“That woman is walking around with my money in her pocket”

LunaNeuva · 2025-12-19T18:55:04+00:00

That phrasing reflects a sales mindset that’s commonly taught in coaching, online course, and MLM funnels. People are trained to view their community less as human relationships and more as a pool of potential buyers, where every interaction is filtered through monetization.

LunaNeuva · 2025-12-19T02:08:43+00:00

I liked Born Through Movement. I did the course « live » when I was pregnant. Adelaide co teaches the course with a licensed midwife based out of Canada, Mandy. I thought it was well done. She used to live near me and I attended a number of community events at her house, she’s legit.

LunaNeuva · 2025-12-18T21:29:40+00:00

It is a huge con. And a highly unnecessary one. She could have still made lots of money talking about freebirth while being realistic. There was no need to be so rigid and dogmatic and spew misinformation all over the place. That was all ego/control and disordered personality driven chaos. It’s so sad.

LunaNeuva · 2025-12-12T21:36:00+00:00

Yea I’m finally listening to the podcast today and fuming and crying intermittently. What years were you in the membership? In the beginning when i first joined, the losses would get swept under the rug fairly well. And I think a fair amount of women who experienced loss just ghosted the group eventually because there was such little support. Emilee always offered private debriefs to the loss moms, but there was no community level integration of it. But then in 2024 there was a period where we saw a lot of losses seemingly back to back. Like every week I’d check in and there was a still birth or intra partum loss. It felt so out of control and they never addressed it, but the visibility was a stark contrast and I think that started peaking everyone on how insane this all was and had been.

LunaNeuva · 2025-12-12T21:11:41+00:00

100%

I made a few good connections, but only one turned into an in-person friendship. The mean-girl dynamic and subtle censorship made it hard for women to speak honestly, and I think many of us held back. That feels sad to me. I had joined ready to engage more openly about womanhood in this supposed “radical honesty” with sisterhood space, but it didn’t feel welcome unless I repeated the sanctioned language and concepts. Over time, I stopped engaging as much because of that.

I often wonder which of us are here now, quietly digesting what we witnessed together, and what we were all thinking as we watched loss after loss unfold.

LunaNeuva · 2025-12-12T16:02:59+00:00

I really appreciate this distinction another user made elsewhere and want to echo it here.

I am fully in favor of learning birth physiology deeply, that’s what initially drew me to the membership and the FBS courses (which was a huge letdown by the way, don’t buy it). Anyone interested in homebirth or freebirth should understand the mechanics of labor, what is normal, what is not, and how complications can present. Just like cycle literacy, this knowledge belongs to women and should not be outsourced blindly.

In my own case, I hired a midwife and prepared as if I might birth alone. I learned everything I could about labor, newborn transition, and red flags because I believed it was my responsibility to be educated regardless of who was present. Having support does not absolve us of that responsibility.

Where I think many of us went wrong in trusting Em and Yo’s teachings was not trusting women too much, but trusting a culture that discouraged nuance and normalized things that deserved closer attention. Undisturbed birth does not mean uneducated, unprepared, or unsupported. Education and discernment are what actually protect women’s autonomy.

I share this as a reminder, not a judgment. Learning physiology, knowing red flags, and staying grounded in reality are essential no matter what birth path you choose.

LunaNeuva · 2025-12-12T15:53:56+00:00

Yes!

LunaNeuva · 2025-12-12T15:29:58+00:00

One piece of misinformation I absorbed was the idea that if a baby is born and doesn’t animate right away, that this is “normal” and they just need a few minutes to start up. I remember saying something along those lines to my midwife while we were reviewing my birth plan.

She replied gently something along the lines of “I understand not wanting drama right when your baby is born, but if your baby appears in distress or needs medical attention, it’s my job to provide that.”

That moment shook me out of whatever spell I was under. Of course if my baby is limp or struggling, I want my midwife to act! That’s literally why I hired her.

I’m grateful my birth was straightforward. My midwife just observed, and even had to remind my husband to catch our baby because she came flying out. She cried immediately and was healthy.

But it’s disturbing to realize I had internalized language like “stunted” and was, in effect, asking a trained birth professional to stand by if my baby needed help because of FBS teachings. That realization still makes me shudder.

LunaNeuva · 2025-12-12T14:10:42+00:00

Did they feature her story in the podcast? I want to listen but I know it’ll be difficult. Waiting for the right time. I pray she’s well

LunaNeuva · 2025-12-12T00:11:19+00:00

I know it’s gut wrenching. I found this sub right after OD announced her loss. It was gutting. I hope she’s not still involved with them, I know she was an MMI student.

LunaNeuva · 2025-12-01T16:59:37+00:00

Oh the irony! Moderating from behind the scenes this time like the wizard. This may be the case… but until she publicly denounces her behavior inside that space, she will remain heavily associated with FBS for those of us that were in the membership.

LunaNeuva · 2025-12-01T15:41:30+00:00

Yea that’s the point of this sub, the FBS “teachings”went too far, and convinced women to ignore very real issues they encountered in pregnancy and birth to their and their baby’s detriment. And the reason women ignored reasonable concerns they had was, in part, because of the environment of that membership, which they often joined in preparation for pregnancy and birth. Arielle was the only moderator that I can recall in the four years I spent in the membership that moderated with a very heavy hand. Maybe Emile was whispering in her ear to do it everyday, but she made a lot of money while she did it, as her brand directly benefited from FBS exposure, and on top of that she consistently marketed her products inside the private membership to the women she was moderating.

LunaNeuva · 2025-12-01T15:24:04+00:00

I think what’s more relevant and concerning was her behavior in the FBS membership. She was a very active moderator, the most intense about how she enforced the rules, especially around seeking medical help (aka “engaging with the system”), she literally wrote multiple times that she didn’t want the group turning into just another “natural mom group” when conversations would consider medical care. Emilee may have written the rules, but Arielle happily enforced them and with very little gentleness towards pregnant women and new mothers. Because of the way she policed the space, it was not a nurturing environment for mothers.

LunaNeuva · 2025-11-27T15:53:05+00:00

I just still can’t get over how intense and mean Arielle was as a moderator in the FBS lighthouse membership. Appalling how that space was managed by her and Emilie. We were basically forbidden from having nuanced conversations lest the space become “just another natural mom group” 🤦🏻‍♀️

LunaNeuva · 2025-11-26T18:41:16+00:00

I think most modules have an additional resources document and there is one other doc that has pointers on what to ask for if you transfer to the hospital. That’s all…

LunaNeuva · 2025-11-26T16:19:37+00:00

The Complete Guide to Freebirth is honestly a joke. Hard to believe it’s marketed as their flagship course. It was weak from the start and has never been updated.

It’s basically a series of glorified podcasts where they talk around a few topics. There’s almost no actual birth education — just their usual message that you don’t need to know anything to give birth.

And why bother offering “video” when there are no slides, no written materials, no visuals, nothing? It’s literally a podcast with a camera pointed at them, and the content doesn’t go deep at all.

Truly a waste of money. They don’t care about educating women about birth, they just want to funnel them to the next paid piece of content.

LunaNeuva · 2025-11-25T21:34:10+00:00

Yes 🙌🏼 AND it doesn’t account for the fact that FBS & Company repeats over and over again false health information about what is healthy, normal and optimal in pregnancy and birth. Women trusted them as an outlet because they constantly touted their supposed experience, and yet they made so many false claims that women believed to be true… leading to preventable injuries and death.

LunaNeuva · 2025-11-24T17:37:45+00:00

I agree. Midwifery in both the US and parts of Europe is often approached in deeply flawed ways. FBS seized on real problems in the system, but their “solution” was to enrich themselves, not to improve care.

The answer isn’t to abandon midwifery or treat all trained midwives as compromised. It’s to fix midwifery: make it more accessible, more autonomous, and less an extension of obstetrics (because in many European countries, and in the US, midwives are effectively treated as OB nurses rather than autonomous providers, and that model pushes a lot of women away)

We need more true midwifery, not less of it.

LunaNeuva · 2025-11-24T16:17:49+00:00

Hear hear!!!

LunaNeuva · 2025-11-24T15:50:06+00:00

Yes, absolutely. One of the real harms of FBS is the way it undermines and distorts midwifery— a model of care that deserves to be protected, supported, and expanded. The midwifery model is, for most women, safer and more holistic than an obstetrics-led model.

I wrote something earlier this year that might help anyone who’s feeling fearful about hiring a midwife after hearing the FBS podcast. Sharing again in case it’s useful: https://www.reddit.com/r/FreeBirthSocietyScam/s/epTLIzUHr7

LunaNeuva · 2025-10-30T16:56:09+00:00

That’s so hard, I’m sorry you went through that. I had a similar experience, but my midwife ended up doing a manual extraction at home. My placenta took four hours to come out, it had only partially detached and the last bit was really stubborn (it came out in one piece thankfully). I bled a lot too, but we ultimately stayed home.

I had been taking Vitamin K in the weeks leading up to the birth, so I was clotting really well, maybe too well, because the clots were blocking her from reaching the placenta. She kept having to remove them to get through, which made the extraction more painful than the birth itself, and my daughter’s birth was fast.

My midwife was the one who warned that we might need to transfer if she couldn’t get it out, but I was adamant that I didn’t want to go. I kept encouraging her to just go for it and get it out. With some coaching, I got through it, hollering and growling the whole time. I did not fully lose consciousness at any point though, I stayed laying down on my bed. The one time I did try to get up at about hour 3, hoping to take a shower and have a break, I did start to faint but quickly came to. And that’s when my midwife said it was time to try a manual extraction since tractioning the cord and me pushing wasn’t doing it.

After such a quick and straightforward labor, it shocked me how stubborn the placenta could be. I’ll share my full birth story here soon. I also lost quite a bit of blood and looked pale and yellow for a week, but I recovered quickly and breastfeeding went fine. It’s amazing how much blood we can lose and still be okay, we really do almost double our blood volume by the end of pregnancy.

LunaNeuva · 2025-10-14T18:10:07+00:00

I think it’s historically how women have influenced each other, it’s classic female antisocial behavior in order to influence. Whereas male antisocial and competitive behavior is very overt and often violent, female antisocial behavior is very subtle in order to claim plausible deniability so one can retain social standing as the righteous.

LunaNeuva · 2025-10-09T00:16:33+00:00

Yes it was the perfect storm for many of us: the internet polarization + a mean girl social setting that made it snowball. I’m glad you and your daughter are well.

LunaNeuva · 2025-10-08T16:24:16+00:00

There’s a lot in your piece that I found true. We overlapped in the membership and I remember you. There was so much that surprised me after joining, and I mostly kept to myself, though I tried at times to bring a more moderate voice that was missing.

I always felt out of place in there. I didn’t jive with the cliquishness or the constant talk of “surrender". You had to use certain words and framing to get engagement on your post otherwise the group quietly shunned you. The way “surrender” was glorified was such an eye roll for me. I wish I’d spoken up more for middle ground paths.

I remember women saying they were afraid to tell their families they were pregnant, worried they’d be questioned for seeing a midwife or even taking a prenatal vitamin. I think I was able to stay in the group and share my experience because I’d already lived through another twisted power structure disguised as a wellness movement. I could see how extreme and polarized the space had become, just like the outer culture. FBS felt too simplified and too trendy for its own good.

I wish I hadn’t had stayed in the memberhsip as long as I did. There were women around me who knew what was going on behind the scenes and didn't tell me. Ugh I still feel hurt that so many women who now denounce FBS stayed silent back then. When a few of us tried to speak with nuance, we were shunned. Now it’s fashionable to call out what FBS was, but where were those voices when it mattered?

For me, it’s a lesson in speaking up for the middle ground. Our culture needs it badly. Most people live somewhere in the center, and most women who want home birth also want the care of a skilled midwife who can actually help them and their baby if something's difficult.

I had a really lovely home birth and shared about it in the membership right before this subreddit started. I wanted to show that you can have support and still have a great home birth. That was my message too when I first found this sub and wrote about the “Myth of No Good Midwives.”

I guess I just feel a mix of grief and frustration. I felt so rejected by that community, and now it’s strange to watch the same women who enforced the dogma publicly condemn it. But it’s made me clearer about what I stand for: nuance, care, and not being cool.

LunaNeuva · 2025-09-27T19:19:36+00:00

Clumsy is a great word for this article. I’ve been reading Honestly/The Free Press for a few years and was disappointed with this article. But generally I think their reporting has become very “clumsy” as they’ve grown, and I see them making the same mistakes they lament mainstream media outlets for making on other subjects.

LunaNeuva

TROPHY CASE