There is something incredibly special about holding space for a woman to revisit and share her birth story. 🤍
Recently, I prepared a little space for birth storytelling. A warm foot bath, ceremonial cacao, herbal tea, candlelight and, most importantly, time and presence.
Time to slow down.
Time to remember.
Time to talk.
Time to feel.
Time to be heard.
Birth can be such an intense and life-changing experience. It is not only the birth of a baby, but also a profound experience for the woman who has carried and birthed that baby.
And while so much attention naturally shifts to the beautiful new baby, I believe there is also a need to turn some of that attention back towards the mother and her experience.
Because the birth story belongs to her, too.
Sometimes, in the busyness of those early days and weeks, there is little space to pause and reflect on everything that has happened. The body is recovering, life has changed, and there is a tiny new human to care for. Yet the experience of birth may still be very present, with thoughts, emotions and memories that are waiting to be expressed.
I believe there is something deeply valuable in giving a mama the opportunity to tell her story, in her own words, without judgement, without interruption and without anyone telling her how she should feel about it.
Not to find a positive or negative meaning. Not to rewrite what happened.
Simply to listen.
To allow the story to unfold in whatever way it needs to, without rushing or trying to make sense of everything straight away.
Every feeling is welcome. Every feeling is valid, even when opposite ones coexist, and they often do. Joy and sadness, gratitude and disappointment, pride and vulnerability. They can all exist within the same story, and they all deserve to be felt and held.
Birth storytelling is not about changing the experience, but about creating a gentle space in which a woman can reconnect with her own story, reflect on what she has been through and perhaps begin to understand it in a different way.
There is no right way to tell a birth story. No particular feeling to arrive at. No timeline for making sense of it all.
Every birth story deserves to be heard, and every woman deserves the space to make sense of her own experience, in her own time.
🤍