bonus

The importance of mental preparation for birth after trauma; my chat with Hannah Palamara about her VBAC after 2 emergency caesareans.

Published on: 12th April, 2021

This is a short bonus interview for you to enjoy! I interviewed the amazing Hannah Palamara for Episode 3 of Tipping The Balance and we recorded this extra chat just after.

Hannah and I have both had VBAC births (vaginal birth after caesarean.) Hannah was my birth photographer and managed to capture my VBAC birth at home in 2019. I will cherish those photos and birth video for ever.

During my labour I was flooded with fears and doubts and it really caught me off guard. I was sure I had done "the work" and preparation to be able to sail through my second birth but it turned out I was wrong.

Even though I had spent the best part of 2 years preparing and planning for my home VBAC I found the labour incredibly challenging. You can read my birth story and watch my birth video here.

In this bonus episode Hannah shares her experience of preparing for a VBAC for her third baby after 2 emergency caesarean births. We discuss how her preparation for her third baby differed from her other 2 births. We focus on the mental aspect of preparing for birth after previous traumatic birth experiences and how crucial that can be.

You can connect with Hannah via her website or instagram

Please share this episode with someone who you think will benefit from hearing this uplifting chat.

Love Katie x

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About the Podcast

Tipping The Balance
Mental health and happiness is not as simple as arriving at a destination. It takes work everyday. How can we help to tip the balance in favour of our mental health?
We can all admit to wishing we had more balance in our lives. How many times have you said, "I just don't have the right balance at the moment." Maybe you think you need to work less, have more (or less!) time with your children, get outside more, exercise more, eat more healthily. What ever it is you and almost everyone else has an idea of what balance means to them, their lives and their mental health.

'Tipping the balance,' explores these concepts with a range of different people. Parents, business owners, people living with grief, overcoming abuse, mental health specialists. We have it all here and I hope you can listen to these shows and feel in someway you have spent time tipping the balance in favour of your own mental health.

You can find me on instagram @thebalanceddoula

Love Katie x

About your host

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Katie Hickey

I am a birth doula, podcaster and vet! All my areas of work bring together elements of balance, growth and self-development. I am a convert to the slow living movement and live in rural Devon with my family. I love hearing from other people how they strive to find balance in their lives in order to live intentionally and maintain a positive tilt on their mental health.