Beyond the PUSH is here: Listen, share and help transform care

Today, through the PUSH Campaign and in partnership with birthFUND, we are thrilled to launch Beyond the PUSH — a new podcast featuring real stories about care, choices and what shapes women’s health.

The first two episodes are available now:

• Episode 1: Pushing for the Healthcare You Deserve
• Episode 2: Pushing for Birth Choices

Listen and watch on your favorite platform:

Why Beyond the PUSH?

Too often, women are expected to push through pain, dismissal and healthcare systems that were not designed around their needs. At the same time, women’s health is frequently reduced to reproduction and childbirth — sometimes even to the literal push of giving birth.

Beyond the PUSH moves beyond both ideas.

It asks what healthcare could look like if it truly listened to women, respected their choices and responded to the realities of their lives.

More than a podcast

For the first season, we brought together more than 45 speakers from around the world. Midwives, health experts, advocates and people with lived experience joined us for conversations that are heartfelt, honest and deeply human.

With voices and experiences represented from every region of the world, our guests explore the many issues that shape women’s health throughout their lives. They discuss birth choices, reproductive autonomy, obstetric violence, infertility and pregnancy loss, breastfeeding, feminist health systems, LGBTQI+ care, health inequalities, climate change and care during crises.

These conversations are global, but they are also deeply personal. Our guests speak openly about moments of joy, grief, injustice, resistance and change. They show how healthcare can transform lives when people are heard, respected and supported — and the harm that can be caused when they are not.

Most importantly, they remind us that better care is possible.

A resource for midwives, women and communities

Beyond the PUSH is not only something to listen to. It is a practical resource that midwives can use in their everyday work.

Midwives can share these conversations with their clients to help them understand their rights, recognise what people-centred care should look and feel like, and make informed decisions about their health. Episodes can help open conversations about subjects that may be difficult to discuss and reassure people that they are not alone in their experiences.

Midwives can also share the podcast with one another. It can support reflection, learning and discussion about how care is delivered across different cultures, communities and health systems.

The podcast is also an advocacy tool. Across every episode, we see what midwives make possible. Midwives listen. They build trust. They share information. They protect rights, respect choices and provide care grounded in the needs of each person and community.

These conversations help show the world why we need more midwives — and why midwives need the autonomy, education, resources and recognition to practise the full scope of their profession.

When midwives are supported to lead and provide continuity of care, they do more than improve individual experiences. They strengthen communities and help transform entire health systems.

Join the conversation

The first two episodes of Beyond the PUSH are available today, with a new episode dropping every Thursday.

Follow the PUSH Campaign on social media to discover new episodes, meet our speakers and continue the conversation. Follow Beyond the PUSH on the streaming platform of your choice, or subscribe on YouTube to watch the full conversations.

Together, we can help make respectful, equitable and people-centred care the standard for women and communities everywhere.

Be part of changing the system

Help us amplify these voices and make this resource accessible to more people:

• Tune in to Beyond the PUSH and listen to the first episodes
• Follow the podcast on your preferred platform so you never miss a new episode
• Share it widely with your clients, colleagues, friends and communities
• Add it to your toolkit as a resource for learning, reflection and conversation
• Use it to start discussions about care, rights and what respectful healthcare should look like

Are you ready to join us and go Beyond the PUSH?