Pain Free Birth

What happens when you prepare for birth with everything you have, only to discover that the final lesson is letting go?
In this powerful birth testimony, Pain Free Birth doula-in-training Annelisa shares how five weeks of prodromal labor, an almost 42-week pregnancy, and a deeply personal journey of surrender led to an unforgettable birth. After a difficult first hospital birth and a redemptive second birth center experience, Annelisa entered her third birth equipped with a new understanding of physiological birth, her body, and the role fear can play in the birth experience.
But nothing unfolded the way she had planned. Her carefully prepared birth room and birth pool were left untouched. Instead, after sleeping through what she believes was transition, Annelisa woke to intense pelvic pressure and realized her baby was coming much faster than anyone expected. With her midwife still on the way, her husband beside her, and a perfectly positioned mirror in the shower, she watched her baby emerge while standing and allowing her body’s fetal ejection reflex to do the work.
Tune in to hear:
How Annelisa’s first difficult hospital birth influenced the births that followed
The difference birth education made in how she experienced contractions
What five weeks of prodromal labor looked like for her
Why being 41 weeks and 6 days challenged her desire for control
The prayer under the stars that completely shifted her mindset
How addressing emotional tension helped her feel safe enough to surrender
Why her contractions progressed without feeling painful
How cuddling her son helped her relax enough to fall asleep during labor
Why Annelisa believes she may have slept through transition
What happened when her husband could not get the birth pool filled
The moment her body entered the fetal ejection reflex
How she watched her baby crown and emerge using a mirror in the shower
What happened when her baby was born with the cord around her neck
How the experience transformed her husband’s view of physiological birth
Why preparation and surrender are not opposites
What this birth taught Annelisa about trusting God, her baby, and her body
CONNECT WITH KAREN:
Use code PODCAST to get $50 off the Pain Free Birth E-course HERE
Submit your birth story and apply to come on the podcast
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube

What if birth could feel peaceful, natural, and so deeply joyful that you were actually sad when labor ended?
In this episode of the Pain Free Birth Podcast, Karen sits down with Abby Nees, an Iowa mom who experienced two pain-free home births. During her first birth, Abby followed her intuition, remained calm when her midwives did not arrive in time, and caught her own baby in the birth tub. Rather than feeling afraid, she trusted the physiological process unfolding within her body.
Abby also shares how these births inspired her to become a doula, catch her friend’s baby, and begin pursuing a future calling toward midwifery.
Tune in to hear:
How Abby’s intuition accurately prepared her for a fast first birth
Why hospital water birth policies led her to consider home birth
The simple explanation of uterine contractions that removed her fear
How positive birth stories and physiological birth education shaped her mindset
What Abby did during early and active labor with her first baby
How she remained calm when her midwives did not arrive in time
What it felt like to catch her own baby in the birth tub
Why she describes her first birth as peaceful, natural, and pain-free
How relaxed, physiological pushing affected her postpartum recovery
Why her second birth felt emotionally intense without being physically painful
How breathwork and prenatal yoga helped her release tension
What the fetal ejection reflex felt like during her second birth
Why Abby believes women should protect their minds from fear-based birth stories
How her birth experiences inspired her to become a doula
The incredible story of catching her first baby while serving as a doula
How Abby’s experiences confirmed her future calling toward midwifery
CONNECT WITH ABBY:
Instagram: harvesthopedoula
Website: Harvest Hope Doula
CONNECT WITH KAREN:
Use code PODCAST to get $50 off the Pain Free Birth E-course HERE
Submit your birth story and apply to come on the podcast
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube

What if childbirth was not something you had to fear, endure, or simply survive?
In this deeply personal and hope-filled conversation, Karen Welton joins Emily  Smaczniak from the Beyond the Pain Podcast to explore the physiology, mindset, and heart preparation behind an empowered birth. Karen shares how her own journey from fear to mostly pain-free home births led her to become a doula, birth educator, and creator of the Pain-Free Birth course.
Together, Karen and Emily discuss pregnancy and birth after stillbirth, the desire for a redemptive birth experience, and how women can prepare for physiological birth even within a hospital setting. They also unpack the fear-tension-pain cycle, the physical effects of gratitude, the importance of releasing hidden fears, and why your internal environment can have a greater impact on labor than your external circumstances.
Tune in to hear:
How Karen’s fear of childbirth led her to research pain-free and physiological birth
Why birth pain is not always inevitable
The connection between fear, tension, stress hormones, and labor pain
How oxytocin and endorphins support the body during childbirth
What Scripture may actually communicate about pain and sorrow in childbirth
Why birth is not a random event that simply happens to you
How to balance personal responsibility with surrender during labor
What a redemptive birth can look like after stillbirth or pregnancy loss
Why women cannot always “logic” their way out of fear after trauma
How gratitude can help shift the nervous system during contractions
Why the internal environment can override a difficult hospital environment
How to prepare for a natural, physiological birth in a hospital
The importance of choosing a trauma-informed provider, doula, or midwife
Why honest communication can help release tension and support labor progress
How practicing discomfort can teach the brain to respond differently to pain
Practical ways to move from fear and resistance into trust and partnership with your body
CONNECT WITH EMILY:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-the-pain-heart-and-home-healing-after-loss/id1779756290
CONNECT WITH KAREN:
Use code PODCAST to get $50 off the Pain Free Birth E-course HERE
Submit your birth story and apply to come on the podcast
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube

What happens when your carefully planned home birth turns into an unassisted birth at a family resort?
After five years of hoping for a baby, fertility treatments, surgery, and the removal of one fallopian tube, Jessica Richards and her husband were overjoyed to conceive naturally. They prepared for a peaceful home birth with a trusted midwife, but when Jessica reached 42 weeks pregnant, their baby still had not arrived. With her midwife’s approval, the couple decided to join their family for a Christmas trip at a resort two hours from home.
A day filled with laughter, water slides, connection, and relaxation soon became the beginning of labor. When Jessica’s contractions intensified and her water broke as they attempted to leave, she and her husband realized they would not make it home. Instead of panicking, they returned to their room, leaned into the physiological process, and welcomed their son in the bathtub with no birth team present. Jessica shares how preparation, prayer, movement, surrender, and trust helped her remain peaceful during an experience she never could have planned.
Tune in to hear:
Jessica’s journey through infertility, surgery, and naturally conceiving with one fallopian tube
Why she felt peaceful traveling at 42 weeks pregnant
How relaxation, family connection, and oxytocin may have helped labor begin
The signs that told Jessica’s doula she was close to birth
Why Jessica and her husband chose to return to their resort room
How water, movement, breathing, music, and low vocalization supported her labor
What it felt like to experience spontaneous pushing without forcing her body
The surreal moment Jessica caught her own baby in the bathtub
How her husband remained calm and supported her throughout the unexpected birth
The role faith and surrender played in Jessica’s mindset
How Jessica prepared physically with walking, chiropractic care, massage, and pelvic floor therapy
What happened after the baby and placenta were born
Why the family stayed at the resort for another night
Jessica’s encouragement for women struggling with fear, anxiety, or going past their due date
How this birth strengthened Jessica’s trust in her maternal instincts
CONNECT WITH KAREN:
Use code PODCAST to get $50 off the Pain Free Birth E-course HERE
Submit your birth story and apply to come on the podcast
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube

What happens when an unexpected pregnancy disrupts the life you thought you had finally learned to accept?
When Amanda discovered she was pregnant with her fifth baby, she did not feel the immediate excitement she had experienced with her previous pregnancies. Instead, she felt shocked, angry, disconnected, and ashamed of her own emotions. For months, she struggled privately while pretending everything was fine. Through prayer, counseling, humility, and surrender, Amanda experienced a powerful change of heart that transformed the pregnancy she had resisted into one of the most redemptive stories of her life.
That redemption continued into birth. Although Amanda secretly longed for a home birth, she and her husband planned to deliver at the hospital. But when labor progressed faster than expected, her water broke at ten centimeters while her midwife was already in the house. Amanda remained home, experienced a peaceful rest and be thankful phase, and delivered her baby in the bathtub after only three minutes of pushing. After four hospital births, she describes this unmedicated home water birth as her calmest and least painful birth.
Tune in to hear:
Amanda’s honest reaction to discovering she was unexpectedly pregnant with her fifth baby
Why she felt ashamed of struggling to accept a pregnancy that others would consider a blessing
How resentment began affecting her marriage and emotional well-being
The role prayer, therapy, humility, and surrender played in changing her heart
How Amanda intentionally connected with her baby after months of feeling detached
Why she chose midwifery care after four pregnancies with an obstetrician
How God opened the door for her to work with the Christian midwife she had specifically prayed for
What prodromal labor felt like after four previously fast and straightforward labors
The moment Amanda’s water broke at ten centimeters in her living room
Why her midwife recommended staying home instead of rushing to the hospital
How the rest and be thankful phase gave Amanda time to prepare for birth
What made this water birth less painful than her previous hospital and epidural births
How breathing, worship music, gratitude, and Christian hypnobirthing supported her labor
Why physiological birth education changed Amanda’s fifth birth experience
How this unexpected baby became an irreplaceable blessing to the entire family
CONNECT WITH KAREN:
Use code PODCAST to get $50 off the Pain Free Birth E-course HERE
Submit your birth story and apply to come on the podcast
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube

Connect with Amanda:
https://www.instagram.com/amanda_joy_photography/