The Birth Hour - A Birth Story Podcast

Bryn Huntpalmer created The Birth Hour around a simple concept: real women sharing their real birth stories, in their own words. It's an interview-style show where each episode features a different mother recounting her experience, and the range of stories is remarkable -- hospital births with epidurals, unmedicated home births, planned and emergency C-sections, VBAC attempts, stillbirth, and everything in between. With over 2,100 ratings and a 4.8-star average, this is one of the highest-rated parenting podcasts on Apple Podcasts. Episodes vary from 30 minutes to over an hour depending on the story, and new ones drop twice a week. Bryn is a skilled interviewer who asks the right follow-up questions without ever steering the narrative. She lets the storyteller lead. For first-time moms, this show is uniquely valuable because it strips away the sanitized version of childbirth you get from most prenatal classes. Hearing dozens of different birth experiences helps you understand what's actually possible, what can go wrong, and how women cope when their birth plan goes sideways. Several episodes also cover postpartum anxiety and depression with raw honesty. The show does lean into the natural birth community, and Bryn's background in alternative health is visible in the guest selection. But there's enough variety in the stories that you won't feel pressured toward any particular approach. If you're pregnant and anxious about delivery, listening to a handful of Birth Hour episodes will probably do more for your confidence than reading another "what to expect" book.