Ep 189: Top Episodes of 2022

Welcome to the last episode of the year! As always I’m incredibly grateful that you are spending some of your time with me today. So in this episode I am sharing the most downloaded episodes of 2022 from each of the main categories of the show: birth stories, expert interviews, and solo episodes. I love producing this podcast because I not only get to share my knowledge with you but I actually get to learn and grow as an OB through these interviews.

Now I often do listener shoutouts and today I want to do a listener shoutout to YOU, to every single person who is listening to me right now. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all that you do to listen, support, and share the podcast. It just means the world to me. I love getting messages saying that you appreciate the show and what it has done for you, for your pregnancy, and for your birth experience. It truly warms my heart and keeps me going during the times when this work gets challenging.

I hope you enjoy this episode and as always, don’t forget that you deserve a beautiful pregnancy and birth.

In this Episode, You’ll Learn About:

Episode 154: Karrah’s Birth Story - Easy Pregnancy, Difficult Birth
Episode 145: Crystal’s Birth Story - Laughing Through the Pain
Episode 148: Taylor’s Birth Story - Easy Births Do Happen
Episode 152: Fitness and Pregnancy with 9Round Exercise Specialist MacKenzie Rowand
Episode 158: How to Prepare for Postpartum with Nicole Makowka of LOOM
Episode 146: What Your Genetics Can Tell You with Genetic Counselor Ushta Davar Canteenwalla
Episode 147: Let’s Talk About Due Dates
Episode 160: 9 Tips for an Unmedicated (Often Referred to as “Natural”) Birth
Episode 153: Breech Birth - Updated!

Links Mentioned in the Episode

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The Birth Preparation Course
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Keywords

birth, birth story, breech birth, due dates, expert interview, genetic counseling, natural birth, pain management, popular birth podcast, popular episodes, postpartum, pregnancy, unmedicated birth

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Transcript

All About Pregnancy & Birth Podcast Transcript

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Dr. Nicole (00:00): In this episode, I am sharing the top episodes of the All About Pregnancy & Birth podcast from this year 2022. Welcome to the All About Pregnancy & Birth podcast. I'm Doctor Nicole Calloway Rankins, a board certified OBGYN, who's been in practice for nearly 15 years. I've had the privilege of helping over 1000 babies into this world, and I'm here to help you be calm, confident, and empowered to have a beautiful pregnancy in birth. Quick note, this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice. Check out the full disclaimer at drnicolerankins.com/disclaimer. Now, let's get to it.

(00:55): Hello there. Welcome to another episode of the podcast. This is episode number 189, the final one for 2022. And as always, of course, I'm so incredibly grateful that you are spending some of your time with me today. So in this episode, I am counting down the top episodes of 2022. Well, not really counting down, how about I'm sharing the top episodes cuz they're not necessarily in a particular order. What I'm going to tell you are the top three most downloaded episodes in each of the categories of episodes that I produce. So the top three birth story episodes, the top three interview episodes where I interview a guest about a topic, and then the top three solo episodes where I talk about a topic myself. And please know that of course there's some variation in how we get to these numbers in the sense that I pulled this data through the beginning of December.

(01:59): So some episodes that come out later may not have an opportunity to accrue as many downloads. I have lots of folks who start listening to the podcast and then go back and listen to older episodes. So I say all that to say that just because I'm mentioning these top three in each of the categories. Of course, all of the episodes of the podcast are wonderful. These just happen to be the ones that are most downloaded so far for the year 2022. And speaking of downloads, I cannot believe that this year at the time that I'm recording this, about mid-December, the podcast has been downloaded. Are you ready? 550,000 times over 550,000 times in 2022. That is 1500 downloads a day, over 1500 downloads a day. And I'm so grateful for you all tuning in listening. This has been one of the greatest joys of my life to create this podcasting and continuing to do this podcast.

(02:57): So appreciate all of you who are listening right now. I often do listener shout outs in the episodes. And today I wanna do a listener shout out to you, to every single person who is listening to me right now. I so appreciate you listening, downloading, supporting, sharing the podcast. I love getting messages, dms in Instagram or email messages or just comments on posts that you appreciate the podcast and what it has done for you, for your pregnancy, for your birth experience. It just really, really warms my heart and keeps me going on those times when sometimes this work can be a little bit challenging. So thank you, thank you, thank you for all that you do to listen, support and share the podcast. So appreciate it. And if you haven't sent me a message and you wanna send me a message, then send me a message and let me know what the podcast has been for you that I really appreciate it, and it just means the world to me.

(04:00): I'm on Instagram at Dr Nicole Rankins. If you wanna shoot me a DM or head to my website, drnicolerankins.com and send me a message there. All right, so let's get into the top episodes of 2022. We are going to start with the birth story episodes. For anyone who listens to the podcast. You know that the birth story episodes are my favorites because it gives me a window into birth that I don't get to see as an obstetrician. And hearing people's stories and how they traversed their experiences helps me to be a better obstetrician. And I also know the birth story of some of you all's favorite episodes. People really, really love the birth story episode. So let's get into the top three episodes of 2022 from the birth stories. And these are in no particular order. So the first one is episode 154, Cara's Birth Story, easy Pregnancy, difficult Birth.

(04:54): And by the way, if you wanna get to any of these episodes, you can always go to drnicolerankins.com/episode. Spell out the word episode and then the number. So in this case it would be drnicolerankins.com/episode154. All right, this is Cara's Birth story, easy Pregnancy, difficult birth. Cara's from the Midwest. She and her husband moved to Texas right before the pandemic. She's a licensed social worker. She works in a hospital system and she had a pretty easy and active pregnancy, very few issues or complications. But after trying everything she could to get labor to start naturally, she was induced at 41 weeks and it ended up being a difficult induction for her. It was a long process, lasted for over 30 hours. Her baby girl was born by a vacuum birth and she needed some attention from the NICU team after she was born.

(05:58): Cara also had a third degree tear. She had something called choreoamnionitis, which is an infection around the membranes and the placenta. And her difficult experience actually made her question whether or not she should have just done a C-section off the bat. And Cara really wanted to share her birth story because she felt like she wasn't really prepared for the amount of healing and the amount of rest that her delivery required. And she'd heard about third degree tears, but hadn't necessarily realized the depths of what that can mean for her in her recovery. So she shares all of that in her birth story in episode one fifty four. And Cara was also a member of the Birth Preparation Course, and she shares how that really helped her get through that difficult birth experience as well. So again, episode one fifty four, Cara's birth story, easy pregnancy, difficult birth. Okay, next up is episode one forty five, Crystal's Birth story, laughing Through the Pain.

(07:03): I had so much fun talking to Crystal, she was just such a delight to talk to. Of course, I love talking to everybody, but I just remember a particular Crystal was just hilarious and funny in the conversation. Crystal played roller derby for nine years, and I just love that she played L roller derby too. I think that's really cool. But even that and that intensity of that sport can prepare her for her first pregnancy. And I should say in this episode, we actually talk about both of Crystal's births because you have to understand the first one in order to understand the second one. Okay, so for her first birth, she started at a birth center, labored for over 30 hours, had to transfer from the birth center to the hospital. She was diagnosed with gestational hypertension and her baby had to stay in the nicu.

(07:53): Her baby actually had some significant issues, had something called hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and had to go undergo something called cooling, which is not a common thing that happens, but it is very serious and her child is doing well now. So that's not an issue. But she was also incidentally in her first pregnancy stung by a swarm of yellow jackets at 38 weeks. So it was just a lot that happened in that. And despite all that, even describing it in the episode, she looked back on the experience and could laugh about it and find some of the humorous moments and a difficult experience. And now you might think that people would never wanna get pregnant again after having that first experience. But Crystal decided to try for baby number two. And the second pregnancy, the second birth really turned out to be a true redemptive, a true healing experience for her.

(08:49): And after laboring for only two and a half hours, she had the unmedicated birth as she'd always hoped for. And she ain't got to enjoy the golden hour after birth, which she didn't get the first time around. So check out episode 145 Crystal's birth story, laughing through the pain. All right. And then the last of the top three birth stories for 2022 is episode one forty eight. Taylor's Birth Stories Easy Births Do Happen. Now, this birth story was a little bit different because we talked a little bit about all three of Taylor's births and her stories. Her birth stories are really a metaphor for life. You have some good moments, you have some not as good moments, and we have to work through managing that. But overall, her births were pretty easy. As a matter of fact, her mother told us she should not share her birth stories because everyone would hate her because of how easy they were.

(09:46): But I really wanted to share her story stories because I want you to see the easy births absolutely can and do happen. Now, just because the births were easy, that doesn't mean that the whole experience was completely ideal. And you'll learn some of that in the episode. Some things like she was told that it would be nearly impossible for her to get pregnant from PCOS, which obviously did not turn out to be true. She had her gallbladder removed with her first pregnancy, had a lot of pain. Her second baby was born a little bit early during her third pregnancy. She had a scare with a pap test that came back with pre-cancerous cells. But overall, she had great experiences and she just shares how she managed those things and how things ended up being great for her. So much so that even during her third pregnancy, she allowed a student to help participate in that birth. So check out episode 148, Taylor's Birth Stories Easy Births Do Happen. Okay, now let's move on and talk about the top three interview episodes. I love interviewing folks on the podcast and getting their expertise about pregnancy and birth. We as obstetricians are, yes, we're the experts in labor and delivery and prenatal care, but there's so much more to pregnancy and to birth than what we as obstetricians know. And it's really important for me to not just work with other people, other people who are in the birth space and want to help pregnant people.

(11:22): And it's not just important for me to work with other people in the birth space. It's really my duty, our responsibility if we are serious about making sure that people have the best pregnancy and birth experience possible, that we really work with other professionals who are committed to doing that. So that's why I have interview episodes of the podcast to share those things and recognize that you're not going to get everything that you need just from your ob gyn. So we are going to head into those top three interview episodes right now. Okay. First one is episode 1 2, and this is Fitness and Pregnancy with 9round exercise specialist Mackenzie Round. This is one of the areas where I think we definitely is obstetricians don't know a lot, and that is a movement in pregnancy. Yes, we know that it's important, but we certainly are not like exercise specialist for sure.

(12:20): And in this episode, Mackenzie shares her extensive knowledge and expertise regarding wellness and how that applied to her own personal journey with fitness and pregnancy. We have a fantastic conversation where we chat about the type of workouts that she did prior to pregnancy, how those things changed once she got pregnant. And then as she went through her pregnancy and even postpartum, we chat about whether or not she felt like being really fit helped her manage her labor, her birth and her recovery. Spoiler alert, it maybe didn't help as much as she thought it would. And we also talk about her experience with getting back into exercising postpartum and really just taking some time to listen to your body not just B during pregnancy, but also after pregnancy as well. So definitely check out this episode 152 Fitness and Pregnancy with nine round exercise specialist McKenzie Rowen.

(13:30): Okay, next up is E episode 158, how to prepare for postpartum with Nicole Makowa of Loom. Now, we all know that the way that women, especially in the US are treated postpartum is in many ways abominable. Most often you're just going to have a one week postpartum check referred to this and seen as referred to very often as during pregnancy. The baby is like a piece of candy that's in a wrapper. And once a piece of candy is out of the wrapper, like the rapper is discarded and the woman is the analogy for the rapper, after you have this baby, then you don't necessarily get the attention that you deserve. When you look at other countries, and I'm ranting a little bit here, you have nurses who come check on you postpartum. It's just a much more attentive or much more attention paid to women in the postpartum period.

(14:29): And the importance of how that not just affects their health, but also the family's health. So we as OB-GYNs honestly don't get a lot of experience at all in helping people in the postpartum period. It's typically going to be that what one week postpartum check. And this is why I'm, I'm very committed and interesting when interested when we have people who specialize in preparing for postpartum. So this is a really great episode with Nicole Makowa. And in this episode we talk about how the earlier you can start thinking about the postpartum period, the better because again, we overlook planning for this crucial period we, it's often not even talked about during the prenatal care, which it really should be about how you're going to peer for the prepare for the postpartum period. And Nicole is a licensed marriage and family therapist. She's an expert in early childhood development.

(15:24): She's the ED of Head of Education and Wellbeing at Loom, which is an online platform for sexual and reproductive wellbeing. She's developed postpartum curricular for Loom. She has a lot of wonderful insight into how to be better prepared for what comes after pregnancy and birth. We talk about some things like postpartum issues that all women need to be aware of where you can do about them. We also talk about some common postpartum emotions that parents experience in how to manage them. In fact, I was actually surprised in one of the emotions. And then we also talk about things that women can do while still pregnant to prepare for the postpartum period. I really love the concept of what she talks about in the episode, something called the Collective Care Map. So you definitely, definitely wanna check out this episode right now, episode 158, how to Prepare for Postpartum with Nicole Makowa of Loom.

(16:21): Okay, and then the final episode of the interview episodes that was most downloaded. This is episode 146, what Your Genetics Can Tell You with Genetic Counselor Ushta Devar Canteen Walla. So in this episode, this was a really great episode. Y'all know I always say all the episodes are great because they are, but this was also a great episode where we go through all of the testing options for genetic testing it. There's not really a lot of support to understand the nuances of different genetic tests to really help you decide what is the best test for you, if you wanna do it, if you don't wanna do it. And oftentimes it's presented as like, oh, it's time to do the nipped test or the quote, what people call the gender test. And we really go into all of the tests and more detailed so you can really know about your options and make decisions about whether or not this is best for you.

(17:20): And you can really have more meaningful conversations with your OB and midwife and be prepared for any things that may come up. So Usha is a board certified licensed genetic counselor. She has over 16 years experience in clinical genetics. And we chat about exactly what genetic testing entails, how it can help you as an expected parent, what is a genetic counselor, what do they do, who should see a genetic counselor either before or during pregnancy, the different types of genetic testing, the factors that people should consider when deciding about getting genetic testing, the role family history plays, what can and what genetic testing can and cannot tell you what happens if you get abnormal results. Tons, tons, tons of great information in this episode. So that is episode 146, what Your Genetics Can Tell You with Genetic Counselor Ushta Devar Canteen Walla. Okay, now to finish up, let's talk about the top three most downloaded solo episodes of the podcast where I step to the mic on my own and share a topic about pregnancy and birth.

(18:29): All right, so the first solo episode that was one of the most downloaded is episode 147. Let's talk about due dates. Okay, so in this episode, you learn all about your due date. Okay? So it's really important that you understand the importance of your due date and what it means and how it's actually not a due date. So your due date, and I say that in air quotes, is important because really all decisions during pregnancy revolve around knowing exactly how far along you are in your pregnancy. So is the baby growing as expected? Are we doing test at the appropriate time? So the due date itself is important in that regard, but it's actually just an estimate in terms of when you will actually have your baby. Only about 5% of women actually deliver on their due date. And you learn about the different ways of determining your due date, the accuracy.

(19:27): People get really, really confused about this because you have an ultrasound earlier in pregnancy and it says a due date on that ultrasound. Then you have ultrasound later in pregnancy and it says something different. It's like, did it change? Does it mean anything? So I go through all of those things in the episode. Really, I wish we would give a range of dates that we would expect that you'll deliver as opposed to a specific date. But you learn all of those nuances about the due date and how important it is and what's the most accurate measurements, how if we don't have a accurate estimate of when your baby is due, how it can affect your pregnancy. And then in this episode, you also learn what happens if you go past your due date and what your options are. So check out that episode, that's episode 147.

(20:17): Let's talk about due dates. All right, next step is episode 169, tips for an unmedicated, often referred to as natural birth. So this is an episode that I initially did in the beginning of my podcast journey. And from time to time, I l like to go back and revisit older topics. As new information comes out and as I learn new things, I have learned so much in being in this online and social media and podcasting space. I learn things from doulas, from midwives, from childbirth educators that I like to bring back and incorporate into the things that I share. So in this episode, I'm revisiting tips for an unmedicated birth. So you will learn why I say unmedicated, and I'm pretty passionate about that. Instead of saying natural and spoiler alert, it's because all birth is natural . It doesn't matter how the baby comes out of your body.

(21:27): Creating a whole human being inside of your body is completely natural. And the way that you manage pain or the way that the baby comes outta your body doesn't affect whether or not it's natural. But you also learn some questions you should ask yourself before you commit to an unmedicated birth why it does require some commitment to doing unmedicated birth and the importance of communicating that to your support team in advance. The importance of being prepared so you can have a good solid toolbox of tools in order to manage pain during that unmedicated birth. And then some tid bits like why you should stay home as long as possible. I'd recommend that for everybody really, why it's important for you to think about pain differently and why it's important for you not to fight it, but to work with it when you have an unmedicated birth.

(22:18): So just tons of great information there. Also, when to go to the hospital the importance of your nurse when you're doing an unmedicated birth. So check out that episode that is episode 169. Tips for an unmedicated, often referred to as natural birth. And then the final most downloaded topic episode, solo episode that I did in 2022 is episode 153, breach Birth. Okay, listen, let me tell you, breach birth is not that common. But this is something that I get a lot of questions about or comments about. And one of probably the biggest things that I wanna convey about breach birth and that I convey in this episode is the nuances that go into a vaginal breach birth. And why this isn't something that is so routinely offered, it's actually a little more complicated than you think. I will do vaginal breach birth, which makes me a bit of an outlier in obstetric providers.

(23:22): But I've been doing this a long time and feel experienced doing so, and I would love to be able to see everyone who is interested in a vaginal breach birth had that as an option. But it actually is not that simple, both from the perspective of that not all breach births are appropriate for a vaginal breach birth. And you learn that in the episode, but also from the perspective of there just aren't necessarily a lot of doctors or midwives who are comfortable with breach birth. So in this episode, you learn what breach means, the different types of breach presentation and how that impacts whether or not a vaginal birth is even possible. Okay? You will learn how common it is, risk factors that can increase the chances of having a breach baby how to tell if your baby is breached, the different options for managing a breach baby.

(24:19): Some things you can try to turn your baby from breach. And so just some great information there to help you really be informed about a breach birth. So that is episode one fifty three. Okay, so that's it. There you have it. Just to recap the top episodes from each category for 2022 top most downloaded episodes, the birth story episodes, episode one fifty four, Cara's, birth story, easy Pregnancy, difficult birth, episode one forty five, Crystal's, birth story, laughing Through the Pain, episode one forty eight, Taylor's birth Stories Easy Births Do Happen. The interview episodes top three inter episode 152, fitness and Pregnancy with 9round exercise specialist, Mackenzie Rowen, episode 158, how to Prepare for Postpartum with Nicole Macka of Loom, episode 146, what Your Genetics Can Tell You with Genetic Counselor, Ushta Devar Canteen Walla. And then the top solo episodes, episode 147. Let's talk about due dates, episode 169, tips for an Unmedicated, often referred to as Natural Birth.

(25:27): And then episode 153, breach Birth. Remember, you can get to all of those episodes, drnicolerankins.com/episode, and then the number. And thank you again for being with me and supporting me during the podcast. If you wanna continue the conversation after the podcast, there are a couple ways we can do that. One, come Follow Me on the gram, I'm on Instagram at Dr. Nicole Rankins, where I share additional information there. Or join me inside the Birth Preparation Course, my online childbirth education class that gets folks calm, confident, and empowered to have the most beautiful birth. Check out all the details of the course at drnicolerankins.com/enroll. All right, so there you have it. Do me a solid share this podcast with the friend. Sharing is caring, helps me to reach and serve more pregnant folks, and I appreciate you doing that. Subscribe to the podcast and Apple Podcast wherever you're listening to me right now. Leave a review, an Apple podcast help helps other women to find the show. And I also appreciate hearing what you have to say about the show. Or shoot me a DM on Instagram and let me know what you think about the show as well. Follow me on Instagram and Dr. Nicole Rankins. So that is it for this episode. Do come on back next week, which will be 2023, and remember that you deserve a beautiful pregnancy and birth.

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