How One Home Birth Led to a Georgia Birth Freedom Movement with Lainey Stancil, Founder of Peach State Birth Coalition
I recently had the chance to sit down with Lainey Stancil, and it was such a fascinating conversation.
Lainey is the founder of the Peach State Birth Coalition, a Georgia nonprofit focused on maternal health education, birth advocacy, and expanding access to midwifery care. But what makes her story so compelling is that just a few years ago, she wasn’t planning to work in birth at all.
In this episode, we talked about how one home birth experience completely changed the trajectory of her life, leading her from working as an insurance agent to founding a statewide organization advocating for birth options in Georgia.
If you’re interested in home birth, midwifery, birth autonomy, or simply hearing how one mom followed a calling she never expected, this episode is absolutely worth a listen.
Below is a quick look at some of the things we talked about.
How One Prenatal Appointment Changed Everything
Lainey shared the story of a prenatal appointment that ended up becoming a turning point in her pregnancy.
At around 24 weeks, she tried to talk with her provider about her birth plan. Instead of engaging in the conversation, the provider dismissed the idea entirely, telling her that a birth plan wasn’t really necessary.
That moment left Lainey feeling unsettled and unheard.
After the appointment, she went home and told her husband something didn’t feel right. Almost jokingly, he suggested she consider having the baby at home.
At first, that idea felt overwhelming. Like many people, she wondered:
How do you even give birth at home?
But after reaching out to friends who had experienced home birth, she connected with a midwife who had exactly one open spot in her due month.
That appointment ended up completely reshaping her understanding of pregnancy care.
Discovering the Difference Midwifery Care Can Make
Lainey described being shocked by how different her first midwife appointment felt.
Instead of a rushed five-minute check-in, her midwife spent an entire hour getting to know her.
For the first time during her pregnancy, she felt truly seen and supported.
That level of personalized care continued throughout her pregnancy and ultimately during her home birth, which she described as peaceful, supported, and deeply meaningful.
Like many families who experience midwifery care, that experience didn’t just impact her birth; it changed the way she thought about maternity care altogether.
The Birth That Sparked an Advocacy Movement
After her son was born, Lainey stayed connected with her midwife and the community surrounding her practice.
At a gathering of families who had delivered with the practice, she learned more about an issue she had never previously considered: midwifery licensure laws in Georgia.
That conversation lit a fire in her.
She began learning about the challenges midwives face in states where certain types of midwives are not licensed. Without licensure, many midwives cannot openly practice, advertise their services, or easily provide care to families who want home birth.
The more she learned, the more she realized that many Georgia families simply don’t have access to the birth options they want.
That realization eventually led to the creation of the Peach State Birth Coalition.
What the Peach State Birth Coalition Is Working Toward
Today, the coalition focuses on three main areas:
Maternal health education
Helping families understand pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care.
Community building for moms
Hosting meetups, coffee gatherings, and events where families can connect.
Policy advocacy
Supporting efforts to expand licensure pathways for direct-entry midwives in Georgia so families have more options for care.
Lainey explained that the goal isn’t to convince everyone to have a home birth.
Instead, it’s about choice and access.
Some families prefer hospital births. Others prefer birth centers or home births. The coalition’s mission is to ensure families actually have the ability to choose what works best for them.
A Beautiful Conversation About Birth and Surrender
We also talked about Lainey’s home birth experience itself, which included a powerful moment of spiritual surrender during labor.
She described realizing that birth required her to step out of her analytical, planning-focused mindset and trust the process her body was going through.
That surrender allowed her to fully enter the rhythm of labor, something that many physiological birth educators talk about as moving from the “thinking brain” into the more instinctive part of the mind during labor.
Her story was a powerful reminder of how important trust, safety, and supportive providers can be during birth.
The Peach State Birth Expo
Lainey also shared about an exciting event coming up: the Peach State Birth Expo.
The event brings together doulas, midwives, chiropractors, lactation professionals, and other perinatal providers so families can learn about their options and connect with resources in the community.
The expo will include:
Local birth and wellness vendors
Mini educational workshops
Family-friendly activities
Raffles and giveaways
Swag bags filled with products from maternal health brands
It’s designed to be a welcoming space where families can explore different aspects of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum support.
Lainey’s Message to Pregnant Moms
At the end of our conversation, I asked Lainey one simple question:
If you could give one message to pregnant moms, what would it be?
Her answer was simple but powerful:
Believe in yourself.
Your body was designed to do this. And when you surround yourself with the right support and information, you’re capable of far more than you might realize.
Listen to the Full Conversation
This conversation with Lainey was so encouraging and insightful, especially for anyone interested in birth autonomy, midwifery care, or maternal health advocacy.
If you’d like to hear the full story, including more about Lainey’s home birth and the work being done in Georgia right now, make sure to listen to the full episode.
You can also learn more about the Peach State Birth Coalition and their upcoming events through their website.
