Birth Story Listening
“I hope you will go out and let stories, that is life, happen to you, and that you will work with these stories... water them with your blood and tears and your laughter till they bloom, till you yourself burst into bloom.”
-Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Our stories are a portal.
Our pregnancies, birth, and postpartum are profound transformations that shift our physiological experiences and our emotional bodies. It can take weeks, months, or years to sift through and piece together one small subtle moment or even a traumatic event. Trauma occurs when an experience such as our labor is too huge for us to assimilate or digest. The confrontation of these experiences can leave us with unresolved beliefs, emotions, thoughts, and an unregulated nervous system. Whether you had a traumatic or dream birth it is completely normal to feel troubled and unsettled by a moment or memory. Our current postpartum culture does not encourage nor support birthing people in sharing their stories in a safe and truly healing manner.
Its time we begin to return from the underworld of these immense experiences.
Through storytelling, we begin to not only describe but shape our experiences, by re-weaving a new narrative for ourselves. Sometimes our stories have inputs and memories collected from others around us (such as our partner, doctor, or midwife), and other times we have a story that is more socially acceptable for friends and family. Birth Story listening is an opportunity to tell your story unfiltered and with depth.
The Process
1.
We use Guided Storytelling
2.
Solution-Focused Dialogue
3.
Creative Reflection
The Outcome
Our goal is not to fix a past event but rather to reframe and rewrite our relationship to the event. By gaining clarification, emotional resolution, and new insight and meaning we are given clarity, self-acceptance, and a steady heart to move through and onwards.
“After a Birth, parents may initially feel grateful and accept what happened. However, weeks, months, or even years later, they may find that doubts and negative feelings erupt. They may try to talk about it, to sort it out, but often can’t find a sympathetic ear; or they may find someone to commiserate with, but shared anger and helplessness don’t heal the emotional trauma”
–Pam England.
Who is it for?
Birth Story Listening is for anyone who feels they have something to digest or process around their experience of being pregnant, giving birth, postpartum, miscarriage, or termination. It is also a beautiful process to complete before preparing to birth again.
This work can also be for birth keepers and partners of birthing people.
Birth Story Listening Session:
60-75 min for $111
My Training
Birth Story Listening sessions are based on Narrative Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy, and Birthing From Within teaching, Pam England’s life work, the creator of Birthing From Within.
Birth Story Listening is not psychotherapy nor a substitute.
“Stories teach us in ways we can remember. They teach us that each woman responds to birth in her unique way and how very wide-ranging that way can be. Sometimes they teach us about silly practices once widely held that were finally discarded. They teach us the occasional difference between accepted medical knowledge and the real bodily experiences that women have – including those that are never reported in medical textbooks nor admitted as possibilities in the medical world. They also demonstrate the mind/body connection in a way that medical studies cannot. Birth stories told by women who were active participants in giving birth often express a good deal of practical wisdom, inspiration, and information for other women. Positive stories shared by women who have had wonderful childbirth experiences are an irreplaceable way to transmit knowledge of a woman’s true capacities in pregnancy and birth.”
-Ina May Gaskin