Healing Birth

22/12/2025

✨New podcast episode out now✨

I speak with blossoming birth worker, and mother of two, Libby, from . Her story reveals the lessons and growth her mothering journey has brought about, especially in trying to plan a reverent and undisturbed second birth. Libby birthed both of her babies at home, with the second being a free birth.

Tune in to hear about the challenges Libby faced in trying to achieve her desired birth, the reasons why her free birth was not the experience she had hoped for, but was the one she’d needed, and how the work that we did together helped Libby to unravel her trauma. Part of that work was training with me to become a certified Healing Birth practitioner so that she is now equipped with the skills and tools to help others to find healing after a traumatic birth experience.

🌿 If this podcast episode piques your own interest around my Healing Birth Practitioner Training course, you might want to explore joining my next training round, beginning on February 23rd, 2026. It’s an online course with both self-paced lesson content, and a weekly interactive Zoom session. This course is open to anyone with an interest in holistic birth trauma support, no matter where in the world you are based. For further details head here: https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/hb-practitioner-training. Or flick me a DM and let’s chat about it 🌿

But for now, enjoy this enlightening journey that Libby takes us on, in sharing her story. Listen now on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ydX6BlyTM5IRRR0O8alJf?si=uDwFaYVxQoaW8xANLlO8rQer

09/12/2025

🦋 New podcast episode out now 🦋

In this podcast episode I chat with Aleisha Black. She and her sister co-founded , a charitable organisation whose aim is to improve the experiences of families who are met with the heartbreak of an early pregnancy loss.

Tune in to hear about the compassionate work that Miscarriage Matters is undertaking, and the campaigning they’re doing to ensure maternity services are better meeting the needs of women who experience miscarriage.

Just a wee note first, since recording this podcast, Aleisha brought to my attention that in March this year, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) released new ‘Miscarriage, Recurrent Miscarriage and Ectopic Pregnancy Clinical Guidelines’. Within the document RANZCOG defines recurrent miscarriage as the loss of two or more intrauterine pregnancies of up to 20 weeks gestation, whereas in our interview, Aleisha defines recurrent miscarriage as being the old definition of ‘three or more consecutive miscarriages’ since she was unaware of the new guideline at the time.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/60wbQDmZkuVE9lSYcp6BuX?si=ASWGjL6gRMCAv_Gg8XVztA

👀 Or watch on the Healing Birth YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/IGs7faf8xdY?si=fZj56Wx77OMlhwrP

miscarriageawareness birthtrauma birthtraumahealing birthtraumarecovery maternityservices maternalmentalhealth birthtraumaawareness missedmiscarriage

14/11/2025

🌿 New podcast episode out now 🌿

In this podcast episode I speak with Emma Perks , a pelvic health physiotherapist. Emma is not only incredibly talented in her work, she has a heart of gold and a trauma informed approach, vital pieces of the puzzle when it comes to birth trauma prevention and healing.

In talking with Emma, I learnt that our pelvic floor is basically the bottom of our nervous system. In other words, what is going on with our pelvic floor will pretty much tell us how safe we are on the planet. Through this lens she explains why those who have a history of period problems, or PCOS, or endometriosis, or painful s*x, or recurrent UTIs, anything related to the pelvic region, would do well to work with a pelvic health physio before giving birth.

So much of what Emma and I discuss highlights the powerful mind-body connection, and how key a subjective experience of safety is in preventing needless birth trauma and pelvic floor damage. Among much else, we talk about perineal massage, prenatal movement, pelvic girdle pain, reducing the likelihood of bad tears in birth, and what postpartum physio support entails.

I hope you find this podcast episode as informative, enlightening and encouraging as I did.

✨Listen now: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Ob7Ch2w15cyC5zncxSUKL?si=1rGkzZZvShukcxojj7NVBA
✨Or watch on the Healing Birth YouTube channel

04/11/2025

Can you imagine how it would feel to be able to confidently guide someone through healing from their traumatic birth experience?

My Healing Birth Practitioner Training (HBPT) programme is designed to set my graduates up with ALL the skills, tools and knowledge to be able to offer the same support to others that I have been offering for 11 years now.

Learn the art and science of holistic birth trauma support. Join my next round of HBPT - starts 23 February 2026

Head here for more info and to apply: https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/hb-practitioner-training. Or send me a DM 👏🏽

Feeling the pull? Get in touch! I have offered this training for 5 years, teaching over 140 passionate women… Join us ✨💜✨

29/09/2025

My next cohort of Healing Birth Practitioner trainees are nearing the end of their training with me. As their final assessment task, they are required to hold an Unravelling Your Trauma session with someone, and to gain feedback from the person they worked with.

If you are interested in having a session with one of my fabulous team of trainees, this is a really wonderful win-win opportunity. The session would take place via Zoom (so it doesn’t matter where in the world you live), and is likely to last around 2 hours. The Healing Birth trainee will support you to talk through your story, help you unravel it so that you can gain a clearer understanding of why you have been left feeling the ways you do about your birth, and offer you some tools for ongoing processing and healing. They will also send you a follow-up email which covers any suggested tools, resources, instructions etc that were discussed.

In exchange, you are asked to fill out a feedback survey for them, and give them a small koha/donation.

Please DM me with your email address if you are interested in taking advantage of this offer. I will then put you in touch with one of my trainees and the two of you can arrange a time for the session that suits you both.

If you are someone who is potentially keen to do my Healing Birth Practitioner Training yourself, and you have your own story of birth trauma, putting your hand up for one of these sessions can be a really helpful way to gain deeper insight into the training before making a call about it (it’s also really good to have had an opportunity to work through your birth trauma before commencing the training).

My next Healing Birth Practitioner Training programme is likely to run in February or March 2026, and may potentially have a different format. Subscribe to keep updated. To find out more about this training, head here: https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/hb-practitioner-training 💜 You can also DM me to enquire about training with me and to be added to my mailing list 😊

25/08/2025

✨New Episode Out Now✨

This isn’t Chloe’s first podcast episode with me. I interviewed her back in May 2024 after learning about her traumatic first birth when she requested a debriefing session with one of the trainees from my Healing Birth Practitioner Training course. At that stage, Chloe hadn’t yet become pregnant again, so she didn’t have a story to share of a healing birth experience. Instead, she talked about Olivia’s difficult birth, and the journey she had travelled over the time since, including the healing work she’d done, and readying herself for the conscious conception of her next baby.

Today’s interview is all about that ‘next baby’ of Chloe’s - her pregnancy with him, his birth, and their early postpartum weeks. The two birth and new motherhood experiences Chloe has had couldn’t be more contrasting. Throughout Ruben’s pregnancy and birth Chloe chose to have no medical or midwifery input, not even a pregnancy test to confirm that the signs her body was giving were indeed due to a little bub growing in her womb. She so generously shares her powerful story of tuning in, trusting, asking for what’s needed, and surrender.

I highly recommend having a listen to Chloe’s first interview with me before diving into this one, if you haven’t already done so. Links to watch or listen are found below.

Also discussed in this episode:
* partner’s hesitations with unassisted birth
* Mother Blessing
* reconciling a positive birth and postpartum after a traumatic first
* postpartum preparation
* community postpartum support
* naturally healing a tear

You can listen to Chloe’s first podcast episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6CzZtHBlPdK16JZnSf86xM?si=yWJbkROyTgubA8kIHf_3MQ

And you can listen to this latest one here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5MAxklJGAj6D2AbVF1hL3c?si=j8hgjiQMRyaTRN5e2KLj1Q

And you can watch both on the Healing Birth YouTube channel

06/08/2025

🌺 New Podcast Episode Out Now 🌺

Georgia’s first baby was 5.1kg (that is, 11lb, 5oz), something that curtailed her initial home birth plans and saw her birthing in the hospital. This, along with feeding into a narrative which convinced Georgia that she shouldn’t feel pain in her birth, led to a less than ideal experience and a second degree tear. As well, Georgia and her man were sent spiralling down a postpartum anxiety hole, in part because of poor preparation, unhelpful expectations and a lack of support. This was all exacerbated by the Covid lockdown restrictions at the time.

Hear about how Georgia and her man navigated their relationship as struggling new parents, and how they set themselves up for an incredibly healing, beautiful and empowering home birth with their second, along with a peaceful and joy-filled postpartum.

(By the way, Georgia’s second baby was 4.6kg (10lb, 2oz), and was born after just 2.5 hours of labour, something she forgot to share during our interview)

Also discussed in this episode:
* Stretch and sweep
* Irregular contractions
* Artificial rupture of membranes
* Maternal and paternal postnatal depression and anxiety, including panic attacks
* Intrusive thoughts
* Counselling
* Postpartum preparation
* Birth planning process - birth mapping
* Home birth with sibling present
* Fast labour
* Birth photos

✨ Follow Georgia on Instagram and check out her website www.alightbeheld.com ✨

03/07/2025

Do you know what Birth Trauma Aotearoa’s 50 for 50 campaign is all about?

EVERY DAY in NZ around 50 women experience a traumatic birth. The 50 for 50 campaign aims to raise awareness of this.

New families deserve so much better

💙 Why 50? 💙
Research tells us that 1 in 3 birthing parents report their birth as traumatic.

This means that, in Aotearoa, around 50 birthing people PER DAY leave birth traumatised or feeling very negative about their experience.

50 Mums yesterday, 50 Mums today, 50 Mums tomorrow...

These numbers are huge.
And they need to change.

The 50 for 50 campaign aims to raise awareness of birth-related trauma as well as acknowledge and honour the 50 people per day who leave birth feeling broken.

How can you support the birth trauma community?
💙 Join us – choose a 50.
💙 The beauty of this campaign is that it meets you where you’re at meaning you decide the 50 you want to do.
You could cycle 50kms or raranga for 50 mins or ask 50 friends to each donate $1 to support our work or read 50 pages of your favourite book or call 5 friends and talk with each for 10 minutes, or spend an extra 50 seconds in the shower....
You can do it solo, or with friends; privately, or not.
Your 50 can be big or small, with others or by yourself, aim to raise funds for our work or just raise your voice.

We’d love to hear about your 50 for 50!
Tag us or DM us and tell us what you've done 💙

02/07/2025

Today Carla brings you a bit of a different episode. She’s joined by six women who, like she is, are core members of the Wise Women Network. This is a fast growing movement that aims to protect physiological birth and champion women-led care through connections with birth-workers and mothers who are seeking their support. Tune in to hear more about their ‘why’ and be inspired by their fire, heart and passion.

**If you want to be a part of the Wise Women Network, you can join us on the following social media pages**

Facebook group aimed at birth worker support and information: Wise Women Network NZ https://www.facebook.com/groups/538842372367843

Facebook group aimed at consumer support and information: Wise Women Network: Birth Support (to Birth YOUR Way) https://www.facebook.com/groups/622612260514529

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/wisewomennetwork_nz/

Tune into the Healing Birth With Carla podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7quxDJg4gPWIfaVGQhBDtl?si=EP4dh-SuQCSD1XsQZMvlOA

Or watch podcast recordings on the Healing Birth YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/_qi2E-kCAeA?si=Cc4CBOx1rgFJgFtH

18/06/2025

Kate trained with me to become a Healing Birth practitioner at the end of 2023. She'd previously sought my support surrounding the upcoming birth of her second baby, given her first was a traumatic cesarean.

As the heart-fuelled, determined character that she is, Kate did all she could to set herself up for a positive home birth. Although she needed a cesarean in the end, she described her son's birth as a healing one (you can hear Kate share her story in full on the Healing Birth With Carla podcast episode titled, 'A Tale of 2 Very Different Cesareans, & Kate's Path to Training With Me' https://open.spotify.com/episode/1j8VNm2NqkDCxaHAJxmQxv?si=aK3glAlMQuiK-hrRE_OcwA)

A fire had been lit in Kate's belly. She knew she wanted to incorporate birth trauma healing into her Social Work role, after having learned how powerfully impactful such support can be. And that is what she did.

In her podcast interview, Kate says "...putting it out there to other women that have an inkling of feeling they're called to do this training, just do it. You will not regret it."

Is this training calling you?

Apply now! Spaces are limited. For course details and to apply, head here: https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/hb-practitioner-training

Or send me a DM and I'll get the link to your inbox 💜

17/06/2025

Meet Carla, the founder of Healing Birth and Healing Birth Practitioner Training.

With such a high incidence of birth trauma occurring, and knowing that the healing work she’s done with hundreds of families has been so helpful, Carla created a course to teach others how to offer similar support.

Her 10 week programme gives trainees the knowledge, skills and tools they need to truly support women in their healing journey.

To date Carla has trained over 100 practitioners, she’s recorded 80+ podcast episodes, supporting and promoting healing from birth trauma, and she is about to launch the next round of Healing Birth Practitioner Training.

Are you ready to support mothers to reclaim their sense of self, find healing and re-write their birth stories?

For course details and to apply, head here: https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/hb-practitioner-training

Send a DM to arrange a call to talk through your questions 💜

10/06/2025

For a decade now, I’ve been working in the field of birth trauma support. Over this time I have developed my own unique methods and tools for helping people to unravel their trauma and find the healing they deserve. Hundreds of families have benefitted from my Healing Birth work - it’s such a privilege and a buzz to be a part of that incredibly important and special journey.

But I’m one person, and the need is great. So, since the beginning of 2021, I’ve been training people to do what I do! Over an intensive 10 week period of online study and connection, I teach my passionate students about how to become a confident and competent Healing Birth practitioner. It’s a pretty epic time! We meet and work together via Zoom once a week to discuss the weekly lesson (1.5 hour recording) content - these interactive Zooms are 🔥✨

Here’s what one of my past students have had to say about their training:

“This course deeply supported my own healing journey, alongside giving me the confidence, knowledge and skills to hold space for others to walk this path. I connected with a powerhouse group of soulful women, was seen/heard/validated in my experience and expression, and finished the course absolutely LIT UP by this revolutionary birth work.” Bella

The next training begins July 28th 2025.

For more information head here: https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/hb-practitioner-training

If you know you’re keen to apply, go for it! Tap on the above link and you’ll see the tab for applying.

Or, if you want to have a chat with me, let’s make a time to do that. Send me a DM now ✨