Episode 22

full
Published on:

25th Nov 2025

Positive Home Births + Overcoming Anxiety | Ashley’s Birth Stories (PART 2)

This week, we are joined AGAIN by my friend Ashley, who is a mom to six kids! In this episode, we are wrapping up her story by walking through her last three birth experiences. Ashley shares how the precipitous, unmedicated delivery of her third baby (which we ended on last week) brought a lot of anxiety into the medicated delivery of her fourth. She also remarks on how different it felt going back to an epidural birth after having experienced an unmedicated birth. This ultimately influenced her to decide to have unmedicated home births with her fifth and sixth babies! It is amazing to hear how much more empowered and excited Ashley felt with her last two births in contrast with some of her other experiences. 

It is seriously special to see how all six of her experiences come together to create a beautiful journey through motherhood. Ashley’s stories are truly a reminder that every birth is unique and transformative!


Full episode transcript available at thelaborline.com/episodes


Chapters:

00:00:00 - Introduction

00:03:15 - 4th Child: Unsolicited Membrane Sweep, Processing Anxiety, & Choosing an Epidural

00:29:25 - 5th Child: Mentally Preparing, Working with a Midwife, + Mostly Unassisted Home Birth

01:04:05 - 6th Child: Overcoming Doubt & 1-Push Home Birth

01:23:38 - To My Pre-Mom Self…



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About the Podcast

The Labor Line
A mom-to-be's authentic look into the birth experiences of her mom-friends.
The Labor Line is a real, unfiltered birth story podcast hosted by mom-to-be Emily, who was obsessed with birth long before her own was imminent.

Every Tuesday, Emily sits down with her mom friends to hear honest, hilarious, and deeply human stories about pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postpartum. Whether it’s an emotional conversation about breastfeeding struggles, an epic one-push delivery, or a hilarious “wait, did that nurse just call my baby ugly?” moment, no detail is too raw, real, or ridiculous.

This isn’t a clinical breakdown or crunchy birth corner. It’s more like eavesdropping on a late-night call between best friends, complete with laughter, tears, jaw-dropping moments, and sincere conversations about what it actually feels like to be a mom.

Perfect for moms, birth nerds, doulas, expecting parents, or anyone curious about the real side of bringing little people into the world. The Labor Line delivers weekly episodes full of heart, humor, and total honesty.

🎧 New episodes every Tuesday
🩷 Follow on Instagram: @thelaborline

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Keywords: birth stories podcast, real labor stories, pregnancy podcast, postpartum stories, c-section podcast, funny birth podcast, honest motherhood, podcast for moms, women's health podcast, birth podcast hosted by moms

About your host

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Emily Lau

Hey y'all, I'm your host, Emily. I live in South Austin with my amazing husband, Nate, and our perfect pup, Magnolia.

I’ve been fascinated by birth for as long as I can remember — while most kids were up early on Saturday mornings watching cartoons, I was sneaking downstairs to watch birthing shows on TLC 😅.

Studying women’s health in college and training as a doula reminded me just how powerful (and fun) it is to hear birth stories firsthand.

I created the Labor Line to celebrate and elevate these incredible experiences in a chill, accessible way.