Ep 137: Girls Who Know with Laurisa Paul

Happy Homebirth

What was your expectation of birth as a young girl? Did you feel nervous about the experience? Did you give the thought of childbirth any thought? What did you know?

This week we have the amazing privilege of speaking with Laurisa Paul, a mother of 5 and the creator of a new, powerful organization called Girls Who Know, where she teaches girls all about what their bodies do and what their bodies are capable of. We’ll be learning how this organization was created after hearing Laurisa’s own journey and realizations through her 5 births. If you’re listening to this episode as it airs, I’m so excited to let you know that this organization has enrollment open THIS WEEK for their next class of girls, aged 14-17, and classes will begin on August 14th 2021 for this group!

Before we jump in, I’d love to take a moment to thank our reviewer of the week, Cdehan who writes: Yes, there IS diversity in homebirth!

Thanks so much cdehan. And if you’re listening and loving the show, would you mind hopping over to apple podcasts and leaving a *hopefully* 5 star rating and review? You’re helping other mothers find this show when you do that. Thank you so much.

Episode Roundup

I am just blown away by Laurisa, her story of growth and her journey to where she is now, along with what she has been able to create for girls who need to hear that they are capable. What a life-changing program. As we head into this week’s episode roundup, I feel like I could touch on so many different aspects, so let me try to narrow it down:

1. Although it took Laurisa two births to begin to tap into it, I love hearing how her intuition told her something was off about her experiences—how something told her to dig deeper. We as mothers do have access to the “mama gut”, and what a gift it can be when we choose to listen, even if it’s saying something we aren’t expecting.
2. This differentiation between being strong-willed and tough versus having confidence in who we are and what we’re doing: So often we as mothers think “I CAN do it… I’ll just will myself through it and make it happen” I KNOW I’m a major offender on that front, but… is that where we really want to be? There’s so much more empowerment when we can step into the confidence of our motherhood, where we’re mothering from a place of rest, from the perspective that the end goal isn’t to do it all and hustle for the sake of hustling.
3. And finally, Laurisa mentions how with her first two births, she just didn’t know. She had no idea what her body was capable of, what it could do….and isn’t that where so many women and girls are today? It’s exactly WHY Girls Who Know is such a powerful concept. Laurisa is now able to be just like the nurse who stood up in class and told the room that mothers CAN give birth unmedicated and without intervention, and it can be life-changing. Laurisa is able to impact the trajectory of so many young women, simply by exposing them to the fact that their bodies were innately designed to WORK. What a gift.

If you’ve got a girl and you want her to know, or if you’d like to sponsor the education of girls, be sure to check out Laurisa’s website girlswhoknow.com. It’s linked in the show notes. Okay, my friends. That’s all I’ve got for you today. I’ll see you back here next week.