The Birth Experience with Labor Nurse Mama

Your discharge is not a problem to Google in a panic - it's one of the most powerful fertility signals your body produces. And yet, most of us were never taught that. In this episode, Trish sits down with Sabrina Nowicki, CEO of Cyclisity - the official charting app of the landmark book Taking Charge of Your Fertility - for a conversation about body literacy, fertility awareness, and why understanding your cycle might be the most empowering thing you do for your reproductive health.
Sabrina brings an engineering and product design background to her role as CEO of Cyclisity, the official charting app of Taking Charge of Your Fertility (TCOYF). Cyclisity was co-founded alongside Toni Weschler, MPH, the author of Taking Charge of Your Fertility and Sabrina's aunt. Built from the ground up to align with the TCOYF knowledge base, Cyclisity is designed to make the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) as accessible as possible for women everywhere - without sacrificing the science or the agency that makes FAM so powerful.
What You'll Learn in This Episode
What the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) actually is
The three biomarkers FAM uses to identify your fertile window: cervical fluid, basal body temperature (BBT), and optional cervical positioning
What your cervical fluid is actually telling you - from dry to sticky to creamy to egg white - and why that progression matters
How BBT confirms ovulation and why that temperature shift is your body's built-in confirmation system
Why stress, illness, and lifestyle can delay ovulation
The problem with predictive cycle apps and why apps that just calculate averages from past cycles are not the same as tracking your actual body

More from Sabrina Nowicki, CEO of Cyclisity:
Cyclisity App - Available now on the Apple App Store (US & Canada); Android version coming soon
Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler, MPH
Follow Cyclisity on Instagram: @Cyclisity & on TikTok: @Cyclisityapp
Follow Sabrina personally: @wanderingsabrina on all platforms
Visit Cyclisity.com

Helpful Timestamps:
00:00 Discharge as Fertility Signal
02:21 Why Fertility Awareness
05:56 FAM Basics Explained
13:04 Stress Delays Ovulation
16:48 Cycle Syncing Myths
22:07 Why Build Cyclisity App
27:39 Why Predictive Apps Fail
39:01 Regulating After Birth Control
45:35 Where To Find Cyclisity

Join The Calm Labor Birth Bundle - everything you need from bump to baby! Use code POD50 for $50 off!
Over 15k mamas have used our classes to prepare for a birth that they love 🤍
⭐ Download immediately ⭐App available ⭐Life-time access⭐
Connect w/ Trish:
On Instagram
On YouTube
For more pregnancy & birth education, subscribe to The Birth Experience on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Produced and Edited by Vaden Podcast Services

In this insightful podcast episode we focus on preparing for an unmedicated birth.
Emphasizing on how you can address your fears and the importance of understanding your “WHY” for choosing an unmedicated birth.
Join the Calm Mama Membership: labornursemama.com/cms
Leave a review and include your Instagram username for a chance to win our monthly raffle!
6 Ways to Prepare for An Unmedicated Birth:
Mindset Matters: Addressing your fears and your mindset happens long before the labor room. Replace your fears with TRUTH, and having a clear “WHY” for choosing an unmedicated birth is essential for a positive mindset.
Being Educated: Education gives you a sense of calm & peace to make the best decisions for your during your birth. Winging your birth is not an option.
Preparing Your Body: Understanding the power of the pelvis and movement during birth is monumental to your birth experience.
Creating a Supportive Birth Environment: If you create a birth environment that is supportive, you are going to feel safe while allowing the natural pain killers that we have flowing through our body to flow.
Unmedicated Pain Management Tools & Techniques: Understanding the importance of various unmedicated pain management techniques, including breath work, hot/cold therapy, & the comb technique.
Understanding Your Interventions & Your Birth Rights: Like I’ve said before, we don’t just refuse willy nilly. You need to know what this intervention is for, why it is used, and when it is appropriate. Should I say yes? Should I say no? You need to know your rights to navigate this.

Helpful Timestamps:
00:00 Knowing your why
03:00 How fear can physically stall or stop labor progression
05:00 Why birth education is non-negotiable
08:30 Preparing your body for birth - why the pelvis is your most powerful tool
13:30 Creating a supportive birth environment and team
19:30 Understanding interventions, the cascade effect, and your rights

Join The Calm Labor Birth Bundle - everything you need from bump to baby! Use code POD50 for $50 off!
Over 15k mamas have used our classes to prepare for a birth that they love 🤍
⭐ Download immediately ⭐App available ⭐Life-time access⭐
Connect w/ Trish:
On Instagram
On YouTube
For more pregnancy & birth education, subscribe to The Birth Experience on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Produced and Edited by Vaden Podcast Services

Most birth prep focuses on you - your breathing, your birth plan, your body. But what about the person standing next to you? Because here's the truth: if your partner isn't prepared, they will default to the doctor. Every single time. And you'll be left feeling completely alone in one of the most intense, vulnerable moments of your life.
That's exactly why I brought Lena Athena onto the show. Lena is changing how the world understands boundaries. She created the Kind Boundaries framework to show that boundaries aren't a source of conflict, they're the foundation of every healthy relationship. She's a TEDx speaker, founder of the boundaries practice app HEARD, and author of a forthcoming book on belonging and boundaries. She specializes in supporting women in the most boundary-violated season of life: the transition into motherhood.
In this episode, we cover:
Why partners shut down in the labor room
The conversation you need to have before you ever go into labor
How to have the hard conversations without blowing up your relationship
The role relationship dynamics play in the birth room
Three steps to get back on the same team if you've already drifted apart

You should not have to choose between advocating for yourself and keeping the peace. With the right preparation - and the right conversations ahead of time - you can have both.
More from Lena Athena:
Try the HEARD boundaries practice app free: https://heard.lenaathena.com/
Work with Lena privately: https://lenaathena.com/coaching
Follow Lena on Instagram & Threads @lenasathena
Helpful Timestamps:
00:00 Welcome Lena Athena
01:52 Boundaries in Motherhood
05:20 Why Advocacy Fails
08:14 Talk Before Labor
11:13 Align as Decision Makers
14:45 Practice Hard Talks
16:55 Team Based Conversations
24:45 Three Steps to Reconnect
28:19 Where to Find Lena

Join The Calm Labor Birth Bundle - everything you need from bump to baby! Use code POD50 for $50 off!
Over 15k mamas have used our classes to prepare for a birth that they love 🤍
⭐ Download immediately ⭐App available ⭐Life-time access⭐
Connect w/ Trish:
On Instagram
On YouTube
For more pregnancy & birth education, subscribe to The Birth Experience on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Produced and Edited by Vaden Podcast Services

You spent months preparing for an unmedicated birth - the classes, the breathing, the mindset. And then your provider says induction, and your stomach drops. You know it's medically the right call, but it feels like everything you planned just went out the window.
Here's what I need you to hear: induction and unmedicated birth are not mutually exclusive. I've done it three times myself, and I've helped countless students do it too.
In this episode, we're breaking down exactly what induction actually means, what your real options are, and how to stay in the driver's seat - even when the plan shifts.
Join the Calm Mama Membership: labornursemama.com/cms
Leave a review and include your Instagram username for a chance to win our monthly raffle!
💡 What We Cover:
Why induction doesn't have to mean the end of your unmedicated birth map
What cervical ripening and Bishop score actually mean - and why your cervix being "favorable" matters so much before anything else starts
Why Trish recommends against breaking your water unless you're in active labor (6+ cm and contracting regularly)
How Pitocin can be run low and slow - and even stopped once your body takes over
The story of Ashley: a first-time mom with gestational diabetes and hypertension who got the induction and the unmedicated birth she wanted
The questions to ask your provider before you ever say yes or no to an induction

More from this episode:
Listen to episode 227: Kelly’s Redemptive VBAC – From Induction & C-Section to Pulling Her Baby onto Her Chest
Read the blog: Everything You Need to Know About Being Induced Everything You Need to Know About Being Induced
Check out this Induction Workshop

Helpful Timestamps:
00:00 Inductions & Unmedicated Birth
02:22 Why Inductions Are Rising
03:56 A Student Induction Birth Story
04:57 Induction Methods Explained
06:53 Commitment And Pitocin Strategy
08:40 Mindset And Labor Pain
10:17 Questions To Ask Your Provider
11:07 Stack The Deck In Labor
12:43 You Can Still Have a Birth You Love

Join The Calm Labor Birth Bundle - everything you need from bump to baby! Use code POD50 for $50 off!
Over 15k mamas have used our classes to prepare for a birth that they love 🤍
⭐ Download immediately ⭐App available ⭐Life-time access⭐
Connect w/ Trish:
On Instagram
On YouTube
For more pregnancy & birth education, subscribe to The Birth Experience on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Produced and Edited by Vaden Podcast Services

Ever stood in the baby food aisle feeling completely lost? This episode is for you.
This week, Trish sits down with Jordyn Koveleski Gorman - licensed speech-language pathologist, feeding specialist, and founder of Eat Play Say - to talk about the stuff your pediatrician simply doesn't have time to cover at a 15-minute well visit.
With nearly a decade of clinical experience and a community of over 800,000 parents, Jordyn breaks it all down in a way that will actually make mealtimes feel less like a battle and more like a win.
Join the Calm Mama Membership: labornursemama.com/cms
Leave a review and include your Instagram username for a chance to win our monthly raffle!
In this episode, you'll learn:
🥄 The #1 mistake parents make when introducing the highchair — and the simple shift that changes everything
🥦 Baby-led weaning vs. purees: which method is better? (Hint: Jordyn's answer might surprise you)
😤 Why your toddler suddenly hates the food they loved yesterday — and exactly what to say when it happens
🍕 The food prep trick that gets picky eaters to actually try new foods (no pressure, no power struggle)
💡 How to give your toddler just enough control to make mealtimes easier for everyone

The golden nuggets you don't want to miss:
Jordyn shares that babies may need 20 to 100 presentations of a food before accepting it - so that refusal at dinner? Completely normal. She also walks through why the experience around food matters far more than the method you choose, and how to build a positive relationship with mealtimes from the very first bite.
More from Jordyn from Eat, Play, Say:
Follow her on Instagram & TikTok: @eatplaysay
Visit EatPlaySay.com & Check out her handbooks available for parents!
Helpful Timestamps:
00:00 What No One Tells You About Feeding Your Baby
04:02 Jordyn’s Story
10:42 Solids Refusal
14:59 High Chair Positive Start
15:41 Purees vs Baby Led
20:41 Choices Over Power Struggles
24:06 Control And Boundaries
29:57 Grace After Blowups
34:36 Kitchen Prep No Pressure
40:21 Validate Yucky Feelings
41:55 Where To Find Jordyn

Join The Calm Labor Birth Bundle - everything you need from bump to baby! Use code POD50 for $50 off!
Over 15k mamas have used our classes to prepare for a birth that they love 🤍
⭐ Download immediately ⭐App available ⭐Life-time access⭐
Connect w/ Trish:
On Instagram
On YouTube
For more pregnancy & birth education, subscribe to The Birth Experience on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Produced and Edited by Vaden Podcast Services