One of my goals for this new site was to have a blog where women & families could share their birth stories.  Birth stories carry the power to help our culture move forward from the fear that paralyzes us.  If you know me you know my philosophy is “It’s the journey, not necessarily the destination.”  Sometimes the fear that women carry isn’t related to pain, or discomfort or a long labor–it’s “I hope this birth happens the way that I want it to.”  Maybe that’s a natural birth, avoiding induction, having a water birth–everyone has their own set of priorities.

One thing I have learned over the years is that there is a lesson in *every* story.  I know that a lot of people will assume that I only want natural birth stories, stories where everything was perfect and there are unicorns and rainbows.  And yes–I want those.  I think it’s important for women to know that sometimes labor starts, a baby is born and it can be normal, smooth and uncomplicated.  I’ve worked with many parents over the years who have told me that the first time they heard one of these stories was in my class.

I want to hear stories where the baby’s birth plan was different than the parents’,  where things veered off the path and met a fork in the road, where parents and care providers came together to make decisions that brought them closer to a healthy mom and a healthy baby.  I want to hear stories where women found strength and bravery they didn’t know they had.

There are a lot of stories out there that are timelines–this happened and then this happened and then this happened.  I want to know how this experience changed you and what you learned about yourself.   If you have a birth story and  wisdom to share–let’s hear it!  Here are the submission guidelines:

Give your story a title.  I didn’t earn that privilege–it’s your story.

Please include a short biography.  Tell us who you are, what you do, what you’re about.  Keep it simple, around 50 words.  This will be published at the end of your story.

Names of professionals:  please do not include the names of care providers.  Please use “my doula,” or “my OB,” etc.  If you have criticism to share, that’s okay–but don’t make it slanderous.  You don’t need to sugarcoat the experience, but think about it from this perspective–what do you want others to know?  What do you wish you knew?  What would you change if you could do things differently?

Photos are a must!  Please submit at least one, and if it’s a professional photo, I’ll need permission from your photographer before I can publish it on the site.  I’d love to have photos of mom actively laboring, pushing, in the OR,  immediately postpartum–yes please!

Editing:  I’ll fix spelling and major grammatical errors.  I may add paragraph breaks to make the story easier to read.   If I have questions or suggestions, I’ll contact you.  When you send your story, you give me permission to publish it.  I will not use it for any other purpose.

Send your story to angela AT birthlouisville DOT com.  Thank you for helping change the narrative (literally) about birth.