Uploaded April 2024 | Updated September 2026, 16 minutes ago
Listen to this episode here - freebirthsociety.com/podcasts/free-birth-society/episodes/2148591978
We have a really inspiring episode today, as I welcome Zainab, from Saudi Arabia, now living in Michigan. Zainab is a brilliant maiden who has blazed a path of autonomy, teaching Fertility Awareness Method and body literacy to Arab women in her mother tongue of Arabic.
Zainab grew up without initiation into her first bleed, and didn’t even have a word to use for her vagina. She experienced intergenerational shame.
Her awakening began when she discovered FAM along with a calling to share this knowledge with her sisters, particularly those in her home country, where she found women hungry to tune into their bodies and claim their freedom.
Zainab came to Matriarch Rising Festival and experienced it as a touchpoint of what's possible when women in their power come together. She witnessed the centering of mothers, the normalization of freebirth and embodied womanhood, and, of course, the pure, delicious magic. She took these lessons home with her, forever changed.
This year we’re hyped to have Zainab back at MRF offering her workshop The Cycle Wisdom Map, an exploration of body literacy through the lens of the natural cycles around us. Come and experience the uplevel Zainab did! Go to matriarchrisingfestival.com to get your ticket. Join us sisters - it’ll be the highlight of your year - and it may just change your life.
Here’s what you’ll hear:
✨The body disconnection and shame she was taught as a young woman.
✨Her passion for FAM and joy of translating teachings into her mother tongue.
✨Her leap teaching in Arabic, and the incredible response from women ready to step into their power.
✨Teaching from the “daughter” stage of life.
✨The importance of centering mothers.
✨Cultural amnesia and how her grandmother birthed at home, yet her mother birthed in the hospital.
✨The life altering power of MRF and how it changed her.
⭐ Matriarch Rising Festival: Get your tickets NOW! - matriarchrisingfestival.com
⭐ Join the MatriBirth Midwifery Institute waitlist! Details drop later this spring- freebirthsociety.com/mmiwaitlist
CONNECT WITH FREE BIRTH SOCIETY 👇
We're *so close* to hitting our goal of videos for our Sovereign Birth collection on Youtube! Help us get there by submitting your video here - freebirthsociety.com/submit-your-story
Get our *FREE* Freebirth Starter Kit here - freebirthsociety.com/starterkitoptin
The Podcast: Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and let us know your biggest takeaway – whether it’s inspired you to freebirth or to dive deeper into sovereign living. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/free-birth-society/id1231912533
-The Complete Guide to Freebirth: a self-guided online intensive course that will teach you everything you need to know about how to birth freely and in your power. freebirthsocietycourses.com/cgtf
-Follow us on Instagram @freebirthsociety for more daily inspiration on freebirth and so much more. instagram.com/freebirthsociety
-The Lighthouse: our exclusive membership for radical, curious, wild women. We only welcome new women to our private sanctuary a few times per year. freebirthsociety.com/membership-waitlist
-Feature Emilee: If you want Emilee Saldaya on your podcast send an invite to podcast@freebirthsociety.com
-If you feel called to make a donation to the podcast, it would be greatly appreciated. Click here to donate - paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=2YJBSCNYXT52Y
Listen to this episode here - freebirthsociety.com/podcasts/free-birth-society/episodes/2148591978
We have a really inspiring episode today, as I welcome Zainab, from Saudi Arabia, now living in Michigan. Zainab is a brilliant maiden who has blazed a path of autonomy, teaching Fertility Awareness Method and body literacy to Arab women in her mother tongue of Arabic.
Zainab grew up without initiation into her first bleed, and didn’t even have a word to use for her vagina. She experienced intergenerational shame.
Her awakening began when she discovered FAM along with a calling to share this knowledge with her sisters, particularly those in her home country, where she found women hungry to tune into their bodies and claim their freedom.
Zainab came to Matriarch Rising Festival and experienced it as a touchpoint of what's possible when women in their power come together. She witnessed the centering of mothers, the normalization of freebirth and embodied womanhood, and, of course, the pure, delicious magic. She took these lessons home with her, forever changed.
This year we’re hyped to have Zainab back at MRF offering her workshop The Cycle Wisdom Map, an exploration of body literacy through the lens of the natural cycles around us. Come and experience the uplevel Zainab did! Go to matriarchrisingfestival.com to get your ticket. Join us sisters - it’ll be the highlight of your year - and it may just change your life.
Here’s what you’ll hear:
✨The body disconnection and shame she was taught as a young woman.
✨Her passion for FAM and joy of translating teachings into her mother tongue.
✨Her leap teaching in Arabic, and the incredible response from women ready to step into their power.
✨Teaching from the “daughter” stage of life.
✨The importance of centering mothers.
✨Cultural amnesia and how her grandmother birthed at home, yet her mother birthed in the hospital.
✨The life altering power of MRF and how it changed her.
⭐ Matriarch Rising Festival: Get your tickets NOW! - matriarchrisingfestival.com
⭐ Join the MatriBirth Midwifery Institute waitlist! Details drop later this spring- freebirthsociety.com/mmiwaitlist
CONNECT WITH FREE BIRTH SOCIETY 👇
We're *so close* to hitting our goal of videos for our Sovereign Birth collection on Youtube! Help us get there by submitting your video here - freebirthsociety.com/submit-your-story
Get our *FREE* Freebirth Starter Kit here - freebirthsociety.com/starterkitoptin
The Podcast: Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and let us know your biggest takeaway – whether it’s inspired you to freebirth or to dive deeper into sovereign living. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/free-birth-society/id1231912533
-The Complete Guide to Freebirth: a self-guided online intensive course that will teach you everything you need to know about how to birth freely and in your power. freebirthsocietycourses.com/cgtf
-Follow us on Instagram @freebirthsociety for more daily inspiration on freebirth and so much more. instagram.com/freebirthsociety
-The Lighthouse: our exclusive membership for radical, curious, wild women. We only welcome new women to our private sanctuary a few times per year. freebirthsociety.com/membership-waitlist
-Feature Emilee: If you want Emilee Saldaya on your podcast send an invite to podcast@freebirthsociety.com
-If you feel called to make a donation to the podcast, it would be greatly appreciated. Click here to donate - paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=2YJBSCNYXT52Y

![Leaving the Medical Cult to Become a Freebirthing Off-Grid Homesteader
What happens when you walk away from everything and find your own path to motherhood?
In this episode, we hear from Julia, a Montana mother of two who walked away from the corporate grind, sold her home, and set out on a radically different path to motherhood, one rooted in sovereignty, sisterhood, and self-trust.
Julia shares how her first wild pregnancy unfolded while traveling the West Coast in a trailer, living off-grid in national forests, and finding community through The Lighthouse membership. With a deeply ingrained medical upbringing, Julia had to unravel layers of programming to reclaim birth on her terms.
She tells the raw and beautiful stories of birthing her babies on raw land in the Montana winter, catching her first baby unexpectedly with bath towels and a shoelace, and welcoming her second in a fast, intuitive birth in the same off-grid trailer. From navigating boundaries with family to tandem nursing and raising her children outside the system, Julia’s story is a powerful testament to the courage it takes to live differently.
What You’ll Hear:
- How a divorce became the catalyst for questioning everything she thought she knew
- Why she sold everything and set out on the road with their RV
- A story of freedom that comes from leaving behind medical management and social expectations
- Why her first freebirth became the most magical experience of her life
- How living in the Natural Forest system rewired her mind and reawakened her intuition
- The lessons from two very different freebirths
- Her advice for anyone considering stepping away from responsibilities during their first pregnancy
Timestamps:
[00:00] Introduction
[00:51] From medical conditioning to embracing freebirth and body autonomy
[10:31] Leaving corporate life behind to travel in an RV and begin a wild pregnancy on the road
[30:23] First freebirth story in a winterized RV with unexpected postpartum challenges
[45:57] Second freebirth story with a toddler sleeping nearby and a smooth postpartum experience
[01:01:10] Postpartum recovery challenges, household dynamics, and lessons for next time
You can connect with Julia on her homestead Instagram page here: https://www.instagram.com/bigmountainhomestead/
Find more from Emilee on:
https://www.instagram.com/freebirthsociety/, https://www.youtube.com/@UCW5LVxPY3UnJ3iS5CAaD97A and the Free Birth Society website: https://www.freebirthsociety.com/ Leaving the Medical Cult to Become a Freebirthing Off-Grid Homesteader](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2YGeuz8aczY/mqdefault.jpg)








