15. Mother of Nine: Radical Wisdom from Two Decades of Birth

15. Mother of Nine: Radical Wisdom from Two Decades of Birth

Author: Emilee Saldaya November 7, 2025 Duration: 56:55

After six births within the system—including a cesarean at 37 weeks due to partial placenta previa and subsequent hospital abuse—Ashleigh knew she was done.


Now a mother of nine and a Radical Birth Keeper School graduate, Ashleigh joins me to share her accumulated wisdom from nearly twenty years of mothering and birthing. We met in person at Matriarch Rising Festival, and in this conversation, we explore what it means to truly live the lessons that birth offers us.


We discuss the pros and cons of having children present during birth, what it looks like to honor our evolving faith journeys, and how Ashleigh navigated the tension between her freebirth path and her husband’s discomfort with it.


I also challenge Ashleigh’s decision to pull away from her Christian audience, encouraging her to consider what it might mean to let her community see her more deeply. She speaks vulnerably about her own healing from rage and how she now coaches mothers who find themselves lashing out at their children—because she’s been there too.

Come listen, learn, and receive from a mother of nine whose story carries the depth and clarity only time, experience, and devotion can bring.


✨Start Your Journey: The Complete Guide to Freebirth - Our best-selling, self-paced course for women ready to claim their births on their own terms. Enroll here.


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If you want to connect with Ashleigh, follow her on Instagram here. 


Find more from Emilee on Instagram, YouTube and the Free Birth Society website.


Disclaimer: Free Birth Society, LLC of North Carolina shares personal and educational stories and experiences related to freebirth and holistic care. This content is not medical advice, and we are not a licensed midwifery practice. Testimonials reflect individual experiences; results may vary. For services or scheduling, contact info@freebirthsociety.com. See full disclaimer at freebirthsociety.com/youtubeterms.


Emilee Saldaya hosts Free Birth Society, a podcast that delves into the profound and personal choice of freebirth. This is not a discussion about home birth with professional support, but an intimate exploration of childbirth that unfolds without midwives, doulas, or medical intervention, guided solely by the birthing person and their family. Through conversations with wild women from around the globe, each episode presents a raw and unfiltered narrative, focusing on the lived experiences, the emotional landscapes, and the deep, often unspoken trust in the body's innate wisdom. These stories are honest, sometimes gripping, and frequently transformative, challenging mainstream perceptions of safety and authority. The dialogue within this podcast serves as both education and a form of self-improvement, examining the reclaiming of autonomy and the reconnection to ancestral knowledge. Listeners will hear not just the mechanics of unassisted birth, but the philosophical and personal journeys that lead individuals to this path. Emilee, as founder and guide, facilitates these discussions with a clear, grounded presence, allowing the complexity and beauty of each story to resonate. This podcast is for those curious about the edges of conventional maternity care, seeking to understand a paradigm where birth is treated as a private, powerful, and physiological event rather than a medical procedure. The Free Birth Society podcast creates a space for these rarely heard voices, offering a tapestry of experiences that are, above all, true to themselves.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Free Birth Society
Podcast Episodes
From People-Pleasing to Power: Jasmine Chooses Freebirth [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:12:40
The advice to “just trust the system” falls apart fast when you’ve already been gaslit by doctors, pressured toward induction, and made to feel like your own body can’t be trusted. Jasmine shares the full arc from her fi…
Listening to the Whispers: Haleigh Knows To Freebirth Her First Baby [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:17:21
Motherhood reshapes everything: identity, trust, intimacy, and surrender.Haleigh Featherly shares the spiritual and emotional journey behind her freebirth, and the unexpected challenges of becoming a mother.A raw convers…
One Nurse’s Cost and Benefit of Experiencing Midwifery Betrayal [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:15
What happens when a nurse who believed in midwives ends up learning, the hard way, why so many women leave the system behind? Kari shares the full arc from a fast-moving love story and her first hospital-adjacent birth t…
How Working in the OR Led to Freebirth: Danielle’s FBAC/VBAC [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:21
In this deeply honest conversation, Danielle shares the full arc of her journey into motherhood, from a medically managed first birth that left her feeling unprepared and disoriented, to a transformative freebirth experi…
The Mother–Daughter Freebirth Duo: Jinny & Audrey’s Stories [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:43:17
This week on the Free Birth Society Podcast, Emilee sits down with Jinny and Audrey, a remarkable mother–daughter duo with sovereign birth woven through both of their lives.Jinny, a mother of seven and birth doula, share…
Death of the Maiden: Raquel’s Journey into Motherhood at 41 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:02
This week, Emilee is joined by Raquel, who shares her extraordinary first pregnancy and sovereign birth at the age of 41.Raquel speaks candidly about the profound transitions she navigated during this time. The death of…