{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"YDGM Ep 004: Melissa Sandford","description":"One of my biggest take-homes from this conversation is this. Melissa explains,  \u201cI think the mistake we make is that it\u2019s not our births. It\u2019s our children\u2019s births. We don\u2019t even know who they are yet. We don\u2019t what their personality is. We don\u2019t know anything about them. And it\u2019s their journey and we\u2019re just the vehicle for that. So being able to connect with them and let them have their journey is kind of really where it\u2019s at. And when we try and make it about us, the birth, about making it look really pretty and trying to control it ... I don\u2019t think we should do that.\u201d Six natural births. Empowering, positive, and loved being pregnant.  So much experience and so much wisdom. \u201cThis is a bit of a fire-up statement. I can pretty much tell you, when I meet a pregnant woman whether they\u2019re gonna end up having a safe and natural delivery or whether they\u2019re gonna end up having an intervention. I can tell by the language they use because behind the language is their own fear. And when they start using disclaimers about well \u2018I have to do what the hospital says, I have to do what the doctor says\u2019. They\u2019re relinquishing ownership of their bodies and control. When you use language like that and your emotions are really fear-based, you just have no hope.\u201d Melissa is a super mom. She\u2019s amazing. She\u2019s so grounded, full of wisdom, she\u2019s full of life, and is an expert on motherhood, love, and enjoying life. Melissa moved from Melbourne, Australia to Devon, UK and lived there for nearly 20 years. She has six children, her eldest studying chiropractic in Australia. She met her first husband, who is British, in Australia, moved to Devon together and had her first three children who are now 23, 21, and 18. Then, also while living in the UK, met her second husband, and has three children with him. They are 10, 7, and 5.  Chiropractic has been a huge part of her adult life, started getting adjusted regularly as part of her healthy lifestyle. Her first husband was a chiropractor, with whom she separated, and then remarried again, who is also a chiropractor.  Melissa is a woman who loved being pregnant. She fully embraced being pregnant, being a mother, having the mindset of ease, peace, and enjoying every aspect of it. She talks about each of her births in detail, what she discovered and learned about herself, her babies, and her body with each one.  \u201cWith my last three, I actually didn\u2019t see a midwife until a week before I was ready to give birth.\u201d \u201cI\u2019d done it before, I knew, when you tune into your body you know when you\u2019re well and when you\u2019re not well. I didn\u2019t want to be poked and prodded and weaned on a stick all the time. I have a busy life and fitting that in was stressful and I didn\u2019t want that for myself.\u201d Fear and stress in labor is what creates a cascade of complications and interventions. Melissa shares how she was able to keep the fear and panic out of the equation to embrace the natural process of birth.  \u201cOnce you go into that panic place it\u2019s all over, red-rover. When women are in that place it\u2019s much more difficult to give birth. I think you shut down. Your contractions shut down. And so I was very aware not to put myself in that head space.\u201d \u201cIn our society we don\u2019t place any value on your emotional and mental health. We don\u2019t any value at all on the fact that your emotional state can affect your physical state. That\u2019s just crazy.\u201d Melissa gives her wonderful story of natural birth, her strength, and she shares many tools for women to hear about having an empowering and beautiful birth.  To reach out to Melissa, email her at melissaasandford@gmail.com Tune in to hear more! (This episode is brought to you by The Motherbox. To claim your 5% discount, email them and mention this podcast with code YDGM!)   ","author_name":"You're Doing Great Mom","author_url":"http:\/\/youredoinggreatmom.com","html":"