Born to be Wild the podcast

4 | Irene - a hospital fire, an unplanned homebirth, trusting your body

Born to be Wild.pt — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:00:00 GMT

Irene Jaspers is one of the hosts of this podcast. She is also a doula on Santa Maria, on of the smaller islands of the Azores. And in this episode, she is the guest!

Her second pregnancy was going beautifully. Then, four weeks before her due date, the maternity ward of the only public hospital on the neighboring island caught fire. Everything changed.

What followed was a homebirth she never planned, in an Airbnb on São Miguel, with a midwife who flew in from Lisbon. And it turned out to be exactly what she needed.

This episode is about following your instincts when the system pushes back. About staying connected to yourself even when everything around you feels uncertain. And about what becomes possible when you trust your own body.

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Born to Be Wild: https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/
Birthmode: https://www.instagram.com/birthmode/

3 | Koen Deurloo - obstetrician, MAC pioneer, what it really means to put women at the centre

Born to be Wild.pt — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 17:07:41 GMT

Koen Deurloo is a gynecologist and obstetrician in Utrecht, the Netherlands, who has spent over a decade quietly rewriting what a cesarean birth can look like. Not by changing the surgery, but by changing who is at the centre of it.

In this episode, Koen introduces the MAC method, or Mother Assisted Cesarean, where the mother herself lifts her baby out of the womb with her own hands. He explains how it started with one woman's request, why the data shows it is just as safe as a standard C-section, and why it costs little more than a pair of sterile gloves and four extra minutes.

But this episode goes far beyond one procedure. Koen speaks honestly about what it took for him to become a doctor who truly listens, including a moment early in his career where he pushed a woman into an induction she didn't want, and what that taught him. He talks about why the Dutch system produces different outcomes than other countries, what the role of midwives and doulas should be inside hospitals, and why preparing for plan B might be one of the most powerful things you can do before you give birth.

If you have ever felt like a patient waiting behind a drape instead of the woman bringing her child into the world, this episode is for you.

"The change is not going to come from doctors. It is going to come from women."

Koen Deurloo on Instagram: @koendeurloo
Book: Door de ogen van de gynaecoloog (Dutch) https://tinyurl.com/4nmxcxhj
The Macazine (English and Dutch) https://tinyurl.com/3z423pv8
MAC method information https://www.mamamoonapp.com/blog/mother-assisted-caesarean-mac

2 | Sara do Vale - doula, birth activist, what they (don’t) tell you about giving birth in Portugal

Born to be Wild.pt — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 12:30:18 GMT

Sara do Vale has been inside Portuguese maternity care for over a decade, as a doula, as an activist, and as a mother of three. She has sat in parliament, co-founded the Portuguese Birthrights Association, and supported women through births in both public and private hospitals. She does not soften the picture.

In this episode, Sara breaks down what giving birth in Portugal actually looks like today: why midwives are sidelined despite the evidence, why the C-section rate in private hospitals sits at 67%, and why you might find yourself having contractions while checking an app to find out which hospital is even open that night.

But Sara also tells you what to do with that information. How to read the red flags early. How to push back. How to find the pockets within the system where things are done differently. And why she still believes, after all these years, that change is coming.

If you are pregnant in Portugal, planning to be, or simply trying to understand why birth here feels the way it does, this episode is essential listening.

"We keep fighting so that one day our daughters can say: really? It was like that?"

Website Sara do Vale: https://www.saradovale.com/
Associação Portuguesa pelos Direitos da Mulher na Gravidez e Parto (Birthrights Association): www.associacaogravidezeparto.pt

1 | Maria & Carlos - a doctor's empowering journey, homebirth of 5 days, hospital transfer

Born to be Wild.pt — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 11:07:39 GMT

In this first episode, we sit down with Maria and Carlos, a Portuguese couple who chose to prepare for a home birth in Lisbon after years of living in London.

What makes their story remarkable is that Maria is a doctor. A GP specializing in women's health, who trained inside the very system she was choosing to step away from. Together with her partner Carlos, she spent months preparing for a non-medicalized birth at home, supported by independent midwives and a community of couples on the same path.

What followed was five days of labor, a shift to plan B, and a birth that turned out to be nothing like what they had imagined and everything they needed.

What happens when a doctor questions the system from the inside? What does it take for a partner to show up fully during five sleepless days of labor? And can plan B still be beautiful?

This episode is for anyone who has ever been told their birth plan isn't realistic, and for anyone who knows that trusting your body is easier said than done.

The list of homebirth midwives in Portugal: https://associacaogravidezeparto.pt/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Lista-de-Profissionais-de-Saude-Parto-Domiciliar.pdf
Born to be Wild: https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/
Birthmode: https://www.instagram.com/birthmode/