Ep. 325 Conscious & Confident: Making the Decision to Choose Something Different with Kayla Grove

Ep. 325 Conscious & Confident: Making the Decision to Choose Something Different with Kayla Grove

Author: HeHe Stewart March 5, 2025 Duration: 51:43
In this episode, Kayla Grove, an ICU nurse, joins the podcast to talk about the importance of patient autonomy and informed consent in healthcare. Kayla shares her journey of following her intuition over strictly adhering to medical guidelines, highlighting her respectful approach to patient choices. The discussion includes practical advice for making healthcare decisions, the role of intuition, and how medical professionals can better support patient autonomy. Kayla also discusses her personal birth plan choices and the importance of choosing the right healthcare provider. TIMESTAMPS 01:24 Free Class to Avoid C-Section 03:10 Empowering Birth Choices 05:18 Meet Kayla Grove: Advocate and Doula 06:24 Kayla's Journey Through Loss and Advocacy 09:52 Patient Autonomy and Medical Decisions 14:57 Humanizing Healthcare 20:40 Challenging Medical Norms 27:25 Maintaining Your Power in Medical Decisions 28:05 Alternative Birth Plan Choices 29:10 Deciding Against Hepatitis B Shot and Eye Ointment 30:41 Addressing Postpartum Hemorrhage Fears 32:36 The Controversy of Declining an IV 38:18 The Importance of Choosing the Right Provider 46:19 Trusting Your Intuition and Making Empowered Decisions 49:51 Final Thoughts and Connecting with the Community   Guest Bio: Kayla is a naturally minded certified ICU nurse with over 12 years of experience, a board-certified integrative nurse coach, holistic doula, and mom of two. Her passion is helping women feel informed and empowered throughout pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Her mission is to advocate for women to receive the care they deserve—aiming to reduce maternal mortality rates, postpartum mood disorders, and help women truly enjoy their pregnancy and postpartum journey. Kayla's personal experiences have shaped her path. She endured the loss of her best friend due to medical negligence just weeks before having her first baby—a catalyst for her fierce advocacy. She also navigated a difficult birth, followed by postpartum anxiety and OCD and internal tremors. In 2022 she had a missed miscarriage that led her deeper down her path of education and training, and then she had her rainbow baby in 2023. She opened up her coaching business in Nov 2023 and then her doula business in May 2024. Her positive second birth experience, paired with a healing postpartum, drives her to support other women on their journey so they can have the same.   INSTAGRAM: Connect with HeHe on YouTube Connect with HeHe on IG    Connect with Kayla on IG    BIRTH EDUCATION: Check out our free class on how to avoid a c-section and reduce tearing in labor here!   Join The Birth Lounge here for judgment-free childbirth education that prepares you for an informed birth and how to confidently navigate hospital policy to have a trauma-free labor experience!   Download The Birth Lounge App for birth & postpartum prep delivered straight to your phone!   LINKS MENTIONED: Connect with Kayla here!

Hosted by birth and newborn expert HeHe Stewart, The Birth Lounge Podcast creates a thoughtful conversation around the many paths through pregnancy, birth, and early parenthood. This podcast moves beyond simplistic advice to explore the wide spectrum of normal experiences, offering evidence-based insights alongside real stories from parents. HeHe, who founded Tranquility by HeHe Maternity Concierge, guides these discussions with a blend of professional knowledge and deep empathy, aiming to demystify the process and empower your choices. Each episode serves as a gathering place-a safe space where clinical expertise meets lived experience, covering topics that span education, family dynamics, physical fitness, holistic health, and parenting young children. You’ll find a supportive resource here, one that acknowledges the variables and nuances of bringing a child into the world and navigating the postpartum chapter. Tune in for honest dialogues that honor different perspectives, providing companionship and reliable information for your own journey. The goal is to leave you feeling more prepared, less alone, and confident in your unique path through parenthood, all within the supportive community of this podcast.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 432

The Birth Lounge Podcast
Podcast Episodes
21: Free Friday Talk: Building Your Postpartum Village [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:50
Happy Friday! Today, I’m exploring the importance of the village after having a baby and how to successfully build your tribe. I dive into why we can’t seem to ask for help these days and give the steps you can take to h…
20: The Impacts of Fear Based Care with Shana Dewitt [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Fear based care in America has been dictating women’s births for years. Healthcare professionals are fearful of repercussions and this leads to the use of fear based education when providing care to patients. Ergo, birth…
19: Friday Free Talk: Mindset and the Energy of Birth [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:48
Today, I'm sharing a bit about my path with the energy piece of Tranquility by HeHe and how it shapes the approach we use. I'm diving into the energy of birth and how to shift your mindset to set you up for your ideal bi…
18: The Benefits of Milk Baths with Carli Ambrose [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:24
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17: Friday Free Talk: 8 Questions to Ask your Doula in an Interview [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:03
Happy Friday! Let's dive into choosing the perfect birth support for you! Have you considered having a doula at your birth? ..but have no clue how to choose a "good one." In this episode, I share my formula of questions…
15: Hormones, Nutrition, and Infertility with Kelly Agnew [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:54
In this episode, HeHe chats with Kelly Agnew all about hormones, nutrition, and infertility. We discuss what foods can help with balancing hormones and setting your body up for pregnancy. Kelly gives away her thoughts ab…
14: Friday Free Talk: Parents with Anxiety [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:08
In this episode of Friday Free Talk, I'm talking about why I support parents with anixiety. It is something that I come across often so I decided to sit down to think about why and what made me so organically prepared fo…
13: Being Mindful in Motherhood with Sarah Bivens [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:28
Today we are taking a stroll down mindfulness lane. HeHe and Sarah dive into what self-care looks like in motherhood. We talk about why it's so important to set time aside for yourself, why communication can make or brea…
12: Free Friday Talk: Doulas Without Babies [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:50
In this episode of Friday Free Talk, I dive into the stigma that in order to be a good doula, you must have children yourself. "Do you have children?" is a questions that is often asked in the birth world and there can d…