For thousands of years, stories were passed down orally. Stories (experiences and memories) were preserved from generation to generation.
“Storytelling is one of humanity’s oldest and most beloved traditions, bridging generational gaps and drawing communities together. Since the dawn of civilization, oral storytelling has been a primary method for the transmission of history, cultural practices, moral lessons, and entertaining tales. It has not only shaped our understanding of the world, but also ultimately served as the bedrock for literature, theater, cinema, and many more contemporary arts.” (Folkschool.org)
Childbearing is transformative. There are so many lessons and wisdom we glean from our experiences. Do you know the powerful birth stories of your ancestors? Likely, no. Somehow, beautiful and powerful birth stories have been forgotten or died with their authors, and all we have left today are the horror stories that we hear from those around us.
It’s time to tell your home birth story. Come, share your story. Tell us what you learned. Tell us how you were expanded and transformed. Tell us the ugly and the beautiful. Sharing and hearing birth stories has the potential to heal, to encourage, and to give strength, courage, hope, peace and joy!
If you would like to join the Well Womanhood Learning From Birth: Storytelling project and share your home birth story via Instagram live, please message me on Instagram (@well.womanhood) or email me.
This space for home birth stories also includes unassisted birth stories, if you weren’t sure. I know that many spaces don’t welcome these stories. But we all know that unassisted birth is *just birth*.
I would also like to offer space for stories that were intentional home births, but mothers intuitively sought necessary medical assistance. I don’t subscribe to titles because that can lead to ignoring your body’s intuitive plea for help in rare, true circumstances. I know that it takes an enormous amount of unlearning, deprogramming, and intentional preparing to listen to your intuition to hear everything that it has to say, whether it be that everything is good or help is needed.
If you would like to hear these stories, it may be helpful turn on notifications for my stories, posts, and live videos on Instagram by pressing the bell button on the top right corner of my profile page so you are notified of when a story will be shared. I won’t have a set day of the week that stories will be shared because everyone has different schedules. And as long as women are offering to share their stories, this project will continue.
Some stories will also be shared here on my blog so bookmark my page so check weekly for a new story!