Whole Mother Show – Whole Mother

Natalie Guzman, Chieko Babb, and Anna Demetra Badoian tell us about the premier screening of a film you don’t want to miss – Pacific Mother – plus the work they are doing. I will also be speaking with Christine Diaz, a member of the BIRTH Fair Leadership Team, who will share information about this year’s BIRTH Fair. BIRTH (Bringing Information and Resources to Houston) is sponsoring the Houston premiere of the award-winning film Pacific Mother. The film will make its Houston debut on April 22, 2026, at Cafe Brasil, located at 2604 Dunlavy Street, from 7 to 10 PM. Natalie Guzman is a Salvadoran birth doula, student midwife, and ceremonialist, devoted to reclaiming birth as a sacred rite of passage. She is the co-founder of Aliento of Nacimiento – A school of traditional birth arts. It was the ecstatic homebirth of her son that opened the portal into birthwork for her. It was an initiation that forever changed her life and awakened a calling she couldn’t ignore. She also serves on Birth Fair’s Leadership Team and is a vital link between Birth Fair and spanish speaking families in Houston, Texas. Chieko Babb is a Japanese-Puerto Rican licensed midwife and co-founder of Aliento de Nacimiento. Chieko believes her midwifery training instilled in her the importance of taking on leadership in communities for the health of future generations. Her practice of holistic midwifery care is rooted in both evidence-based practices and respect for traditions. She brings all the tools of the trade she has gathered throughout her journey as a birth doula, herbalist, reproductive health ally, and home birth midwife into her practice. Anna Demetra Badoian is the heart behind Of the Earth Holistic Care and Of the Earth Botanicals. These are spaces where she gets to share her passions as an experienced bodyworker, plant lover and birth worker dedicated to the wellbeing of womxn, wombs and the childbirth continuum. Her background includes over a decade of work in the Rolf Method of Structural Integration, Scar Work®, Arvigo Abdominal Therapy, Yoga/Functional Movement and Energy Healing. She is a gifted teacher and healer in our community. Together, they are dedicated to spreading awareness of ancestral ways of birth, weaving workshops, ceremonies, and gatherings that honor tradition, culture, and the wisdom of the body. Christine Diaz is a long-time supporter and volunteer with BIRTH. Her first BIRTH Fair was in 2005, when she volunteered in the maternity fashion show, and she has been involved ever since. This year, she is serving as the Sponsor/Vendor Coordinator. After experiencing the empowerment of having her three children at home with a midwife, she became dedicated to helping others learn about their birth options and supporting the right of every birthing person to shape their own experience. Outside of her work with BIRTH, Christine has been active in community media, co-hosting KPFT’s Voices at Work for several years. She currently works full-time, enjoys fitness, and is a fan of Abbott Elementary. She is grateful to her partner, Gordon, for supporting her ongoing commitment to BIRTH Fair and its mission.   Natalie Guzman, Chieko Babb, Anna Demetra Badoian, & Christine Diaz   https://wholemothershow.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/kpft_260420_200000wholemother_trimmed.mp3

Charis Asher is a Business Operations and Leadership Strategist, Certified Christian Counselor, and Founder of Lady Power Inc., a nonprofit supporting underserved mothers through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care. With over 17 years of experience and a background as a former Montessori school director, she helps organizations and families thrive through strategy, structure, and community-centered support. Her work is rooted in faith and lived experience, inspired by her own empowering birth supported by a midwife who was first a doula. Today, she leads a team committed to ensuring every mother has access to compassionate care and support.   Charis W. Asher, Black Maternal Health Week   https://wholemothershow.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/20260413A-Whole-Mother-Show-Black-Mammas-Matter-Lady-Power.mp3

Kirsten Nottleson, Parent and Teacher Educator is the proud mother of 2 sons, aged 20 and 26. She has been playing and working with children, parents, caregivers, and teaching professionals for 32 years. She sees that most parents in today’s society are working under significant stress, with insufficient support. She understands that parents and caregivers want children to be happy, healthy, and have good, big lives and are better able to do that when they are seen, heard, and respected. She supports parents to understand their own history, to bring awareness to the context in which they are parenting, build a practical support network for themselves, and heal from their early wounds, so that they can feel more confident, connected, playful, and lead their families more consciously and effectively. She has been a preschool teacher, summer camp owner/ director, mentor for instructors and parents. She has worked extensively with young and teen parents, and families with substance use issues. She helped develop a Peer Education Parenting Curriculum which she brought into 14 Texas prisons, training inmates to listen to one another to help each other heal. Her work is based on the Hand in Hand Parenting Approach which she believes to be nothing short of Peace Movement in Action. She raised both her children using the Hand in Hand Parenting Tools and is eternally grateful for the shift in her parenting that was possible as a result. Young children KNOW when something is not right, they protest loudly, YOU protested loudly, yelled, cried, had tantrums, tried to let people know with indignation that something wasn’t right. And very few of us had an adult who could listen well to these upsets They were quelled or squashed in one way or another So we learned to be quiet This pattern comes with us   Being heard helps to undo that pattern, helps us to see and feel that we are not alone with the current struggles, that others care Leading a Parent Resource Group Booklet which describes exactly how you can set up a group in your community Hand in Hand Parenting Foundations Course with Kirsten, 6 weeks starting April 7, 2026 FREE CARE PACKAGE for PARENTING IN DIFFICULT TIMES. Parent Consultations Opt-in here YES! I want to receive Kirsten’s infrequent newsletter     Kirsten Nottleson, Hand in Hand Parenting   https://wholemothershow.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20260330-Whole-Mother-Show-Hand-in-Hand-Parenting-Kirsten-Nottleson.mp3

Zulgeil Ruiz-Gines is a midwife, educator, and advocate for culturally safe midwifery care and education. She holds licenses as a Licensed Midwife in the states of California and Florida, serving in community birth settings. Born and raised on the magical island of Puerto Rico, she earned her BA degree in Humanities from the University of Puerto Rico. Zul‘s journey into midwifery education began in Temixco, Mexico, where she spent nine months learning from an indigenous midwife who opened her vision, spirit, and heart to the world of midwifery. Zul is deeply committed to the education and training of midwives and recognition and sustainability of midwifery. Her dedication has led her to various roles, including Midwifery Instructor at the Midwifery Program at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College, Midwifery Education Consultant, founder of KIBI Consulting, Research and Education and Executive Director of Commonsense Childbirth School of Midwifery founded by Jennie Joseph. CCSM is a national program that provides quality, practical, culturally-sensitive training and education that is integral to maternity health care systems in United States.Currently Zul is pursuing her masters degree in Oregon State University in Applied Medical Anthropology under Dr.Melissa Cheyney, PHd,LDM as her advisor. Her research focuses on the growth and sustainability of the accredited Midwifery programs for community midwives in the United States. Andie Wyrick, CNM, DNP, is a certified nurse midwife and midwifery instructor. Andie has been in the Houston birth community for over twenty years. Her experience includes elementary school nursing, hospital L & D, birth center, and home birth. She has been joyfully dating her husband of 24 years since junior high and has six children. She is the owner of Shire Midwifery. Andie is confident in a women’s ability to grow and birth their baby. She feels a partnership in care is empowering and always hopes to foster that relationship with families. She has done extensive work in birth after trauma and continues to bring light to informed decision making and autonomy. She is the owner of Shire Midwifery. Her passions beyond bellies, birth and breastfeeding are drooling over her hottie of a husband, reading period pieces and being a glutton for movie theater popcorn.   Zulgeil Ruiz-Gines & Andie Wyrick, CNM, DNP   https://wholemothershow.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20260323-Whole-Mother-Show-Midwifery-Andie-Wyrick-Zuel-Ruiz-Gines.mp3

Anna Demetra Badoian of Earth Holistic Care and Of the Earth Botanicals. Her background includes a decade of work in the Rolf Method of Structural Integration, Scar Work, Maya Abdominal Therapy, Yoga/Functional Movement and Energy Healing. She works with plant energetics, herbal medicines, sound healing and ceremony. You can reach her at www.annademetra.com or www.oftheearthbotanicals.com   Anna Demetra Badoian   https://wholemothershow.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20260809-Whole-Mother-Show-Anna-Dimitri-Badoian.mp3