The 25 Best Expecting Parents Podcasts (2026)

Bryn Huntpalmer created The Birth Hour after struggling to find authentic, unfiltered birth stories when she was pregnant with her first child. What started as a personal project has turned into one of the most well-known birth story podcasts around, with over 2,100 ratings and a 4.8 star average on Apple Podcasts.

The format is simple and effective: each episode features a parent sharing their birth experience in their own words, with Bryn guiding the conversation. You'll hear everything from planned home births to unexpected C-sections, from quick unmedicated deliveries to long inductions. The range is genuinely impressive -- there are episodes covering stillbirth, twin pregnancies, VBAC experiences, and births across different countries and healthcare systems. New episodes come out twice a week, so there's always something fresh in the feed.

What makes this show particularly useful for someone considering unmedicated birth is the sheer volume of real stories. You can search through the catalog and find dozens of episodes specifically about unmedicated hospital births, home births, and birth center experiences. Bryn has a knack for creating a comfortable space where guests open up about the messy, beautiful, sometimes terrifying reality of giving birth. She asks good follow-up questions without being pushy. The show doesn't preach a particular philosophy -- it just presents real experiences and lets you draw your own conclusions.

Vanessa Merten has been putting out the Pregnancy Podcast since 2015, and with 411 episodes it has become one of the most comprehensive evidence-based resources for expecting and new parents on the internet. She releases weekly, and the catalog reads like an encyclopedia of everything pregnancy and early parenthood related.

What sets this show apart from the dozens of other pregnancy podcasts is the research rigor. Vanessa digs into actual studies and presents the pros, cons, risks, and benefits of different approaches so you can make informed decisions rather than just following whatever your Instagram algorithm serves up. Episodes cover prenatal care, labor methods from natural to cesarean, exercise during pregnancy, nutrition and cravings, breastfeeding preparation, and newborn vaccinations. She is thorough without being dry about it.

The tone hits a sweet spot between informative and reassuring. Vanessa does not talk down to her listeners or assume they cannot handle nuance. When there is conflicting evidence on a topic — and in prenatal care there often is — she lays out both sides instead of pretending there is one right answer. Her episodes on birth plans and hospital versus home birth options are particularly balanced.

With 905 reviews and a 4.5-star rating, the audience is large and engaged. There is a premium ad-free subscription available, though the free version delivers the core content without any paywall on the information itself. For first-time moms who want to feel genuinely prepared rather than just vaguely reassured, this podcast respects your intelligence and gives you the tools to advocate for yourself throughout pregnancy and those first months with a newborn.

Rebecca Dekker holds a PhD in nursing and brings serious academic credentials to a space that sometimes lacks them. Evidence Based Birth is exactly what it sounds like: a podcast that digs into the research literature on pregnancy, labor, and postpartum care, then translates it into language that regular people can actually use.

With 413 episodes, she's covered an enormous range of topics. Want to know what the evidence actually says about eating during labor? There's an episode for that. Curious about the real risks and benefits of epidurals versus unmedicated birth? She's broken it down with citations. She also tackles subjects that don't get enough attention, like the impact of continuous fetal monitoring on birth outcomes, racial disparities in maternal care, and the evidence around birth center versus hospital birth. The show carries a 4.3 star rating from over 1,000 reviews.

The format varies -- some episodes are solo deep-dives where Rebecca walks through a stack of studies, others feature interviews with researchers, doulas, midwives, or parents sharing their experiences. Her tone is measured and professional without being dry. She's clearly passionate about helping families make informed decisions, and she's careful to present the evidence without telling people what to choose. For anyone planning an unmedicated birth, this podcast provides the kind of factual grounding that helps you have productive conversations with your care provider.

Dr. Elliot Berlin is a prenatal chiropractor based in Los Angeles, and his podcast has been running since 2014, making it one of the longest-running pregnancy shows out there. Over 500 episodes in, the Informed Pregnancy Podcast has built a massive library of conversations about birth choices, pregnancy health, and early parenting -- and Dr. Berlin's interviewing style is a big reason it works so well.

Listeners consistently describe him as having a peaceful, curious presence. He asks genuinely interesting questions and gives his guests room to talk, which is exactly what you want when someone is sharing their birth story or explaining a medical approach. The guest list is impressively varied: you'll find OB-GYNs, midwives, doulas, physical therapists, mental health professionals, and even the occasional celebrity sharing their pregnancy journey.

Episodes drop weekly on Thursdays and typically run 35-55 minutes. The show takes a deliberately unbiased approach -- Dr. Berlin isn't pushing hospital births or home births, medicated or unmedicated. He's interested in helping people understand their options so they can make decisions that feel right for them. That philosophy runs through every conversation. With a 4.6-star rating from 450 reviews, the podcast has built a loyal following among parents who want substance without agenda. The sheer size of the back catalog means you can search for nearly any pregnancy topic and find an episode that covers it.

Cynthia Overgard and Trisha Ludwig host Down to Birth, a weekly show that has built a loyal following among pregnant women who want straight talk about childbirth, hospital policies, and the realities of early motherhood. Cynthia is a HypnoBirthing educator and childbirth advocate. Trisha is a women's health nurse practitioner and certified nurse midwife. Together they have attended hundreds of births and bring that practical, firsthand perspective to every episode.

The format usually alternates between Q&A episodes pulled from listener voicemails and longer conversations with guests like obstetricians, doulas, lactation consultants, and researchers. Topics range widely: induction rates, VBAC, epidurals, umbilical cord clamping, postpartum recovery, GBS testing, and what to actually pack in a hospital bag. Cynthia and Trisha are not shy about pushing back on common interventions they see as overused, which has made the show a go-to for parents researching evidence-based options.

Episodes run about 45 to 75 minutes. The tone is warm but candid, and the hosts often disagree politely on smaller points, which keeps things honest rather than preachy. If you are early in pregnancy and want a regular dose of information from people who have seen the full spectrum of labor and delivery, this is a solid weekly listen that respects your intelligence and your choices.

Laura Birek and Shanna Micko are real-life best friends who found out they were pregnant at the same time, and they turned that coincidence into a podcast that's been running strong since 2018. The name comes from the pregnancy test slang -- BFP, big fat positive -- and the tone matches: warm, funny, and refreshingly unpolished.

Each Monday episode follows a loose structure built around weekly check-ins where Laura and Shanna share what's actually happening in their lives as parents. They've moved well past the pregnancy stage at this point, but the show has evolved naturally alongside their kids. Recurring segments like "OMG I'm Freaking Out" give the episodes a familiar rhythm, and they bring in occasional guests for specific topics.

What makes BFP work is that it genuinely sounds like two friends talking over coffee. Laura and Shanna don't perform expertise they don't have, and they're upfront about their mistakes, anxieties, and the stuff that nobody tells you about motherhood. The comedy tag on this podcast is earned -- they're naturally funny without forcing bits, and the humor comes from shared recognition of how absurd parenting can be.

Production is handled by Laura, Shanna, and Steve Yager, and the show has stayed independent rather than joining a big network. Listeners consistently say it feels like sitting down with trusted friends who tackle messy topics with honesty and zero judgment. If you want a pregnancy-to-parenting show that prioritizes laughter and real talk over clinical advice, BFP is a strong pick.

Hosted by Cherie Valasek, a mom of seven and the founder of My Essential Birth, Pregnancy & Birth Made Easy has become one of the more approachable shows for first-time parents who feel overwhelmed by conflicting advice online. Cherie has worked with thousands of couples through her childbirth course, and her episodes reflect that teacher-friendly voice: she explains things clearly, answers the questions people are too embarrassed to ask, and keeps the energy upbeat without being saccharine.

A typical week features either a birth story from a course graduate or a teaching episode on a specific pregnancy topic. Recent subjects include managing gestational diabetes, preparing your pelvic floor for labor, navigating provider relationships, writing a birth plan that actually gets read, and what to expect in the fourth trimester. Cherie regularly brings on midwives, OBs, pelvic floor therapists, and sleep consultants to round out her own perspective.

Most episodes land between 30 and 50 minutes, which makes them easy to fit into a commute or a walk around the block. The show leans toward natural birth but does not dismiss medicated or surgical births, and the birth story episodes in particular cover a healthy mix of experiences. If you want something friendly and confidence-building to listen to from the first positive test through the postpartum weeks, this one is worth subscribing to.

Claire Fulton is a qualified doula, hypnobirthing teacher, and author who runs The Nurture Nest. Her podcast has been named the number one hypnobirthing podcast by Mother & Baby magazine, and with over 2 million downloads worldwide, the audience agrees. The show focuses squarely on hypnobirthing techniques and building a positive mindset around birth.

Each episode features either an educational segment where Claire explains a hypnobirthing concept in practical terms, or an interview with a parent sharing their positive birth story. Claire's interview style is notable for how little she interrupts -- she asks a question, then genuinely listens, letting the storyteller guide the narrative. Guests describe home births, water births, hospital births, and cesarean births, all through the lens of staying calm and feeling in control.

The show also includes guided meditations and relaxation exercises designed for use during pregnancy and labor. These are popular with listeners, though some have noted that advertisements can interrupt the flow of meditations and birth stories without warning, which is worth knowing if you plan to use them during actual relaxation practice.

Claire is UK-based, so there's a British perspective on maternity care that provides a useful contrast if you're mostly familiar with the American system. The practical techniques she teaches -- breathing exercises, visualization, understanding the fear-tension-pain cycle -- are applicable regardless of where you're giving birth or what kind of birth you're planning. If the idea of approaching labor with calm confidence appeals to you more than anxious over-preparation, this podcast is built exactly for that mindset.

Matt Mira and Doree Shafrir spent two and a half years and a lot of money trying to get pregnant through IVF, and they documented the entire process in this podcast. That origin story gives the show an authenticity that's hard to manufacture -- these two aren't fertility experts dispensing advice from a clinical distance, they're a married couple who lived through the emotional and financial roller coaster of assisted reproduction.

The format is conversational and personal. Matt and Doree share weekly life updates, respond to listener questions and voicemails, and discuss their ongoing experiences as parents. The show has evolved significantly since its early IVF-focused days, expanding into broader pregnancy and parenting territory as their family has grown. This evolution is a double-edged sword: long-time listeners who came for the fertility content sometimes find the show has drifted from its original focus.

What the podcast does well is normalize the IVF experience. The couple talks openly about the shots, the waiting, the disappointments, and the financial strain in a way that makes listeners going through the same thing feel significantly less alone. Matt brings humor from his background in comedy, and Doree contributes the journalist's instinct for good questions.

Fair warning: reviews are polarized. Fans love the hosts' realness and feel like part of the community. Critics point out that IVF content has become a smaller percentage of episodes over time. If you're specifically in the fertility treatment phase and want a podcast that gets what you're going through on a personal level, this fills a niche that few other shows even attempt.

Ciarra Morgan is a seasoned birth doula, childbirth educator, doula agency owner, and birth doula trainer based in Austin, Texas. She brings all of that experience to Birth, Baby!, a podcast that covers pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care through a mix of candid interviews, personal stories, and evidence-backed content.

The show tackles the full timeline from prenatal care through the early days with a newborn. Recent episodes have covered practical topics like choosing safe sleep products, understanding swaddles and sleep sacks, and navigating the postpartum period with real guest perspectives rather than textbook summaries. Ciarra also gets into birth planning, provider selection, and the emotional side of becoming a parent.

What comes through in the episodes is Ciarra's hands-on doula experience. She's been in delivery rooms, she's seen what works and what doesn't, and she shares that knowledge without being prescriptive about it. The conversations feel grounded in reality rather than theory, and she brings in guests who add their own professional or personal perspectives to round out each topic.

The podcast is available across major platforms and maintains an active social media presence where Ciarra engages with listeners between episodes. The show is still building its archive compared to some of the longer-running pregnancy podcasts on this list, but the content it has produced is solid and practical. If you want guidance from someone who's actively working as a doula and educator rather than just talking about birth in the abstract, Birth, Baby! delivers that real-world perspective.

Lo Mansfield holds an MSN, is a registered nurse with obstetric certification (RNC-OB), a certified lactation counselor, a mother of four, and the founder of The Labor Mama online birth education platform. She launched Lo & Behold in mid-2025, making it one of the newer entries in the pregnancy podcast space, but her clinical background gives the content a depth that belies the show's youth.

The podcast covers pregnancy, labor and delivery, postpartum recovery, breastfeeding, and modern motherhood. Lo draws on her years working as a labor and postpartum nurse to explain what's actually happening during each stage of the process -- not just the textbook version, but the reality of what you'll see, feel, and deal with in the hospital or birthing center. Her clinical perspective is especially valuable for first-time parents who want to understand procedures and protocols before they're in the middle of them.

Episodes feature a mix of educational content and birth stories from other mothers. The birth story episodes give listeners a chance to hear varied experiences -- from fast unmedicated hospital deliveries to complicated situations involving postpartum and breastfeeding struggles. Lo lets her guests tell their stories fully while adding clinical context where it's helpful.

The show is still in its first year, so the archive is smaller than many of the established pregnancy podcasts. But the weekly release schedule is building it steadily, and Lo's combination of nursing credentials, lactation expertise, and personal experience as a mom of four makes each episode substantive. A promising new voice for expecting parents who appreciate clinical accuracy wrapped in an approachable style.

Newbies is part of the New Mommy Media network and focuses specifically on guiding new mothers through that wild first year with a baby. The show has 170 episodes with weekly updates, and the format keeps things practical — each episode zeroes in on a single topic with expert guests who actually know what they are talking about.

The scope is tightly focused on the postpartum and newborn period, which is exactly what makes it useful for first-time moms. Episodes cover the physical recovery from childbirth, breastfeeding challenges, understanding infant sleep patterns, recognizing baby cues, and navigating the emotional roller coaster of early motherhood. There are also solid episodes on less-discussed topics like birthmarks, cord care, and when to actually call the pediatrician versus when you can wait it out.

The panel format gives you multiple perspectives on each topic rather than just one expert opinion. You get pediatricians alongside real moms sharing what actually worked for them, which balances the clinical advice with lived experience. It feels like sitting in on a really well-moderated support group where everyone has useful information to share.

At 4.2 stars from 167 reviews, it has a loyal following among parents in the thick of the newborn stage. The episodes tend to run shorter than many parenting podcasts, which is honestly perfect when you are trying to absorb information during a 20-minute feeding session at 4 AM. If you want focused, expert-backed guidance on the specific challenges of your baby first year without a lot of filler, Newbies delivers exactly that.

Dr. Stuart Fischbein is a home-birth OB with decades of experience, and Blyss Young is a licensed midwife based in Southern California. Their weekly show, Birthing Instincts, is one of the more opinionated entries in the pregnancy podcast world, and that is exactly why its audience keeps growing. Stu and Blyss answer listener questions in almost every episode, and they tend to give the kind of direct answers you rarely get from a 15-minute prenatal appointment.

Recent topics include breech vaginal birth, the risks and benefits of routine ultrasounds, postdates pregnancy, placenta previa, twin birth, and the politics of hospital birth in the United States. The hosts do not pretend to be neutral; they favor physiologic birth and are critical of what they see as unnecessary medicalization. If you are looking for a second opinion on something your provider said, or if you want to hear experienced birth attendants think out loud about real cases, this is the show.

Episodes usually run 60 to 90 minutes and feel more like a conversation you eavesdropped on than a produced program. It is best suited for listeners who already have some background knowledge and want to go deeper rather than complete beginners still figuring out basic terminology.

Pregnancy Uncut is hosted by two Australian doctors, Dr. Alex Umbers and Dr. Kara Thompson, who created the show to give voice to the pregnancy and birth experiences that rarely get talked about openly. The podcast focuses specifically on pregnancies and births that did not go to plan, covering miscarriage, stillbirth, birth trauma, infertility, and perinatal mental health with remarkable sensitivity.

Each season follows a structured theme. Recent episodes have explored informed consent in maternity care, what happens when a birth plan sparks public controversy, and how birth can resurface long-buried trauma. The hosts bring their medical backgrounds to every conversation but lead with empathy rather than clinical distance, creating what they describe as a soft place for hard conversations.

The show runs about 60 episodes across six seasons, with each episode typically lasting 40 to 60 minutes. Guests include obstetricians, midwives, psychologists, and most powerfully, parents sharing their own stories. The production quality is high, and the pacing gives difficult subjects the breathing room they need.

Pregnancy Uncut fills an important gap for expecting parents who have experienced loss or complications and feel isolated by the relentless positivity of most pregnancy media. It is also valuable for first-time parents who want an honest picture of what can happen and how to advocate for themselves within the medical system. The show does not sugarcoat, but it always treats its subjects with dignity.

Preggie Pals has been a staple in the pregnancy podcast space since 2012, making it one of the longest-running shows in the category. Produced by New Mommy Media, each episode brings together a panel of pregnant women at various stages and trimesters alongside experienced mothers and medical professionals to discuss a specific topic.

The panel format is what makes Preggie Pals distinctive. Instead of a single expert lecturing, you hear real pregnant women reacting to advice in real time, asking the follow-up questions that listeners are thinking, and sharing how each topic plays out in their own pregnancies. Recent episodes have covered sex during pregnancy, what to actually expect when your water breaks, the VBAC versus repeat cesarean decision, and high-risk pregnancy management.

With over 218 episodes in the archive, the show functions as a practical encyclopedia of pregnancy topics. Episodes on maternity clothes, fetal non-stress tests, birthing centers, and gestational diabetes give expecting parents concrete information they can use immediately. The tone stays educational without being preachy, and the rotating panel keeps perspectives fresh.

New episodes release weekly, and the show currently holds a 4.2-star rating from 167 reviews. Preggie Pals works especially well for expecting parents who want to hear from other people going through the same experience right now, not just experts looking back on it. The community feel of the panel discussions makes pregnancy feel less like a solo journey.

Birth With Power is hosted by Dr. Nicole Calloway Rankins, a board-certified OB-GYN with more than 20 years of hands-on experience delivering babies. Dr. Rankins created the show to help expecting mothers take an active role in their birth experience, and her medical credentials give the advice a level of authority that few pregnancy podcasts can match.

The show mixes solo teaching episodes with birth story interviews and expert conversations. Dr. Rankins has a knack for translating medical jargon into plain language, covering topics like induction methods, epidural timing, C-section recovery, and when to push back on recommendations from your care team. A recent standout episode featured an OB-GYN who left the hospital system entirely to practice differently, sparking a frank discussion about systemic problems in maternity care.

With over 400 episodes in the catalog, the show has built an enormous library of practical pregnancy and birth content. The postpartum series covers NICU experiences, traumatic birth recovery, and recognizing when you need mental health support. Each episode runs 30 to 50 minutes, making them easy to fit into a commute or lunch break.

Birth With Power carries a 4.8-star rating across 643 reviews, reflecting strong listener loyalty. Dr. Rankins is particularly focused on reaching Black mothers and addressing racial disparities in maternal healthcare outcomes, adding an important perspective that is underrepresented in the pregnancy podcast space.

Ask the Doulas is hosted by Kristin Revere and Alyssa Veneklase from Gold Coast Doulas, a full-service doula agency based in Michigan. The show covers the full arc from pregnancy through the first year of parenthood, bringing in a rotating cast of specialists that includes lactation consultants, sleep coaches, pelvic floor therapists, and mental health professionals.

The format is straightforward: each episode tackles a single topic through a conversation between the hosts and a relevant expert. Recent episodes have covered how to choose baby formula, the value of baby prep classes, what a sibling doula does during birth, and building community through mom groups. The questions are practical and specific, the kind of things expecting parents actually search for at midnight.

With 329 episodes and weekly releases, the back catalog is deep enough to serve as a reference library. The doula perspective sets this show apart from physician-hosted podcasts because the focus stays on the whole experience rather than just the medical aspects. Kristin and Alyssa talk openly about emotional preparation, partner dynamics, postpartum adjustment, and the logistics of newborn care that doctors rarely have time to address.

The show maintains a judgment-free tone that is genuine rather than performative. The hosts acknowledge that every family situation is different and consistently present multiple approaches rather than prescribing a single right way. For expecting parents who want practical, week-by-week guidance from people who have supported hundreds of births firsthand, Ask the Doulas delivers consistently.

Judith Schuler co-wrote a pregnancy book with an OB/GYN, and this podcast is essentially that book chopped up into short weekly listens that track the same way a doctor tracks your pregnancy: by gestational week. Each episode runs about five to seven minutes, which is short enough to fit into a commute or a lunch break, and the content sticks close to what a clinician would actually tell you. Week one through forty, plus postpartum, plus a handful of episodes on preconception and common complications. Schuler doesn't try to be your best friend or process her own feelings at you. She reads as informed, steady, and a little bit matter-of-fact, which is what a lot of first-time parents actually want when they're spiraling at 11pm wondering if a particular symptom is normal. The format means you can start listening at whatever week you happen to be in and work forward. You can also hand it to a partner who wants to understand what's happening without having to read a four hundred page book. It's not flashy and it's not trying to sell you a course. It's a quiet, clinical, week-by-week companion that treats pregnancy as a medical process worth explaining clearly.

Nora DeBora is a preconception health coach and fertility awareness practitioner, and her show is aimed squarely at women in their thirties who are thinking about getting pregnant and want to do some groundwork before they start trying. The angle is egg quality, cycle tracking, nutrition, and the lifestyle factors that affect conception and early pregnancy. That's a narrower scope than most pregnancy podcasts, and it's useful for anyone who feels like they've been told to just relax and it'll happen. DeBora brings on naturopaths, functional medicine doctors, fertility specialists, and people who've been through the preconception process themselves. Episodes tend to be interview-heavy, and the conversations get specific: which micronutrients actually matter, what cycle irregularities might mean, how sleep and stress show up in fertility markers. She's open about running a paid program called Master Your Cycle To Get Pregnant, so there's a soft sell at the edges, but the free episodes stand on their own. If you're in the window between deciding to try and actually being pregnant, and you want information that goes beyond take a prenatal vitamin, this is a reasonable place to start building a vocabulary for your own body.

Vanessa Merten runs the larger Pregnancy Podcast, and this is her shorter companion show: one episode per gestational week, each about five minutes long, designed to be listened to in real time as your pregnancy progresses. You sync it to your due date and then every week you get a quick update on what the baby is doing, what your body is probably doing, what symptoms might show up, what to ask at your next appointment, and a small tip aimed specifically at the partner. That last piece is rarer than you'd think. Most pregnancy content is written for the pregnant person, and partners are left to figure out their role on their own. Merten treats them as part of the audience without making a big production of it. The show has been running since 2016, so the back catalog is stable and complete. If you want a longer deep dive on a specific topic like gestational diabetes or epidurals, she has those too on the main Pregnancy Podcast feed, but 40 Weeks is the one you tune into on a Tuesday morning when you just want to know what week twenty-two is supposed to feel like. It's short, practical, and easy to keep up with.

Dr Patrick Moloney is an Australian obstetrician who has personally attended more than four thousand births, and he co-hosts this show with his wife Brigid, who is a midwife and the mother of their four boys. The combination works better than you might expect. Patrick handles the clinical pieces, things like what actually happens during an induction, why certain blood tests are ordered, how labor progress is measured, and Brigid pulls the conversation back toward the practical experience of being the person in the bed. The show is produced by Mamamia, which gives it a cleaner polish than a lot of independent pregnancy podcasts, but the Moloneys themselves are the reason to listen. They have a calm, conversational delivery that makes hard topics feel manageable, and they're willing to contradict the usual internet advice when the evidence doesn't support it. Episodes range across fertility, early pregnancy, common complications, birth planning, and early postpartum. If you want medical information from someone who has actually been in the delivery room thousands of times, paired with the warmth of a family that has lived through four pregnancies of their own, this one earns its place on the list.

Caroline Foran is an Irish author and journalist who has written a handful of books about anxiety, and she made this podcast after her own first pregnancy left her buried under the pile of contradictory information you hit the moment you start Googling. Ready To Pop is a tight, limited eight-part series rather than an endless weekly feed, which is actually part of its appeal. You can listen to the whole thing in a weekend, take what you need, and move on. Each episode pairs Foran with a specific expert: a fertility doctor for conception, a dietitian for nutrition, an obstetrician for labor, a psychologist for the anxiety that nobody warns you about, a dermatologist for the skin changes, and so on. Episodes run between thirty-seven and fifty-seven minutes, so the conversations have room to go deeper than a quick morning roundup. Foran herself is a good interviewer because she's not pretending to already know the answers. She asks the questions a first-time parent actually has, including the slightly embarrassing ones, and she lets her guests explain without rushing. If you want a curated season rather than an ongoing subscription, this is the one to queue up.