Misconceptions on Midwives & America's Broken Birthing System with Elaine Welteroth

Summary

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Podcast Summary

That Can't Be True with Chelsea Clinton

Episode: Misconceptions on Midwives & America’s Broken Birthing System
Date: October 2, 2025
Host: Chelsea Clinton
Guest: Elaine Welteroth (author, journalist, founder of Birth Fund)

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Overview of Episode Theme

This episode delves into “America’s broken birthing system,” focusing in particular on widespread misconceptions about midwives and barriers to safe, equitable maternity care in the U.S. Chelsea Clinton sits down with journalist and advocate Elaine Welteroth to explore shocking maternal health statistics, the cultural stigmas around midwifery, Elaine’s own journey through the medical system as a new mother, and her work to increase access to midwifery care through her organization, Birth Fund. The episode also offers a myth-busting segment, “Fact or Fiction,” around trending birthing-related practices.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening – The Parental Self-Talk Revolution (00:45-03:37)

• Chelsea and Elaine reflect on the transformation of self-talk and gentle language that comes from motherhood.
• They discuss the practice of using affirmations with their children—and themselves:

  “This morning, as I was getting ready, I literally, for the first time in my entire life was like, I did it to myself. And I almost cried. I was like, this is such a beautiful practice that I'm instilling in him. And now I'm borrowing it…” (Elaine, 02:52)

• Both note the unexpected “bonus” of motherhood is a kinder relationship with oneself.

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2. America’s Maternal Health Crisis (03:37-06:56)

• Chelsea drops the “that can't be true” stat: The U.S. has the highest rate of pregnancy-related deaths among high-income countries, with 700+ deaths annually, 80% of which are preventable.
• Elaine adds, “Black women are actually dying at three to four times the rates of white women.” (04:28)
  • In NYC, Black women die at nine times the rate of white women (Chelsea, 05:00)
• Elaine’s shock that this crisis isn’t more widely known drives much of her advocacy:

  “The fact that I did not know this meant that most mothers to be probably don't know this.” (Elaine, 05:04)

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3. Why Aren’t We Talking About Midwives? (06:56-10:31)

• Chelsea and Elaine laugh over the misconception that midwives are some new “innovation.”

  “‘Could you please tell me a little bit more about this innovation of midwives?’ And I was like, innovation? It’s probably the oldest profession in the world.” (Chelsea, 06:56)

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4. Elaine’s Personal Journey Through the Broken System (10:31-17:14)

• Elaine details her struggle: went through eight different doctors and felt dismissed, belittled, and unheard.
• Recounts a jarring story:

  “A doctor said to me in the middle of my question, she stood up and said, ‘You have exceeded my 2 to 3 question max per appointment. I’ve given you grace, but I need to leave.’” (Elaine, 13:20)

• Discusses the emotional toll:

  “Each of these experiences with these doctors broke something inside of me… Nothing has ever made me feel more vulnerable than being pregnant, especially in America.” (Elaine, 13:52)

• Elaine emphasizes that 50% of mothers describe their birth as traumatic.

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5. Challenging Stigma & Discovering Midwifery (17:14-25:35)

• With community support, Elaine is connected to Kindred Space LA, a Black female-owned birthing center.
• She acknowledges her initial fear and ignorance:

  “People throughout history have cast midwives aside as, as witches… it’s all by design to create a medicalized model that is set up for profit over patient care.” (Elaine, 18:06)

• Her first visit to a midwife was radically different:

  “She had breakfast and tea waiting… we sat and we talked… she wanted to know everything about my family dynamics, my work dynamics, where my stress comes from, what I'm eating, what my fears are…” (Elaine, 20:17)

• Details her home birth, which was surprisingly empowering and safe:

  “I got to such a place of transcendence that I actually can tell you… I enjoyed childbirth.” (Elaine, 24:10)

• “What I am here to say is: there are options. …If you are feeling scared and unsafe at the hands of your caretaker, please, please know that you have the agency to explore other options.” (Elaine, 25:26)

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6. Birth Fund: Filling the Access Gap (26:45-29:39)

• Birth Fund pays the bills for families who want midwifery care but can’t afford it out of pocket (since most insurance won’t cover midwives in the U.S.).
• Started with calls to her network (e.g., Serena and Alexis Ohanian, LeBron and Savannah James, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen).
• Urgency: "We cannot afford to wait for lawmakers… to fix this." (Elaine, 29:07)
• Clinton: "Your mantra is: it’s up to us to save us." (Chelsea, 29:39)

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7. Fact or Fiction: Debunking Modern Wellness Trends (30:14-34:37)

a) Hypnobirthing (30:15-31:16)

• Elaine: Pro-hypnobirthing, especially for those with birthing fear.
  • Hypnobirthing uses breathwork and mental training to promote calm during labor.
  • Helped Elaine access “total Zen.”

b) Pelvic Floor Therapy (31:16-33:49)

• Elaine experienced SPD (pubis symphysis dysfunction) and pelvic floor therapy “was game changing… I was able to play tennis during my second pregnancy.”
• Emphasizes importance of discussing these support tools, as many women don’t realize what help is available.

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Notable Quotes

• On U.S. maternal mortality:
  “America is the deadliest place to give birth in all of the industrialized countries.”
  — Elaine Welteroth (05:04)

• On midwifery stigma:
  “Throughout history, people have cast midwives aside as witches… it’s all by design to create a medicalized model for profit over patient care.”
  — Elaine Welteroth (18:06)

• On agency in childbirth:
  “If you are feeling scared and unsafe at the hands of your caretaker, please, please know that you have the agency to explore other options.”
  — Elaine Welteroth (25:26)

• On the hope for maternity care:
  “The future of birth in this country is hybrid spaces for all of them [doctors, doulas, midwives] to coexist within four walls.”
  — Elaine Welteroth (26:17)

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Memorable Moments

• Elaine’s “Pop a Squat” story:
  After being told by a doctor “You can’t just come into a hospital, pop a squat, and have a baby,” Elaine literally did just that, giving birth at home:

  “I pushed myself off of the birthing stool and I popped a squat and I had my nine pound baby. The way women have been having babies since the beginning of time.” (24:45)

• Call to Action:
  “If we even positively affect change, save one life, then we've done something that really matters.”
  — Chelsea Clinton (34:37)

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Timestamps Quick Reference

• Opening and reflections on motherhood: 00:45–03:37
• Maternal mortality crisis discussed: 03:37–06:56
• Misconceptions about midwives: 06:56–10:31
• Elaine’s struggle with doctors: 10:31–17:14
• Stigma and birth plan transformation: 17:14–25:35
• Birth Fund explained: 26:45–29:39
• Fact or Fiction (hypnobirthing/pelvic floor therapy): 30:14–34:37
• Closing call to connection and care: 34:37–35:02

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Tone and Style

• Candid, empathetic, and personal—not clinical.
• Mixes humor and deep emotion.
• Conversational but sharply focused on exposing truths and empowering women.

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For Listeners: Takeaways

• U.S. maternity care is in crisis—awareness and advocacy are needed.
• Midwifery is time-tested, safe, and empowering, but cultural and systemic barriers persist.
• You have agency: seek care models and providers who respect and support you.
• There is growing grassroots pressure (e.g., Birth Fund) to open access to safer, more personal care models for birth.
• Open conversation about birth topics (from trauma to therapy to alternative practices) is vital.

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Transcript

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Lemonade.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Welcome to that Can't Be True, a show that sorts fact from fiction, especially on issues impacting our health. I'm Chelsea Clinton and today I'm talking to Elaine Welteroth. She's a New York Times best selling author, an award winning journalist known for her groundbreaking work at the helm of Teen Vogue. And Elaine has been a judge on Project One Way. Since then, she's turned her background as a journalist and a writer, plus her experience as a mom, into passionate advocacy in maternal health, largely through her organization, Birth Fund, which helps families with access to midwives. Hi.

[Elaine Welteroth]

Hi. How are you?

[Chelsea Clinton]

You know, I'm many things.

[Elaine Welteroth]

Aren't we all?

[Chelsea Clinton]

That's my answer these days. I'm many things. Like, my children are great. So distraught about the world. And like everything else falls between those two pillars.

[Elaine Welteroth]

That is the best answer to the question, how are you? That I have heard yet I wish everybody answered it that way.

[Chelsea Clinton]

It's true though, right? Like, I also feel, since you're also a mom, I have increasingly found myself speaking to myself the way that I speak to my children, where I like, the only way forward is through. The only way through is forward.

[Elaine Welteroth]

Like, I'm like, I really, I really find myself giving myself.

[Chelsea Clinton]

It's like, it's like life lessons for Chelsea. From Chelsea.

[Elaine Welteroth]

Yes. I feel like we could write children's books for adults based on how we now speak to ourselves. It's. Honestly, I love that you brought that up. It's the best part of motherhood. The most unexpected bonus of motherhood has been a new relationship to self talk.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Oh, yeah.

[Elaine Welteroth]

And self love. Because you're so much more cognizant. Like the way you speak to your kids is the way they speak to themselves and other people. So then you're like starting to be more aware of how you speak to yourself.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Totally.

[Elaine Welteroth]

And other people in front of them. It just makes you so much more conscious and gentle.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Yes. Although there are then moments, like I did have a moment a couple years ago where I was in a, like a professional setting and I did say to someone, well, that wasn't a good choice. And I was like, oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry.

[Elaine Welteroth]

I was like, I love that. I was like.

[Chelsea Clinton]

I was like, wow, that is what I mean.

[Elaine Welteroth]

That was like a terrible way to say that.

[Chelsea Clinton]

I'm so sorry. So then, you know, there are the pitfalls. Like that.

[Elaine Welteroth]

Right, right, right, right. You're like, I'm so sorry. Or when you accident. When you say like, potty, like, I have to go potty or something. You're like, oh, my God. I swear I'm a self respecting adult. This is crazy.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Totally. I'm training for the marathon again.

[Elaine Welteroth]

And wow, congrats.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Oh, gosh. Well, thank you. But I've realized, like, the only place I would ever give myself pep talks before I became a mom and was like, this is a great thing to do for me was like, in marathon training, like, you can do it, you can do it. Now there's other parts of my life.

[Elaine Welteroth]

Where I'm like, I can do it. I can do it. Yes, I know. Are you like, in my house? In my mind, I swear, this morning. This morning I say to my son every single day, he does like affirmations, like, I am smart, I am kind, I am brave, I am strong, I am loved. And I'm gonna have a. And then he goes, we do a great day. And this morning, as I was getting ready, I literally, for the first time in my entire life was like, I did it to myself. And I almost cried. I was like, this is such a beautiful practice that I'm instilling in him. And now I'm borrowing it and realizing how important it is for me too. I'm so fast moving, but because of these babies, they slow us down just enough to give us little moments of just presence.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Totally. Well, thank you. Thank you for doing this. All right. We open every episode with something called that can't be true. And today that comes in the form of a pretty unbelievable and disgraceful statistic. The United States has the highest rate of pregnancy related deaths among high income countries. We lose over 700 women a year to pregnancy related complications. And the CDC, at least the CDC that historically we've had, that's cared about real data, reports that 80% of those deaths, if not more, are preventable. Elaine, why and how is this happening in the United States of America in the 21st century?

[Elaine Welteroth]

That was my exact question when I heard that stat for the first time when I was pregnant. And as you can imagine, I was alarmed, both from the perspective of a journalist who felt the need to chase down the answers, but also as a mother who was months away from, you know, facing my own birth experience. And the other stat I would add here that is very staggering is that black women are actually dying at three to four times the rates of white women.

[Chelsea Clinton]

And in New York City, In New York City, it's nine times.

[Elaine Welteroth]

Exactly. And those numbers actually don't really shift much when we're looking at socioeconomic, you know, status and things like that. So I couldn't believe that this is the case and I couldn't believe that we aren't talking about this more. I think that was what was really even more alarming to me as a journalist. The fact that I did not know this meant that most mothers to be probably don't know this. I think we think of the maternal health crisis as something that's happening elsewhere in other countries. As you know, people say third world countries, which we know, I don't really use that term anymore, but the idea that it's underdeveloped populations that are facing this kind of threat and the reality is that America is the deadliest place to give birth in all of the industrialized countries across the world. And so for me, as one fired up mother, knowing that there are way known data backed solutions that we can be rallying around, that we can be investing in, that we can be waking up women and families to work towards, then that gave me hope and it energized me and it inspired me to start Birth fund specifically because 80% of those deaths can be prevented with midwifery care. And I just happened to be someone who struck out of the medical system. I tried to find a doctor that made me feel safe and heard in the context of this maternal crisis, but I couldn't. And I went through eight different doctors and I have access to the best in the country, specifically here in la. And I was shocked by how low the standards of care are for mothers. And so I pivoted to the path of midwifery care.

[Chelsea Clinton]

You and I have talked about this before. I believe I shared with you before. One of the kind of funniest conversations I've ever had with anyone was when I was trying to raise money to support a startup here in New York City to expand access to midwifery centered ob GYN supported pregnancy care. I had someone say to me, could you please tell me a little bit more about this innovation of midwives? And I was like, innovation? I was like, it's probably the oldest profession in the world. Where do you think people came from thousands of years ago?

[Elaine Welteroth]

By definition, at least some of us.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Came into the world safely or none of us would be here. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Who do you turn to when you need help? A parent, a partner? A friend? Maybe the barista or the bartender down the street? You know, we've all been there, we've all needed help. But none of the above are options for a great licensed therapist. And if you're ready to give therapy a try, or looking for someone new. Or if you have a friend who's looking to give therapy a try, check out BetterHelp. With over 30,000 therapists, BetterHelp can help you find the right match. It's fully online and you can pause your subscription whenever that's right for you. As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of Expertise. Find the one with BetterHelp. Our listeners get 10% off their first [e-mail] Can'tBeTrue. That's betterhelp.com Can'tBeTrue.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, hi everybody, it's Julia Louis Dreyfus from the Wiser Than Me podcast. And I'm not gonna talk about food waste this time. I'm gonna talk about food resources. All that uneaten food rotting in the landfill, it could be enriching our soil or feeding our chickens because it's still food. And the easiest and frankly, way coolest way to put all its nutrients to work is with the mill food recycler. It looks like an art house garbage can. You can just toss your scraps in it like a garbage can. But it is definitely not a garbage can. I mean, it's true. I'm pretty obsessed with this thing. I even invested in this thing. But I'm not alone. Any mill owner just might corner you at a party and rhapsodize about how it's completely odorless and it's fully automated and how you can keep filling it for weeks. But the clincher is that you can depend on it for years. Mill is a serious machine. Think about a dishwasher, not a toaster. It's built by hand in North America and it's engineered by the guy who did your iPhone. But you have to kind of live with mill to understand all the love. That's why they offer a risk free trial. Go to mill.comweiser for an exclusive offer.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Can we go back to kind of something you said earlier, where you said you went through eight doctors, eight doctors before you found the right answer for you? But what was happening in one through eight for you? And then did someone recommend a midwife or were you like, googling like, what else can I do? Like, tell us about that first experience.

[Elaine Welteroth]

Well, you know, the whole thing was so overwhelming. To your point, there's so little we know about what it takes to bring a child into this world, both physiologically and in terms of navigating this system. That's very broken in my Opinion. And so as a journalist, I kind of, I put my journalist hat on to try to help navigate this maze. And I documented the whole experience in this like live series I did called Maternity T E A like spilling the tea. And I, I almost spit out my.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Coffee when you were saying that you should be a writer.

[Elaine Welteroth]

You're so clever, those pithy turns of phrase. Well, you need to keep some levity here. And I do think we need to spill the tea on all the things because that's really the only way we stay blind and the only way we stay susceptible to being manipulated in this system is if no one's talking about it. So I was sort of like live broadcasting, like here is what I'm facing. And I was crowdsourcing advice, frankly, in real time from my friends, from my digital community. Like to be clear, Chelsea, I was not even considering midwives. I was fully conditioned to believe that there is one way to give birth in a, you know, high income country, and that is in the hospital with a doctor and most likely with an epidural and probably a C section. Like, I was fully kind of conditioned to think of this medicalized birth as the norm.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Well, and I have to just break.

[Elaine Welteroth]

And rudely for a moment to say.

[Chelsea Clinton]

I had to have an emergency C section. So I'm so thankful that that exists.

[Elaine Welteroth]

100% for women who need it.

[Chelsea Clinton]

And also that there should be a range of options so that pregnant women can decide which are right for each of us. And also to have access to emergency care if any of us need it, when we need it.

[Elaine Welteroth]

Yes, 100%, we should know what our options are. We are all, we all should have access to those options. And my thing is, I just didn't even know there were other options at all. So I was, I was, I, I kept meeting with doctors that were referred to me by friends or people in the digital community that I was kind of open with about this journey. And I just had a range of not great experiences because you like just.

[Chelsea Clinton]

The way they, like they didn't respect you, they didn't respect your questions. They couldn't answer your questions correct. I'm so sorry.

[Elaine Welteroth]

Yeah, I was very sorry to learn that this was what the standard was because I was told these are like the best doctors in la. And I. Anyway, the example that I can share with you is this was the eighth doctor and this is where I said, okay, I'm, I am officially not built for this system or this system wasn't built for me. A doctor said to me in the Middle of my question, she stood up and said, you have exceeded my 2 to 3 question max per appointment. I've given you grace, but I need to leave. And it was so jarring and rude. And there are many ways to communicate that you have to move on. But the way that this was handled was so disrespectful. And this was the same doctor who I. She was a little bristled by that point. Because one of my questions, which I think every birthing person should ask their doctor, is, what is your intervention rate? Because what we know is that while there are so many, you know, mothers like you who need medical intervention, we should reserve doctors attention and energy and hands to deal with those true medical emergencies. But what we know is that childbirth, it's a natural process that doesn't always need medical intervention. And so many of the maternal mortalities are a result of unnecessary medical intervention. So I. I implore anybody who's pregnant, or anyone who knows anyone who's pregnant, to just ask, what is your intervention rate? Just to get a sense of what their philosophy is. Because a lot of obs are actually trained to believe that every one needs something in terms of a medical intervention. And this is what the doctor said to me. She laughed when I asked the question. She laughed at me for asking the question and said, I don't know what you think this is. You can't just come into a hospital, pop a squat and have a baby. Everybody needs something. And she walked out of the room, and after telling me I had exceeded her two to three question max. And this was like the final breaking point for me. By that point, I walked into her office a shell of myself. Like, each of these experiences with these doctors broke something inside of me. Like, I. I consider myself a fairly confident person and an advocate for women and the issues that I care about. But by that point, I was so. My confidence was so broken because it felt like there was something wrong with me or something about me that wasn't worthy enough of good care that I. My voice shook when I was asking the questions. I was trembling. I thought, am I not smiling enough? What is it about me that I cannot earn the attention, care, and trust of my doctor when I'm in my most vulnerable state? Nothing has ever made me feel more vulnerable than being pregnant, especially in America, with the maternal mortality rates being what they are and the traumatic outcomes, even if you do come through childbirth with a baby. So, so many women, 50% of mothers, describe their births as traumatic. I didn't want that. And so all I was seeking was connection with a caretaker who I could trust in my most vulnerable hour. And the way that they dismissed my questions, the way that they talked down to me, the way that I was rushed just made me feel like a number. And that was when I was upright and speaking. I couldn't trust them with my body when I couldn't speak or when I was, you know, God forbid I had a medical emergency and I couldn't advocate for myself. So it truly, at the end of that doctor's visit, I cried in my car. I wept in my car.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Were you by yourself?

[Elaine Welteroth]

My husband was with me. Thank God for every single doctor's appointment. And he witnessed it all. Like some of it was so crazy to me that I was like, thank God I have a witness. Because I don't know if I would believe that I would believe myself. Yeah, I don't think I would believe that these things actually happened to me. But thankfully, thankfully from the maternity community, shout out to the maternity community. Because so many of them referred me to midwifery. They implored me to go take a meeting at Kindred Space la, which is the only black female owned birthing center in all of Southern California. I was very scared and skeptical.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Scared and skeptical because you didn't know anyone who had had midwifery care. You had maybe some like, misconceptions about midwives.

[Elaine Welteroth]

I think that I represent a lot and I would say the majority of women who either a, do not know anything or much of anything about midwifery. And, and also if, if you do what, you know is very much framed through stigma, like there's this sense that a midwifery is an unsafe or a less safe route. What if something happens? You know, and then there's people who cast judgment on, on midwifery because of their ignorance and this idea that they maybe are less skilled than doctors, that their practices are less sanitary. I mean, it goes on and on. People throughout history have cast midwives aside as, as witches. You know, there has, there have literally been witch hunts around midwives. And it's all by design to create a medicalized model that is set up for profit over patient care. And we have all been conditioned to believe that this is the only one true, safe, nor for how to give birth in this, in, in this country in particular. And so there was a lot of unlearning I needed to do. So I proceeded with caution. I had my first meeting with a midwife. The biggest fear that I had going into this was I don't know if I can do childbirth without an epidural or access to, you know, medical pain relief. I have only ever seen people do it on television and in movies. Like, screaming. It sounds, you know, like, it sounds terrible. And I was just kind of like, I'm good. I will take the epidural, and just. Let's just get through it. And that's, again, part of the mindset that we need to shift around birth is we've thought of it as something we just need to, like, endure. Endure and get over, get past rather than really experience. And certainly, like, enjoy is, like, not even in our minds. But when I. From that very first conversation with my midwife.

[Chelsea Clinton]

And did you click with your first midwife, or did you also have to interview, like, eight?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No.

[Elaine Welteroth]

Chelsea Moment one was a radically different experience than any of the conversations I'd been having with these doctors in hospital settings. First of all, it was in her birth center with a beautiful garden in the backyard. She had breakfast and tea waiting for me and my husband. We took it out to the garden, and we sat and we talked. For God, we might have even talked close to two hours. She answered all my questions. We got into a deep conversation. She wanted to know everything about my family dynamics, my work dynamics, where my stress comes from, what I'm eating, what my fears are. I mean, like, it was so thorough. And I felt like, this is a person who's truly invested in knowing me so that she can cater her model of care to truly supporting me. And that was something I didn't even know existed. I didn't even know that was something we could expect. It felt like a gem. I was like, I had just discovered this gem in a pile of rubble. And the experience just immediately reset my nervous system. And I thought, like, I want to explore this with this person. But I was very reluctant. And she'll laugh and tell you. I met her in my third trimester, and it wasn't until my 35th week, 36th week, that I finally was like, okay, okay, I'm gonna commit to giving birth with you at home. God help me. Because my whole thing with her was, I love you. I love this model. This, for me, it feels absolutely right. But I was like, but is there any way you can bring an epidural to my house? Like, that's the one thing. And she was like, yeah, that's kind of the whole thing. We don't do that. And so you need to make the decision. And, you know, and then I visited four different emergency backup hospitals, because sometimes, you know, home births led by midwives for no fault of either of them, you know, for no fault of the midwife or the mother. Sometimes, you know, you do need medical intervention and so you have to do a hospital transfer. And so I, like I said, I went to four different hospitals to make sure that no doctors are going to be meeting me for the first time. If there's anything I can do about that, if there's any control I have over this, like, I don't want a doctor to meet me for the first time under medical duress. And so I, you know, I, I really was very thorough and, and it took time to get to a place where I could trust myself, my body and my midwife enough to let go of a lot of the stereotypes that I had in my mind around what, what kind of birthing mom I am, what kind of birth experience I'm supposed to have. I also think there's this idea that like a midwife and, and a home birth mom is the kind of mom who's like a little crunchy, a little bohemian, you know, she's vegan, she does yoga and meditation every day. She's like, elaine, that's not you. That's unfortunately, I wish I aspire, I aspire to be that lady, but I'm not. I'm like, I'm like, you know, you know, I know we don't use the term girl boss anymore. If we did, that's more of my vibe. I'm like, I'm very efficient. I'm very type A. I'm very much about, like, let's get the business done. I'm a journalist, I want to understand everything. And so much about childbirth is about letting go of control and really learning how to trust yourself. And so that process changed my life. I ended up, and one thing I have to do a little quick callback to the doctor who told me that I could not just walk into a hospital, pop a squat and have a baby. Everybody needs something. And I, when I, I went through childbirth at home, I meditated in the shower for probably five hours, completely silent. Got to such a place of transcendence that I actually can tell you, and I don't want to sound like this woo woo woman, but I enjoyed childbirth. I came out of the shower eventually, they sat me on the birthing stool and within minutes they were like, the baby's coming. And I had this moment where I imagined what that doctor said to me and I pushed myself off of the birthing stool and I popped a squat and I had my nine pound baby. The Way women have been having babies since the beginning of time. And it was safe and it was empowering, and it was truly the most dignified experience I've ever had. And it was really because of those midwives. Now, this is not the experience everyone's going to have. I'm not trying to, like, sell, you know, sell anybody here on what to expect from their birth. Whether you do it in the hospital or outside of the hospital, what I am here to say is there are options. And if you are not receiving the kind of care that feels good in your body, if you are feeling scared and unsafe at the hands of your caretaker, please, please know that you have the agency to explore other options. And I am so glad that I did.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Elaine, while you were talking, I was thinking, I mean, that last doctor wasn't wrong. Like, everyone needs something. You just didn't need what she was offering you.

[Elaine Welteroth]

There you go. There you go. Everyone needs something.

[Chelsea Clinton]

And I needed something different, and you needed something different. And also, thankfully, like, you live in Los Angeles and had your four backup hospitals. As someone who has had two friends who started off having home births and then needed to get medical care and then later had other home births, like, I think they would say, they're also really thankful they found the right answers for them and did all the work so that when they needed something more, they got it. And when they didn't, they at least knew that it was there.

[Elaine Welteroth]

Yes. And listen, I want to just be so clear. Hopefully it's already clear. But I want to say for the record, like, I am not anti doctor. Birth Fund is not anti doctor. I think there is a place for doctors, doulas and midwives and birth workers of all kinds to coexist. And to me, the future of birth in this country is hybrid spaces for all of them to coexist within four walls.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Elaine, dare I say a real system that really works, not a misnamed kind of amalgamation of different disconnected bits and pieces. Well, we've talked a lot about Birth Fund. Can you actually just tell us what Birth Fund does? Clearly, I think we understand why you started it. It's evident. You said you were radicalized by your birth, and not in a political way, the way we often use that verb, but in a way to ensure that any woman anywhere in our country could find the right answer for themselves. Hopeful. Not the ninth time, but more readily. So what is Birth Fund and what do you do?

[Elaine Welteroth]

So I am the founder of Birth Fund, which was created in response to the maternal mortality crisis. We are a network of funders who are standing in the gaps for families who want access to midwifery care, but simply can't afford the out of pocket costs. So because in this country, midwifery care is not covered by insurance, we step in and we pay their bills, we pay their medical bill. And I think the beauty of how we work is that we are talking directly to the people. Yes, we talk to institutions like Gates and pivotal, we've been, you know, very lucky to receive funding from. And we work with corporations as well. I started with a funding circle. I started with making calls to people from my network, from Serena Williams who said yes right away and said, call my husband, I'm in and he needs to be in too. He'll love this. We all know what Serena Williams went through with her birth journey. She's the strongest, arguably one of the strongest women in the world and one of the wealthiest. And even she almost lost her life due to medical neglect. They did not listen to her. They did not respect her enough to give her the care that she needed at her critical hour. And so because of that, that's radicalized her too. And so there's so many moms in our network, from Kelly Rowland to Karlie Kloss to Aisha Curry, LeBron James, Savannah James, John Legend, and Chrissy Teigen, that understand that we need to be doing more to support mothers. And we cannot wait. We cannot afford to wait for lawmakers to do the right thing, for philanthropists to fix this, you know, for doctors and insurance companies to change the way that their businesses incentivize them to work. And I think there's something really empowering about that idea that, like, everybody has influence within their community.

[Chelsea Clinton]

I totally agree. And listening to you, I understand why your mantra is, you know, it's up to us to save us. So in kind of our closing minutes, I do want to move to something we call fact or fiction, which admittedly is where kind of I throw some things out to you that we're seeing online right now and have you react to them. Feel free to just say fact or fiction, like hit a imaginary button on the screen while doing so, or tell us a little bit more about why it's important that we understand that, yes, like, this is rooted in fact or no, this is totally fiction.

[Elaine Welteroth]

Okay, all right.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Hypnobirthing. First off, what is it? And second, is it something you think people should try?

[Elaine Welteroth]

I definitely think people should explore hypnobirthing, especially if they have a lot of fear around birth. I am not a hypnobirthing. Expert. So I don't want to give the wrong definition, but essentially, it is a practice that brings breath work into the labor and delivery process. And I only went through a couple of online classes, and I only did that for my second birth. I did it without having done the technical hypnobirthing training the first time. And I can tell you it is the reason why I had that kind of transcendent experience. I talked about the breath work was such a core part of getting to that place of, like, total Zen and being able to ride those waves and to do so in a really peaceful state. So I'm pro hypnobirthing.

[Chelsea Clinton]

You're pro hypnobirth. I had never heard of it until I was preparing for this conversation. So also, again, everyone needs to be talking more about whatever it is that has helped us kind of while pregnant and while giving birth. Okay. Second, pelvic floor therapy. Is it something you think is helpful? What Is it worth trying? Did you do it? Feel free to answer any or all of those.

[Elaine Welteroth]

Yeah. So I also had not heard about pelvic floor therapy until I was pregnant, and I had been diagnosed with a condition called pubis symphysis dysfunction, which makes it literally feel like your legs are falling off of your body.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry you had that.

[Elaine Welteroth]

Thank you.

[Chelsea Clinton]

That sounds terrible.

[Elaine Welteroth]

And can you imagine being in that state while also being, like, in these conversations with doctors who are just rushing me through, and I'm like, my legs are falling off, but. And I have a bowling ball that's about to fall out of my body. No, it was not fun. But apparently one in five women. I learned on Reddit that one in five women experience spd. And, yeah, essentially it's an overproduction of a necessary hormone that's released into your body during pregnancy that loosens things up. But if it's, you know, in this case, it's overproducing that hormone, and all the ligaments are way, way, way too loose. And so standing up, rolling over in bed, walking, all become excruciating. And that's before. That was like, first trimester, before I even got the belly. And it only got worse with the weight of my pregnant belly growing. So all of that to say having a pelvic floor specialist who could help me deal with the pain and kind of strengthen different muscles groups that I didn't even know I that existed, I didn't know I had was game changing. Like, truly game changing. And I had SPD in both of my pregnancies. So I really relied on pelvic floor therapy to just help me tighten up all these other muscle groups to help support me in my second birth. I did much earlier because I knew more about it. You know, I knew the tools and it, it made such a huge difference. I was able to like play tennis during my second pregnancy. I was able to continue work.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Were you worried the tennis balls were going to hit your belly or.

[Elaine Welteroth]

No, not at all. I was fearless. By the second pregnancy. Oh, please. Nothing could. I'm telling you, after you give birth, I'm telling you after you give birth unmedicated to a nine pound baby in your bedroom, there's nothing you can't do. You're just like, I can take on the world from here.

[Chelsea Clinton]

You're like, I got it. Alaina. I love that image of you fiercely playing tennis. And also, just think, even the last few minutes highlight how much more we all need to be talking about this. I don't have any siblings. I don't have any cousins of my generation. And so I really, similar to where we started the conversation, relied on my friends for like, what questions should I be asking or what helped you? I was also the reading, like, what to expect when expecting. And I'm like, isn't this what my mom read when she was pregnant with me? And some wisdom truly is always relevant. And sometimes we need updates from kind of science research or the ways we've broken down stigma. All right, well, I should pick up tennis.

[Elaine Welteroth]

Let's do a tennis date.

[Chelsea Clinton]

I would love a tennis date. Elaine.

[Elaine Welteroth]

Yes, done.

[Chelsea Clinton]

You can clobber me and I will hopefully learn even one thing and I think the admonition to know that if we even kind of positively affect change, save one life, then we've done something that really matters. So, Elaine, thank you for reminding us of that. Thank you for sharing your work with Birth Fund your time with us today.

[Elaine Welteroth]

Thank you, Chelsea.

[Chelsea Clinton]

And for anyone listening. You can find Elaine lanewelter Roth on Instagram. And thank you for listening. That can't be True is a production of Limonada Media and the Clinton Foundation. The show is produced by Katherine Barnes Mix in sound design by Ivan Koraev. Kristen Lepore is senior director of new content and Jackie Danziger is VP of narrative and production. Maggie Kralshore is our managing director of partnerships. Executive producers are Jessica Cordova Kramer, Stephanie Whittles Wax and me, Chelsea Clinton. Special thanks to Erica Goodmanson, Sarah Horowitz, Francesca Ernst Kahn, Caroline Lewis, Sage Falter, Barry Lurie Westerberg Emily Young and the entire team at the Clinton Foundation. You can help others find our show by leaving us a rating and writing a review. And if you can think of someone who might benefit from today's episode, please go ahead and share it with them. There's more of that can't be true with Lemonada. Premium subscribers get exclusive access access to bonus content when you subscribe on Apple Podcasts. You can also listen ad free on Amazon Music with your prime membership. Thanks so much for listening and see you next week.