I think there’s something extremely powerful and moving about birth stories. Listening to and reading about the experiences of other women in their journey to motherhood has always been fascinating to me, but became an essential practice during my second pregnancy. It didn’t matter whether I was hearing the story in person or on paper, women telling all about these very personal moments, in their own voice, gave me courage and the ability to heal. Even if the story was completely different from mine, there was always an opportunity to relate and to learn.
Birth stories taught me that I was not alone, and that there was hope. I never really intended to write my own. As I’ve mentioned, I hate writing. But toward the end of my second pregnancy, I started to feel like I had something to tell. The urge was enough for me to sit down and at least try to explain my thoughts, actions and feelings surrounding the births of my kids. As I began to write, I found something meditative and soothing about the process of looking back and documenting my experiences for what they were, good or bad. I cast out my fears on paper and likewise reaffirmed my hopes and dreams.
If you choose to read my birth stories, I hope you will feel inspired and encouraged to strive for the birth of your dreams, no matter what that may look like for you. This is what reading birth stories gave to me, and if I’m able to pass that feeling on through sharing my heartbreaks and heart mends, it was well worth it.