021 - Ellie | US maternity system, doula, hypnobirthing, epidural, pitocin, nuchal hand, NICU

In today's episode we're hearing from Ellie who had her baby whilst living out in LA. Ellie fell pregnant quickly and went on to struggle with anxiety during her first trimester. She shares her fascinating account of navigating the US maternity system where she had difficulty finding midwifery lead care to support the physiological birth she was hoping for. She hired a doula to help her advocate for herself and finally managed at 37 weeks to find a likeminded OB-GYN who supported her choices. Ellie laboured at home for 30 hours before transferring in to the hospital where, after another exhausting 12 hours, she opted for an epidural. When her daughter was born she was rushed off to the NICU and Ellie reflects how with hindsight perhaps this course of action wasn't entirely necessary.   Ellie's website: https://www.coupld.co/ Ellie's parenting course: https://www.coupld.co/prebaby-bootcamp  Ellie's IG: https://www.instagram.com/coupldco/  My website: www.serenalouth.comMy IG: https://www.instagram.com/serenalouth/