39 | Jana, Valentýna & Tomáš - Active Pregnancies, Induction, Precipitous Hospital Birth & Midwife-Led Care in Czech Republic

In this episode we hear Jana share the births of her two little ones, Valentýnka and Tomášek. Jana is a personal trainer and she was just 23 years old when she got pregnant the first time. We talk about the changes in the body and still being able to stay active up until birth and the importance of working with our breath in labour. With her daughter, she got induced with a sweep at 40+5 and gave birth with the support of midwives in a hospital in Plzeň where her parents live. She got to come home to her mom’s house for the immediate postpartum and we talk about the importance of having good and proper support during that delicate time.

Jana’s second pregnancy was planned, and she found out she was expecting her son in the fall of 2020, just after Czech Republic went into the longest lockdown because of the pandemic. She shares that it was actually a really nice space to be pregnant in, working a bit more from home and being able to rest more when she needed. Jana also studied hypnobirthing in preparation for this birth and prepared herself more with yoga and breathwork to support her wish for a natural birth.

This time Jana was in Prague, and chose to give birth at Apolinář Maternity Hospital. She had a quick labour, only about 2 hours and she gave birth to her son with the full support of lovely midwives on a late June morning. Jana shares how it was different being home with two little ones instead of just one and we talk about how it can be very difficult if we have an infant who isn’t sleeping for longer stretches of time.

Jana really recommends reading about Hypnobirthing and listen to other parent’s Birth Stories to prepare and inform yourself for birth.

If you would like to reach out to Jana you can send me an email at the9monthspodcast@gmail.com and I’ll forward everything to her from there.

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*The stories on this podcast are personal experiences and should never be interpreted as medical advice. Always seek out a birth professionals expertise before making any medical decisions. The 9 Months Podcast is in no way advocating for a specific kind of birth, but on the contrary, we believe that all births are beautiful, just as they are.