6. Tiffany's Army Birth Stories: Hospital epidural birth and home water birth, plus vaginismus diagnosis, navigating Tricare, and the importance of rest

In today's episode we'll be hearing from Army reservist Tiffany. Tiffany begins (2:56) by discussing her experience with (and subsequent diagnosis of) vaginismus, a painful condition that impacted the way she and her husband tried to conceive. She talks about the traumatic experiences she had during the course of her diagnosis and how that led to her eventual mistrust and discomfort with hospital-based providers. She then shares her first pregnancy and birth story (10:30), which took place at a civilian hospital, and her second pregnancy and birth story (23:10), which was a home water birth. During our conversation she also talks about her varied experiences with two different pelvic floor therapists, her frustration around continuity of care as she switched from Select to Prime, navigating Tricare coverage of her home birth, and the importance of rest postpartum.Resources shared:Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way by Susan McCutcheonIna May's Guide to ChildbirthThe Birth Hour PodcastEvidence Based Birth Podcast and WebsiteBridget Teyler's YouTube channelFollow along with Military Birth Talk:Instagram: @militarybirthtalkFacebook: Military Birth Resource Network & Postpartum CoalitionSubmit your birth story!forms.gle/3TT7FyV1QQV3RZGc8