (move through any fears that are arising, meditate, visualize your dream birth)

✨ Move through your day as usual (take this time to enjoy the last moments of your pregnancy, connect with your partner/older children and practice extra self care)

How long did your early labour phase last?

Let’s chat home birth supplies! 🏠

What do you actually need?

What’s nice to have on hand?

The truth is, you truly don’t need anything outside of yourself and your intuition to bring your baby earthside! Buuut, there are a few things that we love to recommend to make the day unfold smoothly and allow for an easeful transition into your postpartum bubble:

✨ Sheet protectors & chux pads

✨ Placenta care items (bowl, candle or scissors, umbilical clamp or tie)

✨ Labour drinks and nourishing snacks

✨ Comfort tools (hot pack, combs, birth pool)

✨ Afterbirth care (pain relief, swelling care, peri spray, sitz bath)

What are your go-to items to have on hand for birth?

Thank you Jody for the beautiful sound bath! Todays Closing of the Bones ceremony was beautiful ❤️

Zen Connections