Most moms don’t need more opinions...

They need clarity, context, and real education about birth.

In this episode of The Female Blueprint Podcast, I sit down with Trish — a labor and delivery nurse and educator known as Nurse Birth Mama for an in-depth conversation about what women are rarely prepared for in the birth room.

In this episode, we cover:

• What actually happens during labor in hospital settings
• Why so many women feel powerless or rushed during birth
• Hospital policies vs true informed consent
• When “failure to progress” is and isn’t an emergency
• How fear, tension, and environment affect labor
• Pain myths vs reality in labor
• Cervical checks, consent, and your right to say no
• Induction, Pitocin, epidurals, and understanding your options
• Immediate skin-to-skin and why it matters
• Home birth transfers and what moms should know
• How labor choices affect postpartum recovery
• Pelvic floor health during pregnancy and after birth
• Why knowledge is only powerful if you know how to use it

Trish shares what she’s seen after years at the bedside, and why education without advocacy often falls short.

My goal with this episode is to help women walk into birth informed, confident, and able to advocate for themselves, no matter where or how they give birth.

Whether you’re pregnant, postpartum, planning another birth, or supporting someone you love through labor, this is an episode every mom deserves to hear.

Follow Trish | Nurse Birth Mama👩‍⚕️

Follow Trish for evidence-based birth education, advocacy tools, and real-world insight from a labor and delivery nurse who’s seen it all.

Instagram: @labor.nurse.mama

Education & Courses: labornursemama.com

Trish's Podcast: ⁠The Birth Experience⁠

Follow Me🎙️

Follow me for honest, science-backed conversations on women’s health, birth, postpartum recovery, pelvic floor wellness, strength, and learning how to advocate for your body.

Instagram: @thefemaleathletedoc

Website: www.threesixtywellness.co

Topics in this episode include 🔍

hospital birth, labor education, birth advocacy, informed consent, labor pain, induction, Pitocin, epidurals, C-sections, VBAC, skin-to-skin contact, postpartum recovery, pelvic floor health, nervous system regulation, maternal wellness.

I’ll be honest...meditation has never been easy for me.

For a long time, it felt uncomfortable. Like my mind got louder instead of quieter??

And honestly, I didn’t feel like it was “for me.”

So when women tell me they’ve tried meditation and thought,
“Why is this making things worse?”

I get it all too well, which is why I wanted to have this conversation.

In this episode of The Female Blueprint Podcast, I sat down with Ellen Haines to talk about what’s actually happening when meditation feels hard, especially for high-functioning, driven women.

This isn’t a conversation about “thinking positive” or forcing yourself to relax.

Ellen explains why sitting still can bring up more noise before it brings calm.
Why meditation isn’t about forcing relaxation.

And how our nervous systems are often responding to stress and past experiences we’ve never really processed.

I promise this episode wasn’t me teaching meditation!
I asked alll the questions I’ve had myself and the ones I hear from women all the time, and letting someone who truly works in this space explain it in a way that finally made sense.

We talk about:

• Why sitting still can make your mind feel louder, not quieter

• The difference between mindfulness, meditation, and hypnosis (without the woo)

• How unresolved stress and past experiences quietly shape your reactions today

• Why motherhood has a way of bringing everything you avoided to the surface

• And how hypnotherapy can offer a gentler way to process trauma without reliving it

If you’ve ever thought:

• “I should be able to handle this better”

• “Why do I overreact when I know better?”

• “I’ve done therapy… why do I still feel like this?”

This conversation changed how I think about meditation and why it feels so challenging for so many women.

You’ll walk away understanding why your nervous system responds the way it does, and what it actually needs to feel safer and more regulated in daily life.

Listen now and let this one sink in!

👉 Connect with Ellen

Ellen works with women and mothers through hypnotherapy, meditation, and subconscious healing.

You can find her on Instagram @healwithellen or explore her servies and Calm Mama app for guided nervous system support www.ellenhaines.com

👉 Work with me:
Hiii I’m Dr. Courtney Johnson, Doctor of Physical Therapy and founder of Three Sixty Wellness. I help active, high-achieving women strengthen and heal their pelvic floor while understanding how their nervous system, stress, and lifestyle all work together.

You can follow me on Instagram @thefemaleathletedoc

Or you can learn more about working with me and my team + explore resources at www.threesixtywellness.co

Most high-performing women don’t fear pain...

They fear losing the version of themselves who feels powerful in their body.

If you identify as an athlete or serious fitness enthusiast and leakage, pressure, core instability, hip pain, or pelvic floor symptoms are starting to limit how you train, this is the episode you need to start 2026!

In this solo episode of The Female Blueprint Podcast, I break down the 3-step pelvic health plan I use with high-performing women who want to return to lifting, running, jumping, and training without fear, pain, or limitation in 2026.

This episode is for the woman who:

• Trains hard and expects her body to keep up

• Has tried generic pelvic floor PT, medical advice, or random exercises

• Was told her symptoms are “normal” — but knows they’re not acceptable

• Fears losing her athletic identity more than anything else

Pelvic health isn’t about doing more exercises or backing off training forever.

It’s about rebuilding the foundation so your body can actually support performance, intensity, and longevity.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why pelvic health is often overlooked in high-performing women

• The 3 steps to improving pelvic health in 2026

• How to set pelvic health goals that support real performance, not just symptom management

• Why structure, consistency, and accountability matter more than willpower

  
  

Resources mentioned in this episode 💚

📖 Read the full blog post on pelvic health goals for 2026: Read it here!

👥 Join our FREE Pelvic Floor Healing & Prevention: Holistic Tips + Support for Women Facebook Community for education, support, and more resources: Join here

📞 Want to talk to one of our Doctors of Physical Therapy and get a clear plan + expert guidance? Book a free call with the 360 Wellness Team Here!

2026 is the year you stop training around limitations. The year you rebuild trust in your body and reclaim your athletic identity.

If you know another woman who’s quietly struggling, send her this episode so she know she’s not alone!