8. Army Police Officer Featherstone: Hospital Birth and Home Birth Stories, Plus Single Parenting While on Active Duty and Perinatal Mental Health Support

In today's episode, we'll be hearing from Featherone (they/them), a retired Military Police Officer, who will be sharing two birth stories. The first birth (3:55) took place in a hospital setting, and while it was an "easy pregnancy," the birth and postpartum experiences were much more difficult, due in part to the lack of support from their unit, and concurrently becoming a single parent. Featherstone's second pregnancy unfortunately ended in a loss (26:06). Their next birth (27:17)  took place at home, under the care of a midwife, an experience they describe as "magical." Featherstone also shares about the unique demands of being an Active Duty single parent, how postpartum depression and anxiety manifested for them and impacted their career, and how they made the transition from serving in the Army to becoming a perinatal mental health specialist. 🫶 This episode is supported by Oceanside HypnoBirthing and Doula Services, providing doula support, HypnoBirthing classes and CAPPA Labor Doula Trainings to families at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, surrounding areas and beyond. Oceanside HypnoBirthing and Doula Services can provide care under the TRICARE Childbirth and Breastfeeding Support Demonstration. To learn more, please visit www.oceansidehypnobirthing.com, or find @oceansidehypnobirthing on Instagram and Facebook.Follow along with Military Birth Talk:Instagram: @militarybirthtalkFacebook: Military Birth Resource Network & Postpartum CoalitionSubmit your birth story!forms.gle/3TT7FyV1QQV3RZGc8