Today we’d like to introduce you to Karly Nuttall.
Karly, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I got my start in midwifery early! Because my mother is a birth beast and had the last 2 of us 8 kids at home, I always knew about home birth midwives and decided to become one when I was 17. Although I still looked like I was in junior high I started midwifery school at the age of 19 and my journey had begun.
A few years later as a midwife I interned at an insanely busy birth center in El Paso, TX, finished my Bachelor’s degree, moved to California where I’m currently licensed and started attending home births as well as working at a birth center.
In 2008, I’d attended over 300 births and was starting to feel independent enough to start my own practice. In the years since then I volunteered delivering babies in a rural town in Senegal, West Africa, I studied hormone testing and balance through Functional Diagnostic Nutrition and Vaginal Steam Therapy, adding those services to my practice.
Since I’m always craving growth, change and newness I started my podcast Birth Kweens with my good friend and favorite birth doula, Ali Feroah. We saw a huge need for better access to information from experienced women’s health providers and a little humor to lighten the mood around what can be a very serious topic. We have a great time and the response from listeners has been amazing!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Hahaha! Ahem… no, the road has not always been smooth. I worked to put myself through school for the most part and since I was in a small college town, terrible jobs for minimal pay were abundant. I worked at a group home where I had to physically restrain boys twice my size who would occasionally spit on me, threaten me with stolen kitchen knives or request to re-enact the shower scene from Psycho before school.
Birth experience is also hard-earned; there have been many sleepless nights, joy and tears but it has become so much smoother since my humble beginnings and I see a very bright future ahead!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Birth Kweens Podcast story. Tell us more about the business.
Birth Kweens is a podcast about all things pregnancy, birth, postpartum and women’s health put on by two birth workers: Karly Nuttall, a California Licensed Midwife and FDN-P and Ali Feroah, a birth and postpartum doula and photographer. We’re known for our lighthearted, funny but informative approach to topics that can be so serious, unknown or just plain scary.
We bring a combined 23 years of experience as birth workers and nutrition/hormone experts to the table, and a damn good sense of humor! Since there are very few podcasts put on by people who are actually working one on one with women, that makes us pretty unique. We’re the most proud of how many people we’ve been able to reach with topics that don’t get enough attention or are inaccurately or inadequately addressed in healthcare but are crucial to women’s health.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I’m classically very unlucky and then very lucky. For example, my midwifery equipment has all been stolen 3 times but the last time, the thieves took the whole car as well. However, in other ways, I’m quite lucky! Everything fell into place to make the Birth Kweens podcast happen.
I became friends with Ali only 9 months before I had the idea to start a podcast. At first, it was just going to be me but Ali and I had so much fun doing births together I thought it would be way more fun to do it with her and I was right! Birth Kweens wouldn’t be what it is without our combined efforts, chemistry and networks of people to draw from. The idea came at the right time in our careers, too. It wouldn’t be what it is without our years of experience.
Pricing:
- the podcast is free for all!
- Midwifery services are $5,000 flat fee for prenatal care/birth/postpartum care
- Hormone testing and coaching services are $300
Contact Info:
- Website: www.birthkweens.com, www.karlynuttall.com
- Email: birthkweens@gmail.com, karly@karlynuttall.com
- Instagram: @birthkweens
- Facebook: BirthKweens
Image Credit:
Jamie Street Photography and Ali Huber (Ali Art & Photography)
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