Ep 78. Questioning What We’ve Been Taught About Birth with Dr. Nathan Riley, MD, OBGYN

You can know everything about birth and still not feel prepared to be inside of it.Rewire for Birth bridges that gap through education, nervous-system preparation, somatic tools, and self-advocacy—so when birth asks something of you, you have the capacity to meet the moment, pivot with intention, listen to your true self, ask questions, and use your voice.Rewire your mind. Reclaim your birth.Learn more here: ⁠⁠Rewire for BirthWhat if being prepared for birth isn't about knowing exactly what will happen—but knowing how to think, question, and advocate for yourself when it does?In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Nathan Riley, OBGYN, alongside Midwife360 founder Fadwah Halaby, for a fascinating conversation that will invite you to look at birth—and the maternity care system surrounding it—through a different lens.Nathan shares how he went from traditional obstetric training to questioning many of the practices he had been taught to accept as routine.His journey led him to learn from midwives, witness home and vaginal breech births, and reconsider what it actually means to support physiological birth rather than manage it.And throughout this conversation, we return again and again to one powerful question:Why are we doing this?If you're preparing for birth, this episode will help you:• Ask better questions about your care rather than assuming that “routine” automatically means necessary for you.• Understand interventions with greater nuance so you can have more informed conversations about induction, cervical exams, C-sections, breech birth, and other decisions that may arise.• See birth through a different lens—including what can happen when providers create space for physiology rather than automatically stepping in to manage it.• Feel more permission to participate in your own care by staying curious, understanding your options, and recognizing that expertise and your own voice can coexist.• Think differently about birth preparation itself—because preparing for birth isn't just about collecting information. It's about developing the capacity to stay connected to yourself when you're actually in the experience.One of the most important ideas in this conversation is that good care doesn't require having all the answers.Sometimes, humility matters just as much as expertise.And supporting birth doesn't always mean doing more.For me, that's also where this conversation connects so deeply to Rewire for Birth.Because knowing what questions to ask is one thing.Feeling grounded and confident enough to ask them when you're in the room is another.Rewire for Birth helps you prepare for that moment—so instead of trying to memorize the “right” way to give birth, you build the knowledge, nervous-system capacity, self-trust, and advocacy skills to navigate your birth as it unfolds.Rewire your mind. Reclaim your birth.Learn more: https://www.rewireforbirth.comCONNECT WITH DR. NATHAN RILEYWebsite: https://www.bornfreemethod.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathanrileyobgyn/CONNECT WITH FADWAH HALABYWebsite: ⁠https://midwife360.com/⁠Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/midwife360⁠CONNECT WITH CINDYWebsite: Cindy Tahhan Official WebsiteInstagram: Dr. Cindy Tahhan InstagramRewire for Birth: Rewire for Birth Instagram