In this podcast episode, Oni Blecher speaks to Rhea Dempsey about her recent book launch of 'Beyond the Birth Plan, Getting Real About Pain and Power'. Rhea Demspsey is a childbirth educator, counsellor, doula trainer, and birth attendant, having attended more than one thousand births in hospitals and home settings over the past 30 years.

Rhea runs birth preparation workshops, pre-natal classes, personal birth counselling sessions and speaks in presentations and seminars around Australia and internationally

Rhea’s passion is to educate women about the impact of our birth culture on the outcome of our births. Instead of fear, she wants birthing women and birthing people to go into their labour with confidence in their body and their support people, and the knowledge that will give them the best possibility of natural physiological birth.

Rhea has written two books ! Her first, the popular ‘Birth With Confidence: Savvy choices for normal birth’ and now her recently released second book ‘Beyond the Birth Plan: getting real about pain and power’. I consider both of these books must reads for any person interested in birth, whether that be birth attendants, midwives, pregnant women or people, birthing partners, fathers, parents, or anyone curious to understand the impact on the intersection between our social attitudes and birth.

This is a longer form interview but anyone that knows Rhea’s legacy in the national and international birth world knows that any time hearing Rhea’s insights and wisdom is valuable and necessary. Feel free to listen in segments. At the end of the podcast, Rhea takes us through the chapter structure of her new book and outlines some of the content and what to expect. Enjoy this conversation and please leave your reviews and feedback.