Episode 59: The Missing Piece of Birth Preparation with Kim of Austin Doula Care

In this episode, we sit down with Kim Borchert, birth and postpartum doula and IBCLC intern, to unpack what birth preparation actually looks like. With over a decade of experience and hundreds of births attended, Kim brings a perspective that challenges the belief that preparing for birth is mostly physical. We dig into why birth is largely mental and emotional, how unprocessed expectations can shape birth trauma, and what it really takes to prepare for labor, both medicated and unmedicated. This conversation bridges clinical insight with lived experience, highlighting the gap between how we prepare for birth and what actually matters in the moment.🧠 Birth is 90% mental, 10% physical🔥 How expectations, not outcomes, drive birth trauma🧘‍♀️ Learning to sit in discomfort (instead of avoiding it) and why that is helpful for birth🤝 The real role of a doula💉 Epidurals: timing matters more than you think🚿 Showers, spiky balls, and the “midwife’s epidural”😵‍💫 When pain coping tools work… until they don’t🍼 Postpartum: the part no one prepares forYou can’t control how birth unfolds—but you can prepare for how you meet it.Find The Birds: 📧 [email protected]📲 Follow along on Instagram: @ladybirdpt🩺 Learn more or book with us: ladybirdpt.com⭐️ Leave us a review—it helps more parents find this info🔥 Let’s keep smashing the patriarchy—one pelvic floor at a time.Find Kim:📲 Follow along on Instagram: @austindoulacare ⭐️ If you’re local to Austin - find doulas, classes and more at: https://www.austindoulacare.com/In this episode: