EP104: Birthing Babies who THRIVE with Toni Harman

Toni is the award-winning filmmaker and author of Your Baby’s Microbiome, the critical role of vaginal birth and breastfeeding for lifelong health...She became passionate about this mission after she ended up with a C-section and struggled to breastfeed. This was before we knew anything about the politics of birth. Her daughter’s birth sent her on a different filmmaking path. We started making films about childbirth under the banner of ONE WORLD BIRTH. We traveled thousands of miles around the world to talk to some of the most inspirational thinkers in the field of childbirth and to date, she and her husband have filmed hundreds of midwives, doulas, obstetricians, perinatologists, neonatologists, psychologists, authors, scientists and human rights lawyers.

Here are some of the gems you're in for:

• What the microbiome is and why it matters
• What the research says about c-sections and future risk for disease
• Why eating poo is a good thing for babies
• Why the way we birth matters for our grandchildren
• The risks of “topping off” with formula
• What "seeding and feeding" is and why it matters
• The downsides of certain common medical interventions
• Steps you can take to minimize the damage of common interventions
• Why Toni stopped washing with soap (and whether people noticed!)
• Why you should only wash your pits and parts
• Why doulas change lives
• Why I didn't have a doula (this will make you laugh!)
• And what you can do to help spread this important message
• And much more!