My Top Five Pregnancy & Birth Podcasts
There are so many amazing podcasts out there, but like anything it can be tricky to know where to begin. I’ve done a bit of listening around and these are my top five picks if you’re keen to have a listen.
1/ Australian Birth Stories Podcast
I absolutely love this one, and have been listening to it since well before I was pregnant! Sophie Walker hosts this gorgeous show in which she has a different guest each week talking about their experience of pregnancy and birth. It’s beautifully authentic and real – it’s not explicitly educational but just by listening to so many women’s stories you learn so much about what birth can look like. I really love that you get to hear the women themselves talking too – it feels like a chat with girlfriends. You can also search for stories about something particular you’re interested in (e.g. Hypnobirthing, VBAC, waterbirth, etc.).
https://www.australianbirthstories.com/podcast
2/ Evidence Based Birth® Podcast
This is exactly what it promises in the title – a weekly podcast dedicated to unpacking the evidence around various birth- and pregnancy-related topics. Some episodes feature guest experts, and others have the host, Rebecca Dekker (who is a registered nurse, researcher, and founder of Evidence Based Birth®), unpacking the findings from various studies pertaining to a particular topic. This is a great place to go if you’re wondering about something, and struggling to find accurate data.
https://evidencebasedbirth.com/category/podcast/
3/ Mind the Bump Meditation App
So this one is technically an app, not a podcast, but it’s well worth it. A collaboration between Smiling Mind and beyondblue, Mind the Bump is a free app designed to support parents or parents-to-be on their journey to bringing bub into the world. It is designed to help you cultivate more mindfulness through short, accessible meditations, with specific exercises and sessions designed to support you from conception all the way through to your little one’s second birthday. Well worth the download, I always feel so grounded and relaxed after I listen to a meditation!
https://www.mindthebump.org.au
4/ Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond Podcast
The Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond Podcast is a great resource for useful information from healthcare professionals, parents, researchers and others. I think this podcast is especially valuable as it has such incredible breadth, and I often find it makes me think about something I hadn’t considered before. There are some really lovely episodes about various birth traditions, and quite a few episodes specifically about/for dads too (who often miss out in this space, when everything is about mum and baby!).
http://www.pbbmedia.org/weekly-podcasts.html
5/ The Early Parenting Podcast
So this one is not about pregnancy and birth, but it’s about early parenting, so very valuable and worth a listen! The Early Parenting Podcast is hosted by registered nurse and midwife, lactation & sleep consultant and early parenting coach Jen Butler. Jen is super down-to-earth, and provides so much useful information on all things baby and toddler. The episodes vary in length, and there are plenty of nice 10-minutes-or-less bite sized ones which are super easy to squeeze in and digest.
https://www.jenniferbutler.com.au/podcast
I hope you find these podcasts useful and a good place to start! If you have any other recommendations of podcasts that you think are great, I would love to hear about them, so please drop me a line!
Laura xx