Ep 131: Fertility and Freebirth with Noelle Kowalski

Who do you picture surrounding you when you give birth?  Or….do you picture anyone else besides your spouse?   Today we’re speaking with Noelle Kowalski, whom you may know as Noelle Kovary on instagram.  She’s a functional therapy nutritional practitioner, Ayurvedic practitioner holistic health coach, business owner, and… she gave birth to her first baby with her husband and no one else.  This episode is so amazing and covers some incredible topics like healing from medical injuries, working on your fertility, and of course, giving birth at home.  Take a screenshot of you listening into this episode and tag @happyhomebirthpodcast and @noellekovary and let us know your favorite takeway.       This episode was is sponsored by Baby Trend andThe Cover Me 4-in-1 Convertible car seat   Please remember the opinions of my guest,  and this show is not meant to prescribe or treat- it’s an educational tool, so continue to take empowered responsibility for your health and your family.   Noelle is a Functional Therapy Nutritional Practitioner, an Ayurvedic Practitoner, Holistic Health Coach, and she and her husband own an organic, non-toxic beauty company called Forever Healthy Hair. They also have created online courses that teach people how to heal the metabolism and digestion, and they are currently working on their fertility course. Her background:Noelle became very sick around 13/14- diagnosed with a rare kidney disorder and harmed by the HPV vaccine She had PCOS, Hashimoto’s, Basal Cell skin cancer, and more.  She knew that nutrition needed to be addressed.  Noelle began working with chiropractors, and then went to school for holistic nutrition and bioenergetic healing.  She ultimately healed her body to the point where she felt she was in a higher percentage of health than most people. Lifestyle and herbal allies were used. This is where her passion comes from: she was mistreated, misdiagnosed and abused within the medical system, and she wanted to give people another route to heal.   Specific to healing from HPV Vax: It took her roughly 10 years to fully recover The bulk of healing happened within the first couple of years -Reduced her endotoxin load through diet -Activated coconut charcoal -Reduced heavy metals in her body by supporting natural detox pathways -Supporting thyroid by eating regularly -Consuming nutrient-dense foods -Reishi mushroom, ksm-66 ashwaganda, pine pollen -Adequate minerals through diet and supplementation (magnesium bicarbonate) -Mitigate Stress Master Mineral Drink -Shilajit -Epsom salt baths, vitamin C, and borax -Red light therapy -Infrared sauna -Aviyanga Massage -Dry brushing   Noelle’s pregnancy: Pretty easy and smooth Increased her topical dose of progesterone and added B6 and it went away She’s always wanted to do a homebirth, and having gone through so much difficulty in the medical system throughout her life, she knew the hospital would not be the place for her. They did interview one midwife, but Noelle felt like she did not have the type of knowledge regarding physiology and nourishing mother/baby Noelle felt best when she thought about doing her birth alone with just her husband She and Nick discussed what they would do in each situation and how they would handle each aspect She was completely unafraid of any “pain” women experience when giving birth, as she’s been through so many unnatural procedures. What she needed to learn was “what do we do when baby’s born?”  What does a midwife do?  What does the doctor do? If something went wrong, she knew she would go to the hospital.  Throughout labor, she was extremely happy that nobody was there because she was so deeply relaxed. They weighed the pros and cons, and Noelle intuitively knew that doing it on their own would be the most peaceful way to bring their baby into the world— just the two of them. At one point their son was transverse, and Nick was able to help flip him head down (around 28 weeks) They did get one ultrasound at 18 w