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Why Most Natural Birth Plans Don't Work
(and the secrets to actually getting it right)
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Have you ever wondered why most birth plans tend to fail?
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Why do so many women start off planning to avoid inductions, cesareans, the epidural, and swear up and down that they won’t be cut or medicated during their births, and then nine months later that’s exactly what happens?
Why is it that so many people tell you not to get your hopes up and not bother with a birth plan?
There are so many courses and books out there that tell you that if you just avoid this one thing or do what your doctor tells you, or you hire a doula or a midwife, that you’ll somehow magically get what you want in your birth.
I wish that was the case, but the truth is that unless you know what’s going on behind the curtain in the birth world, and unless you’ve figured out the loopholes, you could end up like my friend Kate.
She was a first time mom who had done “all the things” that first time moms planning natural births are told to do. And she wound up having a cesarean and asking herself how the hell it had happened.
You’re going to hear Kate’s story in a moment, but first, I’m going to ask you something...
Have you done everything you need to do to ensure you will get the birth you want?
How much have you prepared and thought about this birth?
What have you already considered?
How much are you willing to invest your time and money into making sure it happens?
Have you chosen to have an out-of-hospital birth and are willing to pay out of pocket for a midwife?
Have you hired a doula?
Have you considered enrolling in childbirth classes?
I have some uncomfortable news for you...Kate did those things too.
She still wound up with a traumatic birth.
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This isn’t because of any failing in her body though.
If Kate had known the secrets I’m going to teach you she might have had a different outcome.
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Unfortunately no one told her those secrets until after it was already too late.
Many women who have learned what I’m going to tell you have been outraged.
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They’ve cried out “why did no one tell me this when I needed to hear it most?”
Some women have gone their entire adult lives not knowing that the trauma they had in their births didn’t have to happen.
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Birth trauma has been going on for a long time, and sadly no one will warn you about it.
This is because often they don’t understand what happened themselves, and they have no frame of reference to help you avoid the same fate.
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The cycle continues, generation after generation, and until someone shares their story you won’t know how to break this cycle.
Kate's story is not only powerful, but it holds the key to avoiding the common traps most moms planning a natural birth fall into.
Kate's Story...
Kate had been excited when she first started planning her birth.
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She had dreamed of this moment for so long, and she had envied the beautiful women in the black and white
Instagram photos with their babies born lovingly and peacefully at home or at a birth center.
She knew that she wanted a completely natural birth and so she did what all newly-pregnant mothers would do.
She bought books, courses, and attended all the classes.
She asked around about midwives and someone pointed her in the direction of a good practice that they had gone to for their own pregnancies.
Kate got a list of questions to ask her midwife off the internet and asked about homebirth.
The midwife told her that as long as Kate stayed “low risk” then homebirth was an option.
Kate was satisfied and hired her midwife on the spot.
As Kate got further into her pregnancy, she attended the childbirth classes and practiced the coping techniques for pain management.
She and her partner practiced the different positions.
She wrote out her birth plan in her final months.
As Kate’s pregnancy neared the final few weeks her family and friends grew concerned.
They had learned of Kate’s plans to have a homebirth.
“It’s your first baby,” they reasoned. “You should be in the hospital, in case something goes wrong.”
Kate attended her appointments in her final month and her midwife assessed her progress, checking her cervix,
which was still not showing any signs that labor would start soon.
Kate started to feel anxious. She really didn’t want to induce her labor.
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Her midwife assured her that they wouldn’t have to induce unless Kate went past 41 weeks, and then if she didn’t go into labor by that point they would have to do something.
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Kate was informed that the policy and regulations of the practice was that all clients needed to birth their babies by 42 weeks or they would “risk out” of midwife care.
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Kate panicked! She didn’t want to switch care to an obstetrician!
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She didn’t want to have to abandon her homebirth plans!
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She didn’t want to be induced or even set foot in the hospital!
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Desperate for a way to get labor going, Kate asked every online pregnancy group for help.
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She tried exercise, sex, dates, spicy food, walking, acupuncture, acupressure, evening primrose oil, red raspberry leaf tea...and she even considered castor oil and midwives’ brew.
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When she was still pregnant at 41 weeks, her midwife suggested a membrane sweep.
That night, she had a lot of cramping. Her mucous plug had come loose and she wondered if labor was starting.
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She called her midwife and was informed that her contractions were still too far apart and to call back when they were closer together, lasted longer than a minute, and were more intense.
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Kate had a restless night, but by morning the contractions had stopped.
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She was told it was “false labor.”
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“You had a membrane sweep yesterday,” her midwife reminded her. “Sometimes that triggers labor-like contractions. We can try again in a few days.”
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Kate was desperate to get into labor before she would risk out of midwife care, unfortunately the second sweep didn’t work either.
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Kate endured another restless night, and by morning she was exhausted and running out of time.
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“Some people just don’t go into labor on their own,” her mother told her. “I went overdue with you, too. Induction isn’t really that bad. You’ll be fine.”
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Kate agreed to an induction at 41 weeks and 5 days. Her midwife assured her that she would be there for the birth, and that they could still make the hospital a home-like environment for her.
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Because Kate’s cervix still hadn’t started to dilate on its own, the first step was to ripen it with prostaglandins.
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Contractions began, and Kate was already feeling a lot of discomfort.
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She didn’t like being in the bed, but now that she was being induced she was informed that continuous monitoring was necessary to ensure the induction wasn’t too stressful on the baby.
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After a few hours, she couldn’t take it anymore.
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The midwife said that Kate had only dilated 1 cm, and they needed her to be 4cm before they could start the next step of the induction process.
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Kate agreed to have an epidural so that she could have some relief.
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She slept a few hours, and when she woke up she was informed that things still had not progressed and that the next step would be to break her waters and give her something to “get things going”.
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She was told that it was “oxytocin” and that it would help her have her baby sooner.
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Kate didn’t want to agree, but she also knew that her body wasn’t doing what it was supposed to and that she had run out of options.
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Homebirth was out of the question now; and the induction process had already started.
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The nurse administered the “oxytocin” through the IV and Kate was thankful that the epidural could be topped up, because those contractions lasted for much longer than a minute and were one on top of the other!
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A few hours later, the doctor came into the room.
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“There’s still no progress,” he said. “Your baby is in distress. We have to perform a cesarean.”
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Kate was devastated! Her entire plan for a natural birth had fallen apart, and she didn’t know how or why this was happening!
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She’d done everything right! She’d hired a midwife and taken all the birth classes.
She’d taken care of herself, eaten well, and exercised! It didn’t make any sense at all.
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She cried silently as she lay on the operating table.
She hadn’t wanted any of this.
She’d simply wanted to birth her baby at home in the water, surrounded by people who loved and supported her.
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After the birth, Kate felt like her body had betrayed her.
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She wondered if she would ever get to have that beautiful birth at home now that she’d had a cesarean...
So What Happened?
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You probably have a lot of questions right now.
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What happened that led to her getting the exact kind of birth she had been trying to avoid?
Why did her body “fail” to go into labor even though she was doing everything she was supposed to?
Was what her mother said to her actually the truth?
Did she just not have the ability to go into labor on her own?
More importantly, if Kate does try for another baby, will the same thing happen to her again?
Before I answer those questions, I need to come clean…
Kate isn’t real.
She’s just a combination of the stories and experiences of women I have spoken to and supported for years.
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In some ways, Kate’s story is my story.
In other ways, Kate’s story is the story of my friends and clients who were talked into an induction and those who found themselves recovering from an unwanted cesarean, episiotomy, or assisted vaginal delivery with forceps or vacuum extraction.
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It’s the story of every single woman who started off planning their dream birth only to wind up in a nightmare!
Hi, my name is Carly Bonderud and I’ve spent over a decade listening to the stories of desperate moms who just wanted to be allowed to birth their babies without intervention like Kate did.
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Some came to me with sad stories about how they had been pushed into cesareans they hadn’t wanted and later discovered could have been avoided.
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They told me that they had told their doctor they hadn’t wanted the epidural, only to have it pushed on them multiple times until they finally felt exhausted and defeated and gave in.
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There were moms who asked about having a vaginal birth after cesarean only to be told “see what your doctor says”, as if they needed permission to birth their babies vaginally!
It is horribly disempowering to be told that someone else gets to decide what you can do with your own body, but that’s been the reality in maternity care and birth culture for generations.
You’re either “too small” or “too fat”.
“Too young” or “too old”.
You don’t have a “proven pelvis”.
You “don’t go into labor on your own”.
Your body is “broken.”
You’re “not allowed”.
It just rubbed me the wrong way and the more I heard these things the more I knew there had to be more to the story than what we had been taught to believe.
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The reality was that I had seen “too young” moms give birth to breech babies vaginally.
Tell me something...if a child could birth a breech baby vaginally, then why the hell were grown ass women in their 30s being told it couldn’t be done?
I also saw the opposite.
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“Too old” mothers in my community were getting pushed into early inductions and cesareans, with a rate higher than 50%!
And yet women I knew in the birth community who were in their 40s were also having babies at home.
The same phenomenon happened with every single possible “high risk” demographic.
Women with gestational diabetes had vaginal births after multiple cesareans and had homebirths.
Women who were “tiny” wound up birthing 10lb babies at home with no tearing!
Women who went “past due” went on to have their babies at 43 and 44 weeks without any issues.
And yet...the cultural narrative in the mainstream mom groups perpetuated the idea that these kinds of all-natural births were “not possible” for these “high risk” moms.
It was this discrepancy that got me questioning the maternity care system and I dared to pull back the curtain and really look at what was happening every time a mom would go through her pregnancy and ask a bunch of questions of her doctor and the mom groups.
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Kate’s story is so powerful because it’s familiar.
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It’s something you will find in every single mom group.
If your goal is a natural birth, then I need to warn you of something you might not be aware...Kate’s story could easily become yours.
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I know you don’t want to hear this.
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After all, women have been giving birth naturally since the dawn of time!
Surely, your body works as it’s supposed to.
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You may have already hired a midwife and a doula.
You might have started your search for natural childbirth classes, the Bradley Method, Hypnobirthing...you’re convinced that this is enough.
I’m sorry to break this to you, but it’s not. In fact, if you rely on only those things, and you don’t start focusing on the true issues in our maternity care system, you’re going to find yourself in a similar situation to Kate’s.
Maybe it won’t go as far as a cesarean. Maybe you’ll just wind up narrowly avoiding it like I did.
Maybe your induction will work well enough that you have a vaginal birth, but the pain is something that you’ll never be able to forget.
Maybe you’ll avoid the induction, but not the vaginal exams in the hospital.
Maybe you’ll get talked out of your homebirth.
Whatever happens, the fact remains that in every single one of these possible scenarios (and there are so many more), there’s one common thread...
At some point, you will lose your power and wonder afterward what the hell happened and why you made that choice that led to regrets or even trauma in your birth.
Why did you agree to that induction?
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Why didn’t you just stay home a little longer?
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Why did you let them tell you that you weren’t “allowed”?
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First, I want you to take a deep breath and hear these words: It is not your fault!
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Any decision you have made up to this point has been based off of what you have been previously taught.
The books and classes did not fully prepare you.
You might have been taught how labor works, but you weren’t warned that the very system you are birthing in and the very culture you were immersed in since birth has trained you to give your power away.
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If you remain unaware of these influences, you will agree to that intervention out of fear.
You will do it because you will believe that there are no other options.
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You will do it because you will be told that it’s “risky” not to induce labor past a certain point in your pregnancy.
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You will do it because that’s just what everybody does, and it’s “policy”.
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You will go to the hospital to birth your baby because that’s what’s expected.
You will think you are “not allowed” because you’ve grown up hearing that you must always listen to the experts and ignore your own feelings and intuition.
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You’ve been taught to mistrust your own body and ignore your instincts telling you that something isn’t right.
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You’ve been taught that you don’t know as much as other people.
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And so you will continue to ask the wrong questions, get the wrong answers, and then feel more afraid and confused than when you originally asked those questions.
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I can tell you from experience that wanting a natural birth and actually getting one are two entirely different things. You can want it and think that you will get it by default of being healthy and educated. But the reality is that every step of the way you’re going to run into hidden traps.
You’re stepping into them already by thinking that you need to learn to cope with the pain of a natural birth so you can be better prepared for it.
So I’m going to level with you here...
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What I am going to teach you is different from anything you’ve ever heard about natural birth.
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In fact, I’m not even going to teach you how to “cope” at all.
Instead, I’m going to show you that you already have everything you need to birth your baby naturally and with less pain or even no pain.
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You’re right about one thing: Birth is as old as humanity itself.
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That means that simply by being human, you can birth.
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Your body will grow your baby and birth your baby all without you doing a single thing to make it happen. This isn’t to say that certain things won’t help it along and make it easier, but even without those things, you will birth.
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Your body knows how. It is your mindset and the culture that you live in that is the real obstacle to you actually getting a natural birth!
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Fortunately, by learning what I’m going to teach you, you’re going to be in a better position to have a natural birth than most women who are also seeking out how to do it.
Discover the Secrets to
Planning and Getting Your Dream Birth
(Without Having to Fight, Beg, or Compromise on Your Birth Plan)
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The REAL Reason Why
Birth Has "Stopped Working"
This is a secret that I stumbled upon by accident. It’s something I wasn’t even looking for when I found it.
And that secret is what I’m going to share with you.
I’m going to tell you exactly what traps you need to avoid when planning your natural birth.
I’m going to warn you against every trick that our protagonist Kate fell into when she was planning that beautiful homebirth that never came to pass. I’m going to show you exactly what you can do to avoid that same fate.
In fact, by you are going to feel so confident going into your birth that no one will be able to talk you into anything that you don’t want.
You won’t crumble under pressure.
You won’t give in.
You won’t give up.
You won’t let anyone tell you that you’re not “allowed”.
You won’t listen to anyone who tells you that you can’t do it.
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Most importantly, you'll actually GET that beautiful birth experience you've been dreaming about!
The one with little to no pain, no fear, and no unnecessary interventions or exams!
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You will NEVER have to "leave your dignity at the door" or "toss your birth plan out the window"!
You see, when it comes to the way our maternity care system operates, the level of intervention in your birth depends entirely on your own perception of risk, and your fear of the unknown.
In other words, if you’re too afraid of what might happen, then it’s easier to talk you into following whatever your doctor or the hospital staff tell you to do.
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The problem is that birth is instinctual and entirely unique to you and your baby’s physiology. It can’t actually be measured or controlled, and when people do try to control it, that’s when problems arise.
Here’s an uncomfortable truth that you need to face: much of what your doctor chooses to do during your birth is what leads to a cesarean.
Not only that, but much of what you’ve been taught about birth has led you to trust in other people, rather than in yourself.
The actual reason birth has “stopped working” in our maternity care system is because when you fear birth, you end up falling into the trap that I like to call the McDonald’s Restaurant Dilemma.
Basically, you’ve been taught to plan your birth in a way that won’t actually get you to the place you want to go.
Here’s what I mean by that…
Pretend that you’re craving a nice, juicy steak at a 5-star restaurant, or if you prefer just substitute any one of your favorite entrees that makes your mouth water.
The idea here is that you have a really vivid picture of what you want. You can practically taste that delicious meal and you can’t wait to savor each bite of it.
Now, let’s also pretend that you’re in a new city and you don’t know your way around town just yet.
You really want to go out for dinner, but you have no idea how to get to your destination.
You might drive around for a while with a general idea of where the restaurant is, but soon you find that you’re lost and have no idea if you’re even headed in the right direction.
Naturally, you stop and ask some people for directions.
“Go this way,” one person tells you.
“Go that way,” says another.
Some people try to discourage you, telling you that the restaurant you want isn’t actually that great and you’re better off going somewhere else.
Others will insist that what you want isn’t even possible at all.
Nonetheless, your mouth still waters and you still really want to find that restaurant. Your stomach is rumbling and you just know that nothing less than what you want will satisfy your craving.
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In your search you come across someone who cheerfully tells you that they can take you there. You won’t even have to drive!
Just hop into the passenger seat, kick back, and relax. They’ll make sure you get to your destination.
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Relieved to no longer have to go through the struggle of trying to figure it out yourself, you trust this person. You gladly let them drive and you close your eyes, content that someone else will take care of everything for you.
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As you’re driving along though, you start to get the sense that you might not be going in the right direction. You can’t explain it fully, but you just get that feeling.
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You question the driver whether this is the right way and they assure you that it is the best way to get where you want to go.
You feel uneasy, but they insist they’ve driven there many times.
They have 20 years of experience, and you’re new to this area so you need to just trust them.
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Something still seems off, but because you are new to this you wonder if maybe you’re just worrying over nothing.
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Still, that feeling gets stronger and it turns out to be right, because when the driver announces you’re at your destination you find they are pulling into a McDonald’s drive thru!
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When you point out that’s not what you wanted, they shrug and tell you “well, you were hungry and this is still basically the same thing! A full stomach is all that matters, after all.”
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You’re probably wondering who would ever trust a complete stranger to drive them to a restaurant that they’ve never been to, but this is exactly what you’ve been taught to do when it comes to planning your birth.
The entire maternity care system has set you up to blindly follow and assume that they have everything under control.
When birth inevitably doesn’t work out, it’s deemed to be your fault.
Your body didn’t work “properly” or you had unrealistic expectations.
You didn’t advocate for yourself better and they just assumed you were okay with whatever they recommended you do.
It’s “standard of care”.
These are just some of the excuses I’ve seen in response to complaints that my clients filed after birth trauma.
Some care providers will justify the trauma as “necessary”.
Others might even claim they “don’t remember” what happened.
Many will cite that they were just following standard of care and therefore they are not wrong for what they did.
In all these cases though, the message is the same: Your body didn’t work, they saved you and your, and you shouldn’t be complaining at all right now. Your feelings and experience are invalid, because they are the “experts”.
You might then turn to others to try to make sense of what happened, and then you’ll run into the same rhetoric in the mom groups.
It’s “normal."
Your expectations were "too high".
You should just be grateful for a “healthy baby”.
So instead of questioning the way things have always been done, you just go along with it thinking “that’s the way birth is”.
This is ultimately what leads so many moms to believe that “birth doesn’t work”, especially if they found themselves being pressured into an induction or a cesarean.
Some mothers might go on to say “this time will be different.”
Others don’t even want to risk “going through that again” and give up on having that second or third baby they desperately wanted before they were traumatized.
Still, others try to justify their actions and what happened, saying “well, I just wasn’t allowed, so I couldn’t.”
Then, there are those of us who can see behind the curtain, and we realize that actually it wasn’t our bodies that failed but the system that failed us.
We realize that if we’re truly going to win, we have to play the game differently than everyone else...
Discover the 5 Pillars of Empowered Birth!
So how do you get out of this mess?
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Well that's what I want to share with you today!
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I realized that not only were there five distinct Pillars with which an Empowered Birth was more likely to happen, but that missing any one of these Pillars could derail a birth that might otherwise have been ecstatic for the person experiencing it.
These are the elements that I pulled into my own birth with my daughter and what I taught my friends to do after they had tried and "failed" to get the birth they had wanted the first time.
It’s what I teach extensively inside of my programs and workshops in varying degrees.
I’ve tested this formula out both with my own births and life in general, and my clients have had varying degrees of success and satisfaction even when their births didn’t go according to plan.
These 5 Pillars are the very foundation of creating anything you desire not just in birth, but in life and particularly in parenting. It is also the key to tearing down the social constructs and mindsets that no longer serve you or your higher self, your Empowered Self.
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You’ve been taught from an early age not to trust your intuition, and instead go by what can be measured and verified by science.
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I’m inviting you to set aside that way of thinking for now and embrace that inner knowing we are all capable of.
You deserve to have the birth experience you actually want, not the one that the maternity care system says is "allowed".
The problem is that our maternity care system and birth culture is setting you up to fail before you even start.
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You've been taught to FEAR birth!
You've been taught to mistrust your body!
And you're getting the wrong information from the birth books, childbirth classes, and even your care provider on how to plan your birth and actually get what you want.
This is why 1 in 3 births end in a cesarean, and the induction rates keep rising!
It's NOT because your body doesn't work, it's because the way that the maternity care system is set up and the cultural influences have been undermining your efforts to plan and get a birth on your terms.
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If you're planning a natural birth, then you need to know that most people don't even know what a physiological birth even looks like!
I've been a childbirth educator, advocate, and doula for almost a decade, and I've noticed a few distinct patterns that predict almost with 100% accuracy whether your birth plan is going to fail or whether you'll actually get the birth you really want.
It comes down to 5 Key Areas, which I call the 5 Pillars of Empowerment.
You need to have the Right Mindset, the Right Education, the Right Environment, the Right Facilitators, and the Right Support.
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If you mess up on any one of these, it can be really hard to get your birth back on track.
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That's why I've spent the last few years developing this system, so that you can plan your birth with power, instead of getting stuck in fear.
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I've helped families create birth plans that work, hire the right care providers to support and facilitate physiological birth, and debunked a lot of common misconceptions that our birth culture keeps perpetuating over and over--the same misconceptions that have led to high cesarean, induction, and birth trauma rates!
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Birth doesn't have to be traumatic, and you CAN have the birth of your dreams!
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One with less pain, less anxiety, and less FEAR!
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One where YOU are in charge, not your care provider!
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Introducing...
The Complete Empowered Birth System!
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EVERYTHING you need to get the most amazing birth of your dreams, without having to read a bunch of birth books, take a ton of classes, or fight, beg, compromise on your birth plan, or lower your expectations!
The Revolutionary Way to Plan and Get the Birth You Want, Without Having to Fight, Beg, or Compromise on Your Birth Plan!
Pregnancy and birth are the ultimate transitions and life transformations!
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You are going to learn more about yourself and your body than you ever thought possible.
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After the birth, you will never be the same. This can be a good thing if you go into it with all your power in your own hands.
If this is your first pregnancy then you will never have to know what it’s like to have your power stripped from you and you will come to motherhood with so much confidence in yourself and your abilities to care for your child that no one will be able to undermine you.
You’ll go on to take on life in a new way, create things that will light you up, and have a completely unique and amazing journey.
On the other hand, birth trauma can change you too.
It can take away your confidence in yourself and leave you broken, shattered, gutted, and wondering how the hell it all happened.
It can leave you doubting your abilities as a mother.
It can affect the bond with your child and with your partner.
There is no limit to how far birth trauma can reach in all areas of your life.
So you have a choice.
You can claim your power and decide now that you are the only one who can birth this baby and you are therefore the only one who gets to decide, or you can let someone else decide for you what you are allowed to do.
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If you choose the first one, you might find that things could change in your birth and decisions might have to be made, but you’ll still come out the other side with an Empowered Birth because every decision was yours.
But...if you give that power away, you will come out the other side feeling like something was missing.
You’ll feel how Kate felt, wondering what the hell happened and blaming yourself for how your birth turned out.
So it’s time to take your power back.
This book isn’t like any other book you have ever read about pregnancy and birth.
Most typical childbirth education and birth planning focuses on the mechanics of childbirth and what to think about in terms of checklists for the hospital or coping methods.
It's designed to lead you, often blindly, right to the typical kind of childbirth experience that is so common in our society: one of fear, trauma, and having someone else making decisions for you in the course of your care.
This also leads to you deciding early in your pregnancy that you don’t want to induce, hiring an OB who tells you that unless there’s a problem you can have the natural birth you want, and then when you get closer to your due date they suddenly start undermining your confidence that you’ll actually go into labor on your own and then…they push you into an induction.
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Maybe that leads to an “emergency” cesarean or maybe you get lucky and have a vaginal birth, but the problem is that your plan got derailed and instead you experienced a painful labor that could have been avoided had you only known how to ask the Right Questions to hire your care provider.
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Or maybe it wasn’t your care provider, but your family and your partner who talked you out of planning a homebirth and you just really regret that you’re having or have already had a hospital birth.
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The outcome is still the same.
You’re fighting with people to “let” you say no or try something else, or you’re “begging” for more time or to be “allowed”, or you’re compromising so that they’ll agree to some of the things you really want in your birth.
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You don’t have to do that though!
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Your Empowered Birth teaches you how to create your ideal birth plan and then walks you through every step to actually get the birth you really want.
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It focuses on 5 key areas that many people overlook or aren’t even aware they need to look at when it comes to planning their birth, especially a natural birth.
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I call these the 5 Pillars of Empowered Birth and they are the foundation of the powerful method and system I use with my clients and students.
The beauty of this system is that it works even if…
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…it’s your first baby
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…you “don’t go into labor on your own”
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…you’ve had a cesarean, or multiple
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…you have health complications
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…you’re over 35
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…you’ve had traumatic births in the past
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…you’re under 25
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…you’re “overweight”
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…you’re “underweight”
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No matter what odds are stacked against you, when you apply this system, you can create your birth any way you want, and you won’t have to worry that you’re “not allowed” anymore.
In fact, you’ll know how to ask the Right Questions so that when there is pushback from a care provider or your family, you will be able to handle it without sacrificing your birth plan for their comfort.
That means that even if no one else believes you can do it…you can have a homebirth.
It means that even if everyone else is scared, you won’t waver in your confidence.
Here's what people are already saying about the Empowered Birth System!
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"This is GROUNDBREAKING! It's everything I wish had been available when I was pregnant with my first baby!"
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~Olivia
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"After a traumatic induction turned emergency cesarean with my first baby I was so sure that I could NEVER go through another pregnancy. The Empowered Birth System changed the GAME for me! I never would have known I could do this if not for what I learned from you. Not only did I get past my fear of birth, but I had an UNASSISTED vaginal birth in the hospital even after being diagnosed with gestational diabetes! It was the most powerful moment of my life and I have reclaimed my power!"
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~Jenni
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"RUN, don't walk, to get this book! I was told that I was too old, too fat, and that I would have to have another cesarean. They didn't even give me the OPTION of planning a vaginal birth after 2 previous c-sections. But using this system I was able to go into labor on my own and prove to myself that I was never broken, but the system is."
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~Lisa
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"I was hooked by the first chapter! This is the book that all moms need to read!"
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~Hayley
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"The stories are so inspiring. I feel so confident that I can get the birth I really want, no more crumbling under pressure."
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~Amanda
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"After being tricked into an induction with my first baby and being tricked out of my VBAC with my second, I finally found Carly and learned what had actually happened to me and more importantly that I had rights, options, and didn't have to have another c-section if I didn't want one. I actually hired her as my coach and virtual doula for 3 months and not only did I NOT have another c-section, but my partner and I planned a beautiful and empowering homebirth and he caught the baby himself. It was just us (with Carly on Zoom) and we took our power back that day! The Empowered Birth System is SO freaking powerful...you have no idea! I love telling my birth story and every time I do I can't help smiling!"
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~Rebekah
Plan a Birth With Power!
As you can see, this is a powerful system and it also teaches you some phrases and mindset techniques that you can not only apply to birth, but also for the rest of your life.
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Now, obviously I cannot guarantee that everything in your birth plan will go the way you want it to.
There are two people who are in your birth; yourself and your baby.
Your body will do what it needs to do, and it will be your job to surrender to and trust the process.
What you will be learning is NOT going to create any one kind of birth experience, but instead encompass all possibilities.
The real gift of Your Empowered Birth is that whatever form your birth takes, and whatever level of interference you choose, every decision will be yours to make.
You will also discover your own innate power, tap into your intuition, and reclaim a part of you that is more extraordinary than you can imagine.
Women who have had Empowered Births have gone on to create their own businesses.
They become midwives and doulas. They take on the world, and they teach their children a better way.
Empowered Birth isn’t just an idea, it’s a true gift that will transform your life and no one will ever be able to take that power away from you ever again.
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So now that you know a little bit about what this system can do for you and who it’s for, you’re probably eager to get your book.
You can do so right now, OR you can get something even more powerful.
You see, Your Empowered Birth is just the first step of this powerful system and if you’re the kind of person who likes to go deeper then you have two options:
You could work with me directly and I can walk you through the process and exercises as well as provide my support to you within my highly successful, high-level coaching program.
Clients pay me thousands of dollars each month to work with them at this level so if you’re committed and able to invest upwards of $3000 per month then we could absolutely talk about that, but the problem is that I don’t take on just anyone.
As a mother of two high-energy kids I tend to only take one client at a time, so there might be a long wait list.
That’s why I created Option 2 for you, which is my entire Empowered Birth Signature Collection designed to help you get everything that my clients get from me in our sessions but at a much lower investment and in much less time.
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We have a 30-day money back policy. If this course collection doesn't give you a lot of value for your investment, send us an email and we'll return your money to you and you can keep the courses as a gift.
This signature course collection will help you get past your fear, avoid the common mistakes that cause birth plans to fail, choose a care provider who won't pull the wool over your eyes or "bait and switch" you into a medicalized birth you don't want and need (when you're too far along to fire them) without a lot of stress and anxiety, and will ultimately show you the secrets of how to have a true physiological birth!
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In this course collection you will get my signature Take Charge of Birth system that will help you...
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Identify, challenge, and get past any fears that might be holding you back from planning the birth you really want...in as little as 5 days!
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Learn the ins and outs of physiological birth and how to work with your body to minimize pain during labor
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Learn how induction of labor differs from physiological birth, and how to determine whether you actually need intervention at all
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Create a powerful, flexible birth plan that is 100% customized to your needs, values, and what you ultimately want for your birth experience, pregnancy, and postpartum
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Learn the common mistakes most people make in choosing a care provider, planning a natural birth, and creating a birth plan, so that you don't fall into the same traps
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Plus...a deeper dive into "Your Empowered Birth" which will walk you step by step through my signature Empowered Birth System, complete with MORE journal exercises that will ensure you get the birth you really want, no compromises and NO begging!
We have a 30-day money back policy. If this course collection doesn't give you a lot of value for your investment, send us an email and we'll return your money to you and you can keep the courses as a gift.
Now, realistically you could purchase each of these courses and books individually from my shop, but once you add them all up the investment would be much higher than if you got everything right now.
I’ve put together some of my best trainings and shared what I’ve learned in helping my clients plan and get their own Empowered Births, and then I simplified the process so that you could go through each of the steps within five days or less.
As a busy mom I know all too well that time is an issue when trying to watch a course or read a book, and that’s why everything I created with the Empowered Birth System is designed to create the most powerful results for you in the shortest amount of time.
Like my personal favorite…Get Your Partner on Board with Your Birth Plan in 5 Days program which not only helps you get your partner or family members to support what you want for your birth, but also teaches powerful communication techniques that will improve your relationship and help you avoid having it become a big fight whenever one of you has a disagreement. I based this off of what I learned from a highly successful Love Coach and I guarantee that you won’t find this particular course anywhere else.
And that's not the ONLY thing inside this full system!
Trying to get past your fear of birth or even standing up to your care provider, and you aren’t sure how to do it?
You’ll love the Get Past Your Birth Fear in 5 Days mini-course where I walk you through as simple process that will have you identifying, challenging, and releasing those fears so that they don’t control you anymore!
Are you currently Googling how to have a natural birth, because you want to avoid a cesarean, but you’re afraid of the pain?
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Afraid you’ll go past your due date and need an induction?
In the Your Empowered Birth 5 Day Workshop, I teach you how to have a less painful birth, at home, working with the rhythms of your own body!
I will also teach you the biggest lies that you will hear at the end of your pregnancy, so that you won’t feel that pressure to induce at all.
Not sure how to write your birth plan?
Then you’re going to want to dive into the “Write Your Empowered Birth Plan” mini-course where I help you create the most comprehensive, 100% customizable birth plan that is both flexible and effective in getting you the birth you really want, so that even if something has to change, the whole thing doesn’t have to go out the window!
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And that’s just scratching the surface! I also put in a few bonus surprises that will help you plan a natural birth and hire a doula!
You’re probably wondering how much this is all going to cost…
Well, here’s the good news…
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While it's typically $3,000 per month currently to work with me personally, I'm NOT going to ask for that!
I'm not even going to ask for $1000!
Instead, I'm going to make this super easy for you and give you access to everything for only $197!
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Now, if you were to click on every single one of these courses I'm going to show you, you'll find that this is the most amazing deal for the value you're getting! And if you want to check them out individually and see just what each one contains, then just click the image icons and each course or book will open up in a new window.
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That way you'll see that getting the full collection will not only save you time, but you'll save over $150 by getting everything all at once!
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Here's what else you will get when you upgrade to the FULL Empowered Birth System
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Go DEEPER into the full Empowered Birth System by planning your most powerful pregnancy right from the start. Hire the right doula, childbirth educator, care provider, and more!
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A 5-part video course that will help you get out of your fear of birth, learn how birth actually works when it's left to unfold without intervention, what you need to know before you agree to an induction of labour, how to write your birth plan in a way that actually works, and how to hire the right doctor or midwife to support your birth plan!
A 7-part video series that goes deeper into writing your birth plan, including a backup plan so that if something unexpected comes up in your pregnancy or during labour you won't have to throw your entire birth plan out the window..
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A 5-Part Mini Training that will help you identify, challenge, and release any fears that are holding you back and keeping you from taking control of your birth, so that you don't wind up being controlled instead!
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A 5-Part Mini Training that will help you identify, challenge, and release any fears your partner has, so that they'll feel more confident supporting you in getting the birth you actually want...WITHOUT having them read a bunch of books or take all the classes!
A companion E-book to help you as you write your birth plan and prepare for your pregnancy and birth journey that outlines the 3 biggest mistakes you'll want to avoid in writing your birth plan and what to focus on instead.
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A companion E-book that will help you avoid the biggest traps in hiring a care provider, including the 11 Red Flags you need to watch out for and 4 big mistakes to avoid when you're seeking out a midwife or doctor to support you in your birth. You'll also learn why it's really so hard to find a care provider to support your birth plan, and how to shift the power dynamic so that you're the one in control.
Get the full course collection for only $197 CAD!
We have a 30-day money back policy. If this course collection doesn't give you a lot of value for your investment, send us an email and we'll return your money to you and you can keep the courses as a gift.
Here's what the Empowered Birth System can do for you...
“Carly has a deep desire to help more people have births that are fulfilling, respected and cherished. She is a wealth of information and facts and knowing what rights people have in this time of their life. She is the prime example of overcoming adversity by showing the world what is possible when starting a family and navigating pregnancy and birth. She is a gift.”
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​~Michelle
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“I highly recommend The Empowered Birth System for anyone who is expecting or planning to get pregnant! Informed choice is the hub around which she operates, empowering women and their partners to learn and make choices they believe best for their situation and care. She advocates for women’s rights, providing encouragement, education and evidence to enable women to stand with courage in their pregnancy and care. Women should not go into their pregnancies and labour without an understanding of all aspects which they may face, and utilizing The Empowered Birth System is one of the best choices you can make to become abundantly informed and empowered in your birth choices!”
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~Christina
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“My hope is that people get the Empowered Birth System before they give birth and learn well in advance about the pitfalls of the hospital birthing system, informed consent and unnecessary interventions. I am so grateful to Carly for her ongoing effort to educate families and advocate for women and babies. Her insightful work makes a difference in decision making and ultimately saves lives!”
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~Vickie
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"I delivered my 8 lb 1 oz baby girl at 41 + 2 and it was a very successful VBA2C! Without the information I got I would not have had the confidence to advocate for myself the way I did. I had such a supportive husband and medical team on my side and everyone cheering me on right until the end which made it even more special. Being informed made all the difference."
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~Whitney
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"I had a beautiful baby girl 10 days late. It was the natural home water birth that I dreamed of with a great midwife and doula. Baby was 10lbs exactly and I pushed her out all natural. I didn’t know much about birth other than what was taught in my prenatal course. Those courses just don’t prepare you enough for birth. I felt confident, calm and excited to give birth this time around because I had the knowledge and support I needed to make informed decisions that were right for me. I was going to be giving birth on my own, but ended up looking into potential doula programs in Ontario, and found a free program with referral that I qualified for. Having a birth doula who has continued on as my postpartum support doula has been an absolutely amazing experience, especially as a single mom with an almost 3 year old to manage along with baby. I wouldn’t have ever thought there could be such a service if you hadn’t talked about it. Thank you again Carly for everything you do!"
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~Jessica
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Is The Empowered Birth System Right For You?
You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!
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But before you click the button below and get this system I just want to make sure this is right for you. Because if it’s not really something you need then rather than go through the hassle of doing a refund I’d rather you just close this page down or better yet, just send this to someone else who this is for.
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So...
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This is for you if you are an action taker, and you're committed to doing the work and learning the material in this program.
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This is for you if you want to be the one to decide if and when to interfere with your birth.
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This is for you if you're fed up with the typical childbirth classes that provide only information, but no support.
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This is for you if you would rather avoid getting induced or having a cesarean, and not have to make that choice unless it’s 100% right for you and not just because your doctor tells you that you have no other options.
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This is for you if you are determined to get the birth experience you know you deserve, and you're willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen, even if that means stepping outside the box.
This is for you if you’re a first time mom and you’ve heard the horror stories, but you really want to have a natural birth with less pain, and you want to know how to maximize your chances of it actually happening.
This is for you if you don’t buy into the lies that your body is somehow “defective” just because you’re older, weigh a certain amount, or have some other “risk factor” that you feel people are focusing on, and you’re tired of being treated as being “broken until proven capable” of birthing your baby the way you want.
This is also for you if you had one or more traumatic or disappointing births and you realize you’d been tricked and talked out of what you really wanted, and you’re determined to get it right this time.
Finally, this is for you even if you’re not currently pregnant, but you’re either planning or actively trying to conceive and you want the best possible head start and advantage when it comes to planning and getting the most amazing dream birth you can imagine.
But this isn’t for you if you prefer to let other people call the shots and just tell you what to do, and this isn’t for you if you’re okay with whatever birth you get because “a healthy baby is all that matters.”
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In fact, if you’re the kind of person who prefers to just defer to the “experts” and do whatever they say, and just hope that you make it out alive, then you’ll probably find nothing about this book or system helpful to you.
As I said, my students want to know HOW to think, not WHAT to think, and I will never tell them what they SHOULD do, only what their possible options could be.
So if you're looking for that kind of instruction, then you can close this page and send me a quick email instead.
I am happy to point you in the direction of one of my doula friends who offer those kinds of classes, or send you a resource you can read.
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This is also NOT for you if you're going to use what I teach in these classes for evil.
There's a lot of powerful mindset tools that I pass on to my clients, and they've learned some magic questions and phrases that have helped them persuade their care providers and their partners to do what they want.
In the wrong hands, these techniques could cause a lot of damage, so I can't teach them to you if you're going to misuse them.
But I trust that if you're on this page, and you're still reading, that you're a good person and your goal is simply to have an Empowered Birth and become an Empowered Mom for life.
So if you're ready to learn, then click this button and upgrade to the FULL Empowered Birth System now!
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30-Day Money Back Guarantee!
But hey, I get it.
You’ve probably been burned by classes or books before that promise a lot and don’t deliver.
I already know that Your Empowered Birth is powerful!
I’ve seen this system work miracles for the women I’ve taught it to and it’s done so much for me as well.
You see, I used this same system not only to plan my birth, but also to get out of a highly toxic relationship and also build my own coaching practice in less than six months.
I apply this system and ask the Right Questions in so many countless scenarios and as a single mother it’s given me more energy, peace, joy, and clarity so that I can live the most amazing life ever.
My clients have had the same experiences in their own lives as well.
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I already know what’s waiting for you once you pick up this book and powerful system.
I know it’s going to change your life.
However, if you need convincing then I’m prepared to offer you a deal:
You can try The Empowered Birth System out today, and if for any reason it’s not right for you then send me a message within 30 days of purchase and I’ll refund your investment and you can keep everything as a gift!
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Your Empowered Birth Guaranteed!
I know that when you dive into everything, you’re going to think that I was crazy for asking for so little in return!
You might even wonder why I would practically give away such valuable information!
Well, that’s simple.
I don’t want to see you make the same mistakes that so many other people are making.
Our birth trauma rates keep climbing every year.
Our cesarean rates keep rising.
And after nearly 10 years seeing the same things over and over, I just couldn’t do it anymore.
I couldn’t watch it happen, knowing that I have so much insight and knowledge readily available to anyone who knows to ask for it.
I couldn’t keep hoping and praying that people would find me in time.
That’s why I want to make this as easy and risk-free as I possibly can.
And, to show you that I’m serious about you getting your Empowered Birth, I’m going to give you something else that’s worth $300 on its own!
If, at any point as you’re working through the courses, or you get stuck later, or you just need to talk through something that’s come up in your pregnancy, just send me an email.
I’ll give you a special link where you can book a call with me, and I’ll gift you one of my signature Take Charge of Your Birth coaching sessions.
I’ll help you figure out exactly what’s holding you back, and even show you some options you might not have thought of so that you can move forward with confidence and get your birth plans back on track!
These calls are the same ones that I have with my high-level coaching clients, and normally you would have to invest in the full coaching package to even have access.
But I know that if you have laid the groundwork first by going through the Get the Birth You Want Program, you’ll be well-equipped to sit down with me later and dive deep into what’s blocking you, without also having a million other questions that could take up time and keep you from getting fast help and support when you need it most.
I’m also going to give you a series of mini-reports, and VIP access to future promotions and offers in the future!
That means that if you invest in this program today, you’ll automatically become one of my Empowered Moms for LIFE, and you’ll have support and resources available to you that most people outside my community don’t get.
Are You Ready to Empower Your Birth?
It's time to decide...
I’ve already shown you what happens when you don’t plan your birth with power.
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That way leads to unwanted intervention, crumbling under the pressure, agreeing to things you don’t want, birth trauma, and inductions and cesareans that you could have avoided if only you knew just what traps to avoid!
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But I’m not going to twist your arm.
You get enough of that from our maternity care system, and I believe in informed decision making and true autonomy in how you come to those decisions.
And you can easily take what you’ve learned today and attempt to do it on your own!
But I’ve walked that path, and I know the traps that you can fall into.
I spent 2 years planning my Empowered Birth, and I still had trouble doing it all on my own.
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I didn’t have anyone in my corner coaching me or giving me the tools to advocate for myself.
I had to learn all that on my own, through a lot of trial an error.
I struggled a LOT to figure out those magic phrases and questions that would lead me to getting what I actually wanted and needed in my birth.
And it wasn’t until I started testing my theories with my own clients and teaching them how to use the tools that I started to see how I could make it better, get them out of their fear faster, and help them plan their births from
a place of power.
It took almost a decade for me to figure EVERYTHING out!
And what I taught you about the 5 Pillars of Empowerment is powerful, but there’s still so much MORE that you need to learn in order to optimize those pillars.
So…you have a choice.
You can take what you’ve learned, try to do it on your own, and hope that you don’t fall into one of those traps I mentioned.
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You already know that the typical birth books and classes won’t help you.
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You also already know that the mom groups aren’t the kind of support you really need.
But if you’re the kind of person who prefers to just figure it all out on your own, then I wish you all the best and will continue to lend my support to you in your Empowered Birth journey.
You can always come back when you’re ready…I just can’t guarantee that you’ll be able to get this exact same promotion when you do.
BUT…
If you’ve decided that you would rather cut through all the contradictory information out there, and you want support and help in planning your Empowered Birth from moms who have been where you are and know all the traps to avoid, then click this button and Get The Birth You Want (Without Having to Fight, Beg, or Compromise!)
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What's YOUR Empowered Birth Dream?
Everything you desire in your birth IS possible!
Even if you’ve had one or more cesareans…even if you were induced…you can change your story!
You CAN take your power back and create the kind of birth story that lights you up whenever you share it.
I want you to picture it…you’re holding your new baby in your arms.
You’re staring down at them with such love and awe.
And you feel this wave of energy washing over you…you’re bathing in that warm afterglow.
You can’t help but fall in love with your body and what it just did for you!
You feel powerful, alive, and you know that life from this moment onward is going to be so different.
Every time you tell your birth story to someone, you can’t help but smile, and you can confidently say “I did it!”
You’ll take the lessons you learned in this birth and you’ll realize that you can do anything!
You’ll come to your motherhood already more confident, having been able to tap into your intuition, and you’ll be able to kick all self-doubt out the door once and for all.
Now…pull back for a moment and see the path that led you to that moment of triumph.
Think about when other people tell you that you “can’t” or “shouldn’t” choose to birth on your terms.
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Picture how confident you will be to do it anyway.
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In just a few weeks, your life could completely transform!
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You can become a more confident, empowered version of yourself.
A true Empowered Mom!
One who plans birth from a place of power, and is a powerful role model!
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You can show every woman in your family a better way.
You can show your children a better way.
You’ll have more connection to yourself, and by extension you will be able to connect deeper to your partner and to your family.
The time has come for you to step into your power and see just how capable you are to birth your baby on your own terms!
So, if you’re ready to take the leap, then click the button and become and go take back your birth!
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Happy birthing!
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~Carly