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The gentlebirth.org website is provided courtesy of
Ronnie Falcao, LM MS, a homebirth midwife in Mountain View, CA

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Birth Stories and Birth Blogs


Easy Steps to a Safer Pregnancy - View e-book or Download PDF - FREE!
An interactive resource for moms on easy steps they can take to reduce exposure to chemical toxins during pregnancy.

Other excellent resources about avoiding toxins during pregnancy

These are easy to read and understand and are beautifully presented.


See also:

Subsections on this page:



This is a collection of birth stories from a number of different distribution lists.

These stories are included here so that caregivers can get a better sense of the tremendous power they hold - for good or evil. Attending birth is a sacred trust, and compromising client care out of ignorance, inexperience, fear or selfishness is a sacrilege. Each of us has a responsibility to serve each and every woman, baby and family to the best of our abilities, and if our abilities aren't up to the task, we'd better improve them or refer.

Some stories include details of a triumphant birth, some are horror stories. I've tried to title them in a descriptive fashion so that pregnant women aren't exposed to horror stories they would rather avoid.



Online Video Birth Stories



Naitre_enchantee - "Enchanted Birth" - beautiful, birth using low toning and vibrations.  I wish our midwife-attended births in the US could be this hands-off, but our licensing requirements make us "offer"/impose frequent monitoring (every 2-5 minutes during pushing) of the baby's heart tones.  Still, we can have similar births, except for the monitoring.



Midwife Blogs



The Midwife Next Door - A blog discussing midwifery, normal birth, and modern obstetrics - from birthsense.org


Women in Charge - Blog of Maria Iorillo, a homebirth midwife in San Francisco.  She also has links to other birth blogs.


20 Years of Birth Stories - Barbara Hernadez, California midwife


Have a Natural Childbirth - This blog is created by a coalition of doulas, midwives and other natural childbirth advocates to help you explore and discover the joys of natural childbirth


Stuff Birth Junkies Like - Here is the place where you are invited to post comments on anything physical, spiritual, or emotional that you love about birth, birthing, attending birth and beyond.


You can also look for midwifery blogs on Blog Talk Radio, the worlds largest social radio network. Create your own internet radio show. Listen to thousands internet radio shows and podcasts live each day.



Birth Blogs



Motherhood Matters - Insight into matters of motherhood and thoughts about why motherhood matters.


Jacquie Munro is a doula in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - Her birth blog will remind you of everything that's right about birth!


PTSD After Childbirth Blog by Jodi Kluchar



Print Publications



If you have an inspirational birth story to share, consider submitting it to some of these print publications, in addition to web sites:

Fit Pregnancy: They pay $300.  Their focus is overcoming challenges.  It is great if you can tie in a health and fitness related aspect.

Pregnancy magazine



Homebirth Stories



Collections

Homebirth Stories - a collection from kjsl.com

Homebirth Birth Stories from childbirth.org

Unassisted Birth Stories - a collection from Bornfree - The Unassisted Childbirth Page


You can download short video clips of different "kinds" of births here, including a homebirth and waterbirth.  I'm weeping....  :-)


And now for something completely different . . . The Birth of Grey Forest Walt ~ an outdoor birth


The Midwife's Journal - by Joy Johnston.  This is a terrific collection of musings from the midwife's point of view.


How Homebirth Mom Handled Long Pushing Stage


A Midwife's Apprentice Tells Her Birth Story


Matthew's Birth Story - A Homebirth after Two Hospital Births


Homebirth Transport for Section - Felt Betrayed by Midwife


Homebirth Testimonies - (A collection of letters from homebirth parents to their midwife.)


Being Born Blessed (born in the rain) -by Leilah McCracken - this birth fantasy is based on Leilah's personal birthing experience, and she does a wonderful job of articulating the joy that is inherent in birth.



Waterbirth Stories



Waterbirth Stories - a collection from Karil Daniels' Waterbirth Website.  You may also want to check out the Waterbirth Photo Gallery.


Waterbirth Birth Stories from Waterbirth International.


A Semi-Unassisted Waterbirth - My favorite waterbirth story - this mama is so strong!


The Water Birth, Starring Tom Digby Simpson - this is a very nice summary of  a labor, birth and immediate postpartum, with a nice timeline and comments from the birth attendants.


Nikelle's Story - As Told from a Mother's Heart - great photos!


Waterbirth of Ten-Pound Baby with No Tears - Great description of the feelings of transition, and an account of the use of the Gaskin Maneuver to resolve shoulder dystocia.


Waterbirth with lots of great pictures


A Home Waterbirth with Sibling


Waterbirth of 12-Pound Baby


OK First Birth and Dream Waterbirth for Second Birth


Taren's Home Waterbirth


Childbirth-Natures Way


Waterbirth Birth Stories



Unassisted Birth Stories



See also: Unassisted Childbirth


Unassisted Birth Stories - a collection from Bornfree - The Unassisted Childbirth Page


Unassisted Childbirth & Pregnancy Australia from purebirth-australia.com


homebirth.org.uk has quite a few unassisted birth stories



Cesarean/VBAC Stories



A Picture of Faith, Love, Trust, Blood, and VICTORY -by Katie Scribner  [Ed: birthlove.com is not available at this time.]


Awakening By Bethany Fitzpatrick - This is an amazing personal essay about the experience of a mother's developing a relationship with her baby/becoming a mother after a cesarean birth. The focus is not on the mechanics of the birth or even how this mother got to that point in her birth journey - it's about being in the moment with herself and her baby in the aftermath.


C-section, VBAC, HBAC . . . Ecstasy? - "I believe  that our increasingly joyous birth experiences have been a
real blessing to him and to us as a couple. "


Laura and Mike Write about Homebirth After Two Cesareans

Planning Homebirth After Two Cesareans
SUCCESS! Homebirth After Two Cesareans
A Husband's Tale of a Homebirth After Two Cesareans

Anita Plans Homebirth after A Cesarean And a Horrible VBAC


War Story - Cesarean Poetry (Angry)


Poetry about Anguish from Cesarean


Kristi - Our Miracle Baby - Mom Ignores Medical Advice to Abort A Troubled Pregnancy and Births a Healthy Baby.  Kristi was also one of the first babies born naturally to a mother with multiple previous cesareans.


VBAC Success - Story and Rates


Jenny's Tale - Saga of a Birth Gone Wrong
or Yes, It Can Happen To You


Jenny Strikes Back - A Set of Letters and a Meeting about the Unnecessary Cesarean


Horrible First Birth and Dream VBAC for Second Birth


Two Unnecessary Cesareans


Mom with Previous Myomectomy Declines Unnecessary Cesarean


Paralyzed woman watches helplessly as her unborn baby is surgically removed!


Unnecessary Cesarean with General Anesthesia resulting in severe postpartum depression


Eight Hours of Torture - Horrible Epidural Experience Ends in Cesarean


Traumatic scheduled c-section for breech...VERY LONG!!!


Marriage Problems after Cesarean


Telling Husband About Anger from Cesarean


The Pain Continues - How A Cesarean Birth Can Affect a Marriage


VBAC After 3 Cesareans



General Birth Stories



Donna Young (Protect Babies web site) and two other mothers have shared their birth stories in a peer-reviewed medical journal, Medical Veritas. Contact Donna for a copy.


Three Births - Hospital, Birth Center, and Home - a dad writes about his children's births.


Face Presentation with Mentum Posterior


A Nice Hospital Birth Followed by Two Fabulous Homebirths - by Sheryl Wright in New Zealand


Comments on Personal Births


Be Prepared for a Cesarean


Punishing Treatment


Four Posterior Births - Plans Next One As Waterbirth


Horrible Birth for Very Young Woman


Very sad story of maternal death from Pre-Eclampsia - Dad Blames Teaching Hospital for Gross Neglect and Condemns U.S. Medical System


Homebirth After Birth Center


Unhindered Birth


The Radical Fringe Mothering Page
Wonderfully supportive Web page written by a woman who was transformed by her birthing experiences. It includes her two beautiful birth stories.


First Birth in the Hospital, Second Birth At Home


Forceps, C-Section, VBAC, Homebirth


Thoughts Approaching Birth


Stress Approaching Birth


Importance of Husband's Support


Another Story on the Importance of Husband's Support


General Anesthesia Horror Story


Attending Best Friend's Horror Birth - Coincidentally Face Presentation


Posterior Birth Story


Second Birth Helped Heal from Trauma of First Birth


Hospital Disregarded Wishes



Collections of Birth Stories on Other Sites



Many pregnant women cannot get enough of other women's birth stories. Although we are not expanding this site, I encourage you to visit these other sites and contribute your birth stories as appropriate.

Positive Birth Stories - Reclaiming birth, story by story

TrufeLife Pregnancy Stories from pregnancycorner.com

Birth Stories from Lisa Bobrow's site

Ways of birthing and birth stories at Women of Spirit

Birth Story Diaries:  real births, real pictures

Babies Online Birth Announcements
There is no faster way to introduce your new baby to the world than the internet.  Babies Online provides proud parents with the opportunity to announce the birth of their newborns on the WWW by creating their very own web page -- AND IT'S FREE!!

Birth Stories -  This is a site full of birth stories. There are over one hundred birth stories on it now. Very diverse. Hospital births, birthing center births, home births and even a car birth! Some later updates on the kids. You can also add your own birth story.

ParentsPlace.com - a very large collection

Labor of Love Birth Stories

Homebirth Stories - a collection from kjsl.com

Homebirth Birth Stories from childbirth.org

Waterbirth Stories - a collection from Karil Daniels' Waterbirth Website.  You may also want to check out the Waterbirth Photo Gallery.

Unassisted Birth Stories - a collection from Bornfree - The Unassisted Childbirth Page

Another collection of Unassisted Birth Stories from Holistic Health and Life's Pregnancy Pages

Robin Elise Weiss' pages - Birth Stories

Birth Stories from The Revolutionary Passion of Mothering [Ed: birthlove.com is not available at this time.]

Natural Birth Stories WebRing

Birth Stories Webring

Ananda Lowe is collecting stories about "long" but healthy second stage (pushing) -

You can also submit your birth stories (either as a mom or as a midwife to Midwifery Today - editorial@midwiferytoday.com. You may want to read their submission guidelines.
 

 




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