Podcasts

MamasteFit Podcast

Every Friday

Birth Story

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Birth Planning Tips from a Labor Nurse and Doula

Gina and Roxanne

Fixing Labor Stalls: When is Pitocin the Answer?

In this episode Gina and Roxanne delve into the topic of labor stalls associated with power- including both the effectiveness of contractions as well as your mental/emotional state, as part of their labor stalls series. They discuss signs of labor stalls due to insufficient contraction strength and offer various solutions. They give advice on how to maintain adequate contraction strength through rest, nutrition, hydration, and emotional wellness.

Gina and Roxanne

Fixing Labor Stalls Due to Baby's Position

Gina and Roxanne

Understanding Gestational Diabetes with Lily Nichols, RDN

Gina and Roxanne sit down with registered dietitian nutritionist and author, Lily Nichols, for a comprehensive discussion on gestational diabetes and prenatal nutrition. Nichols shares her insights on preconception planning, gestational diabetes testing, and management methods during pregnancy. She highlights the long-term effects of gestational diabetes on both mother and child, and explains the difference between recommended daily nutrient intake versus optimal nourishment based on up-to-date research.

Gina and Roxanne

Epidural Tips: Support Your Labor Progress with Pain Relief

Gina and Roxanne

First Trimester Fitness Recommendations & Myths Busted

In this episode Gina and Roxanne discuss fitness in the first trimester. They address concerns about exercise during this stage and debunk myths related to potential risks of working out in early pregnancy. They share the science on the benefits of exercise, particularly in promoting placental development and function. However, they also emphasize that expecting mothers shouldn’t force themselves to exercise if they are experiencing fatigue and discomfort, assuring listeners it’s okay to rest and just ‘grow a human’ – you’re doing more than enough!

Gina and Roxanne

Pushing Biomechanics and Tips for Birth

Gina and Roxanne

How to Use Social Media for Birth Preparation and Planning with midwife, Heather, CNM

In this episode, Gina sits down with Heather Helton, a certified nurse midwife in North Carolina. Heather uses social media to educate patients on pre-conception, conception, pregnancy, and more, as everyone deserves the same access to care and education to make informed decisions on their own experiences. She shares how you can optimize your time with your OB provider, especially if you have limited time at your appointments with them, and how you can use other resources to provide you the general information about pregnancy and birth.

Gina and Roxanne

Balancing Hormones & Conceiving Through Egg Donor IVF with Jenni Sills

Gina and Roxanne

Navigating Pregnancy After Loss

In this episode of the MamasteFit Podcast, Gina is joined by her husband, Barron, as they share their personal journey of navigating pregnancy after experiencing two miscarriages. They discuss the emotional challenges they faced, the difficulty in feeling confident about subsequent pregnancies, and how they coped with the anxiety. The couple also highlights the importance of a supportive community in times of grief and provides tips for both the person experiencing the pregnancy loss and their partner.

Gina and Roxanne

Understanding Osteopathic Medicine with Dr. Sibyl Knight

Gina and Roxanne

Helping Baby Engage In The Pelvis

In this episode Gina and Roxanne explain the anatomy of the pelvis and the importance of opening each level during childbirth. This episode focuses on how the top of the pelvis, or inlet, opens; and how certain exercises and movements can aid in creating more space in this area during pregnancy and birth. The hosts share insightful information about the three distinct levels of the pelvis and the biomechanics involved in childbirth.

Gina and Roxanne

Prep for Birth & Pelvic Floor PT with Dr Johanna Provencher

Gina and Roxanne sit down with pelvic floor physical therapist Dr. Johanna Provencher to discuss the important role physical therapy plays in prenatal care and how rehabilitation of the pelvic floor can impact pregnancy and birth. Johanna emphasizes the importance of working with a physical therapist who takes a holistic approach and examines the whole body, instead of focusing solely on symptoms in the pelvic floor.

Gina and Roxanne

Preparing for Conception

Gina and Roxanne, discuss personal and professional approaches to preparing for conception. The discussion includes the importance of understanding your menstrual cycle, fitness, diet, sleep, and finding support for your specific needs through blood work, and supplements. Gina, who plans to conceive her fourth child, shares her personal journey and the strategies she’s putting into place. The duo also touch on how their fitness programs have helped them and can help prospective mothers prepare their bodies for pregnancy.

Gina and Roxanne

Debunking Common Prenatal Fitness Myths

In this episode of the MamasteFit Podcast, hosts Gina and Roxanne, experts in perinatal fitness, debunk common prenatal fitness myths. They explore the importance of movement for pregnant women, explaining why it is not only safe but beneficial for both mother and baby. They discuss prenatal fitness’s role in enhancing resilience to stress, brain development, and health outcomes for babies, as well as its impact on postpartum recovery and overall comfort for expectant mothers.

Gina and Roxanne

Prolapse: The Comforting Truth About a Scary Sounding Diagnosis

In this episode of the MamasteFit Podcast, hosts Gina and Roxanne engage in an enlightening discussion about pelvic organ prolapse, its impact, and how it can be managed. The topic holds significance for pregnant women, mothers, and anyone involved in perinatal fitness and health. It commences with an overview of what pelvic organ prolapse entails and the fear it often brings. They emphasize that although the condition may seem terrifying, effective management can render it asymptomatic. They explore potential causes, symptoms, and address some common queries about its impact on vaginal birth and lifestyle changes.

Gina and Roxanne

Prenatal Yoga and Preparing for Birth with Sarah Ezrin

In this episode Gina and Roxanne welcome yoga teacher and author, Sarah Ezrin, to discuss the role of yoga in prenatal fitness and preparation for birth. Throughout the discussion, the trio tackle topics such as the importance of empowering mothers to understand where and when they may need modifications, and recognizing when a movement may or may not be suitable- rather than focusing solely on what NOT to do.

Gina and Roxanne

Tips for Traveling with Kids

As the holiday season is officially upon us, Roxanne and Gina share their tips for traveling with young children. They’ve conquered it all, from flying across the globe to road trips across the country, and they sit down to discuss what has worked best for them when traveling with kids ages infant through six years!

Gina and Roxanne

Chiropractic Care for Pregnancy and Beyond with Dr. Savannah Gardner

In this episode we discuss the benefits of chiropractic care during pregnancy and beyond with Webster Certified pediatric and perinatal chiropractor, Dr. Savannah Gardner. Dr. Gardner shares her own healing journey and discusses what exactly chiropractic care is and how it can be a beneficial addition to our perinatal journeys

Gina and Roxanne

Roxanne's Postpartum Healing Journey

This week Roxanne shares her postpartum healing journey 10 weeks after giving birth to her third baby. From having a postpartum hemorrhage through the six weeks postpartum, to her initial return to fitness, Roxanne takes us through the highs and lows of her experience and shares some of the knowledge she has acquired along the way.

Gina and Roxanne

Diastasis Recti: Understanding Abdominal Separation to Heal Postpartum

In this week’s episode, we’re going to be talking all about diastasis recti, also known as DRA, DR, coning, or abdominal separation. This is the normal abdominal separation that occurs during pregnancy. Join us as Gina and Roxanne chat about how to decrease the severity of diastasis recti, and also what you can do to heal it in the postpartum!

Gina and Roxanne

Birth Biomechanics with midwife, Molly O'Brien

In this episode, Gina sits down with Molly O’Brien, a midwife with over 25 years of experience. Molly is also an associate university lecturer, who created and currently teaches courses on biomechanics for birth for midwives and other births related professionals and their associates. Molly educates us on how the birth work model got to be so medicalized, why it’s outdated, and what we should know about the pelvis and birth.

Gina and Molly

Navigating Comments About You Postpartum Body

You asked, and we listened! We have recently seen questions via our Facebook group regarding how best to respond when someone makes a comment about our postpartum bodies. We sit down with Casey Backus, one of our dear friends and OG MamasteFit Moms, and discuss our own personal experiences, the responses we have found to be helpful, and what we recommend you say when interacting with a postpartum mother who may be struggling to feel comfortable in her new body.

Gina and Casey

The Importance of Fascia for Pre/Postnatal Fitness with Jill Miller

In this episode, we’re chatting with Jill Miller, who is a fascia expert with 30 years of corrective movement expertise that forges links between the worlds of yoga, massage, athletics, and pain management. Her signature self care fitness programs, Yoga Tune Up and The Roll Model, are found in gyms, yoga studios, hospitals, athletic facilities, and corporations worldwide. Jill sits down to discuss how we can integrate the fascial system to optimize our recovery after birth.

Gina and Jill

Training With Your Cycle with Dr. Addie Holzmann

In this episode, we chat with pelvic floor physical therapist Dr. Addie Holzmann all about how you can train with your menstrual cycle. When it comes to training with your cycle, we’re not necessarily going to be completely omitting exercises or completely modifying our workout routine. Rather, we want to recognize the different phases within our cycles, which hormones are at play and how they effect our training abilities, and know that our recovery needs may change.

Gina and Addie

VBAC vs Repeat C-Section

In this episode, we’re going to be breaking down what you need to know about choosing between VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean), and repeat C-sections. VBAC is an option for 30% of people who have previously given birth via C-section. Currently, in the United States, the C-section rate is around 30%, and of that 30%, a large majority are great candidates for a vaginal birth after C-section, if that is their choice. As always, we are supportive of whatever you decide is best for YOU and your family.

Gina and Roxanne

Joan's Birth Story, Roxanne's Third Birth

In this special episode of the MamasteFit podcast, Roxanne shares her third birth story, the birth of Baby Joan! Roxanne gave birth in the hospital for her third baby. She had an unmedicated birth, but this birth was different than her previous ones and she shares how this mentally affected her during her labor. Roxanne did have a postpartum hemorrhage, and explains how this has affected her recovery after birth.

Gina and Roxanne

Labor Stalls: Resolving Issues In Your Birth

We are honored to chat with Lakeesha Murphy-Spencer and Renee Harvey, two certified nurse midwives whom Roxanne worked with previously as Labor and Delivery nurses. We discuss all things labor stalls! What causes a labor stall? What are the different things that we can do to help resolve those labor stalls? These two ladies are a wealth of information and experience, and we think you will enjoy getting to know them and learning from them as much as we did!

Gina and Murphy

C-Section Recovery: Returning to Fitness After a Cesarean Birth

Gina and Casey developed the MamasteFit C-Section Recovery Program that includes fitness programming and C-section scar mobilization to enhance your recovery after a Cesarean birth. So much of postpartum recovery treats C-section the same as vaginal birth but we know a Cesarean birth is VALID, and the recovery involves a lot more!

Gina and CASY

Meg Scanlon, International Powerlifting Champion AND Mom!

Listen as we chat with Meg Scanlon, who placed first in the International Powerlifting Federation World Classic Powerlifting Championship in 2022, and second in 2023. She was around 19 months postpartum after a Caesarean birth with twin girls when she won a gold medal! Meg will be sharing her postpartum return to competitive lifting and the challenges she had along the way to earn her title as world champion.

Gina and Meg

Fertility & Your Menstrual Cycle with Sophia Pavia, Registered Dietitian

Sophia is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist who specializes in women’s fertility. Her greatest area of expertise is helping women tailor their nutrition and lifestyles to support healthy progesterone production, strengthen their luteal phases, and increase their chances of healthy implantation and pregnancy.

Gina and Sophia

24: Top Two Movements to Prep for Birth

Top Two Movements to Prep for Birth! In this episode, we discuss the two important movement patterns: internal rotation at the hip and a posterior pelvic tilt. These two movement patterns may be more difficult to achieve during pregnancy, and the inability to find these movements can cause issues during your labor!

Gina and Roxanne

23: Is Your Pelvis Too Small? Probably Not

Is your pelvis too small for a vaginal birth?? Likely not! The pelvis has a lot of movement capability to change shape and increase diameters to fit your baby. Plus, your baby’s skull will mold and change shape to fit through the pelvis too!

Gina and Roxanne

22: Roxanne's Postpartum Prep with Baby #3

In this episode, we will be discussing how Roxanne’s Preparing for the Postpartum period to include Household tasks, children entertainment, supply gathering, and mental prep!

Gina and Roxanne

21: Secondary Infertility with Tarrah Lee

In this episode, we will be discussing first trimester pregnancy loss, navigating conception with secondary infertility, and navigating pregnancy after loss. If you find that these topics are sensitive for you, please proceed with caution or skip this episode of our podcast!

Gina and Tarrah

20: Pain Relief with Dr. Puja Shah

In today’s episode, we will be interviewing Dr. Puja Shah, about epidurals and spinals, two pain management techniques for labor and birth, and how her own Cesarean birth has shaped how she approaches her career as an anesthesiologist. Dr. Shah is a double board certified anesthesiologist and interventional pain management specialist based out of New York City.

Gina and Puja

19: Baby's First Year Milestones with Dr Amelie, Pediatric PT

Dr. Amelie is a pediatric physical therapist who specializes in gross motor development and wellness. She has worked in all areas of pediatric health, from hospitals to outpatient clinics, as well as home visits. Her own experience as a first time mom brought to light just how little education and support parents are given with regards to developmental milestones, gross motor skills, and essentially what the heck to do with a baby!

Gina and Amelie

Induction Methods

In this episode, we will be talking all about induction. What is it? Why and when is it recommended? What is involved with an induction of labor? What are some of the risks and benefits? We will also be discussing some common fears that people have associated with being induced, including Gina’s own personal experience from her first birth!

Gina and Roxanne

Birth Partner Support: Barron's Story of Supporting Gina in Birth

Gina’s birth partner and husband, Barron, shares his perspective on their three pregnancies and births! They discuss how Barron was able to support Gina during their births and tips for birth partners on how to advocate for, and provide comfort to, their partners during birth.

Gina and Barron

Breech Birth with Dr. Stu Fischbein

In this episode, we will chat with Dr. Stuart Fischbein of Birthing Instincts and Vaginal Rebirth about his experience transitioning from an obstetrician in a hospital setting to a private practice supporting home births. We will discuss how breech positioning should be treated as a variation of normal vaginal birth, but finding skilled and like-minded providers has become less and less common in the United States.

Gina and Roxanne

Pushing: Understanding the Second Stage of Labor

In this episode, we discuss the second stage of labor: pushing! You may feel afraid or worried about how pushing will go; it’s not something we do or witness very often, so there is a lot of unknown with it!

with Gina and Roxanne

Tongue Ties: Fad or Fact with Dr. Jordan Hubbard, Functional Dentist

In this episode, we interview Dr. Jordan Hubbard, a dentist in Southern Pines, North Carolina, on tongue ties and their impact on not only breastfeeding but long-term airway health and the implications for our overall health! Casey Backus, physical therapist and yoga teacher, shares her expertise on myofascial connections and lines and the relationship our tongue has to our overall mobility and movement mechanics!

with Gina and Roxanne

Breastfeeding Journeys: Exclusive Breastfeeding, Pumping, and Struggles

In this episode, we share our personal breastfeeding journeys, both the joy and struggles as we learned how to nurse our babies. All four of us exclusively breastfed for at least the first year of life (and for three of us over 2+ years), but each had our own struggles and approaches.

with Gina and Roxanne

Postpartum Return to Fitness: Birth to Return to Lifting Progression

In this episode, we will be discussing how to approach your postpartum recovery from day 1 after birth to getting back to lifting weights. We share how to approach your early postpartum recovery, and how important it is to take it slow and honor the process. When we do TOO much too soon, we could prolong our healing process.

with Gina and Roxanne

Casey's Birth Stories: Unplanned C-Sections and Healing After Birth

Join us as Casey Backus, one of our founding members

shares her infertility story and journey to motherhood and the birth stories of her sons. Casey’s first birth started with a 37-week induction due to preeclampsia, a prenatal complication, that ended in an unplanned cesarean birth.

with Gina and Casy

Gina’s Third Birth: Home Birth of Sophie During Hurricane Ian

Listen as Gina shares about her third birth, second home birth, during Hurricane Ian in October 2022! Gina shares about her pregnancy, and being “overdue,” finally going into labor at 41+2. Third births are commonly considered to be the “wild card” birth, where anything can happen! Gina also shares about the emotions in early postpartum, and navigating the possibility of Sophie being her final baby.

With Gina

Pelvic Floor Prep for Birth with Hayley Kava, Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist

Pelvic Floor Prep for Birth with Hayley Kava, Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist In this episode, we are chatting with Hayley Kava, pelvic floor physical therapist, about how we can prepare our pelvic floor for birth! Spoiler alert, doing kegels are not included in our recommended birth preparation exercises.

With Gina and Hayley

Roxanne's Second Birth Story: The Birth of Colin in a Freestanding Birth Center

Roxanne shares her second birth story, where she gave birth in a freestanding birth center in Monterey California. Roxanne’s second pregnancy started out eventful with bleeding towards the end of her first trimester, which resolved in the second trimester with no further complications! Roxanne and her family moved across the country in her third trimester, and she transferred care to a local freestanding birth center for the birth of her son!

with Gina and roxanne

Processing Your Birth Story with Dr. Alyssa Berlin, Perinatal Psychologist

In this episode, we chat with Dr. Berlin, a perinatal psychologist, on how we can begin to approach processing our birth story if it was not the positive experience we had been preparing for.

With Gina and Alyssa

Eoghan’s Home Birth Story During the COVID Pandemic

Listen as Gina shares her second birth story! Gina shares about her pregnancy losses and then finally getting pregnant with her rainbow baby. Originally, she had planned to give birth in a hospital but due to hospital restrictions switched in her third trimester to a home birth.

With Gina

Pelvic Pain: Overcoming Pelvic Pain During Pregnancy

You do NOT need to be in pain during pregnancy! There is a common misconception that pelvic pain is something that needs to be suffered through during pregnancy, and the only solution is birth. This is NOT true!!

With Gina and Roxanne

Roxanne's Birth Story: The Birth of Lily

Listen to how Roxanne’s first birth was shaped by our experience as birth workers 2 years after the conception of MamasteFit. Roxanne’s first birth was an empowering hospital birth in a military hospital.

With Gina and Roxanne

Preparing for Birth with Prenatal Fitness

Physically preparing for birth is more than just doing a lot of squats and prenatal yoga. Learn how incorporating internal rotation into your prenatal workouts may be more beneficial for labor prep and preventing labor stalls!

With Gina and Roxanne

Gina's Birth Story: The Birth of Adeline

Listen to how Gina’s first birth and pregnancy made way for the birth of MamasteFit. Gina’s first birth was a hospital birth in a military hospital.

With Gina and Roxanne

The Birth of MamasteFit: Our Origin Story

The story of how MamasteFit started and developed into what we are now! Learn the challenges we faced over the years, and how we became the go-to perinatal resource for fitness and childbirth education!

With Gina, Roxanne, and Casey

MamasteFit GUEST Appearances

Understanding Fitness Before, During and After Pregnancy with Gina Conley

Movement and exercise is vital during pregnancy, but how informed do you feel? We’re bringing you this interview with Gina Conley to discuss lifting during pregnancy, as well as birthing positions. Gina explains her passion for pregnancy- specific exercise education as she felt uninformed during her pregnancy experiences.

Gina Conley on miscarriage, military hospital birthing, homebirth, being a doula and more

On her first, she was delivering at a military hospital and her sister, Roxanne, was a labor and delivery nurse who was planning to help her. She talks about how that birth went sideways and how it informed and shaped the rest of pregnancies and births and how she decided to create content to serve others!

Pelvic Movement in Pregnancy and Birth with Gina Conley

Fitness trainer, doula, and VBAC mama Gina Conley is working to get her Masters in Exercise Science, and applying all of that schooling to matters related to pregnancy and childbirth. In this Special Episode, we pick her brain and she touches on a range of topics including preparing your pelvis for childbirth and baby positioning.

Gina Conley & Roxanne Albert of MamasteFit - How to Birth Your Baby, How to Prep for Labor & Childbirth

Break the stigma about keeping pelvic health talk behind closed doors. Join us, Flyte Therapy @flytetherapy, in chatting with pelvic health experts about all things pelvic floor and beyond.

Gina Conley and Roxanne Albert are co-founders of MamasteFit. Gina, a birth doula and Masters in Science of Exercise Science, and Roxanne, a labor and delivery nurse, are THE experts on labor and childbirth.

The Heavy Metal Strength Coach Podcast: Season 1 Episode 1- Gina Conley

Gina is the head coach and founder of Mamaste. She has a Masters in Exercise Science and is a certified birth DOULA. If you aren’t sure of what a doula is, don’t worry, we’ll explain it all in the episode.

Pregnancy and Postpartum Fitness with Mamastefit's Gina Conley

This topic has been frequently requested, but since we are not remotely experts in this space, we needed to find someone who was. We’ve heard great things from a number of women who have benefited from Mamastefit’s content and services, and Gina definitely presented some great insights for anyone looking to learn more about fitness for pregnant and postpartum women.

Top 3 Tips For Exercise In Pregnancy With Gina And Roxanne of MamasteFit

In this episode, we talk with Gina and Roxanne, the sister duo behind Mamastefit about how fitness can keep you comfortable and pain-free during pregnancy and birth.