Birth Stories
The Value in Sharing Birth Stories
The History of Birth Stories
Women have been sharing their birth stories since the beginning of time. In the past, birth stories were told woman to woman in the same village and passed down through generations. Today, many women become pregnant and have never actually heard a first hand account of a birth story.
Many times, the only exposure women have to birth stories is what they see on television and in the movies, which similar to everything else we see on TV is not very accurate.
Luckily, in recent years it has become more common to write down birth stories and share them online whether it’s on a personal blog, a baby forum or a larger website dedicated to sharing birth stories. Thanks to the internet, this new trend has exposed expecting parents to a large variety of birth stories written by those have been there before.
Discovering Birth Stories
When I was pregnant with my first child and planning a homebirth, I wanted to read every homebirth birth story I could find and loved imagining what my birth would be like and learning some of the things that I could potentially experience giving birth. As much as I loved reading birth stories, what I loved even more was listening to them, in person, and hearing the emotion in the mother’s voice and crying and laughing together as we bonded over this monumental moment in our lives.
Listening to Birth Stories
I started The Birth Hour podcast to give a wider audience the opportunity to have that experience of being able to listen to birth stories even if they don’t live in a community where they can connect personally with women eager to share their birth story.
I cry during every single recording of this podcast because there is always at least one moment, if not many, where the mother’s raw emotion of that most precious memory is fully expressed and there is nothing more beautiful than that.
I hope you enjoy listening to these birth stories and feel that ancient connection of motherhood and welcoming our children into the world that we are meant to experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I listen to birth stories on The Birth Hour podcast?
The Birth Hour podcast is available in all podcast apps so you can find our most recent 100 episodes in your favorite podcast app including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Audible Podcasts. You can find over 800 of our archived episodes via Patreon.
What are the most popular birth stories?
The most popular birth stories will depend on each individual’s goals with birth. For example if you are planning a homebirth you might be more focused on homebirth birth stories. However, as you will quickly learn listening to The Birth Hour, birth is unpredictable so we always recommend listening to as many types of birth stories as possible so you are prepared for the birth you want but also for the unexpected.
What are other ways to get involved with The Birth Hour?
Aside from listening to ALL of the birth stories, we have a private Facebook group and monthly zoom calls for our listener supporters. This group has repeatedly been referred to as “the best place on the internet” and you can join for as little as $4.50 per month. Additionally we offer two online courses. Our signature course is our Know Your Options Childbirth Course which is a comprehensive, evidence-based childbirth course that comes with lifetime access. The Know Your Options course includes our second course called Beyond the First Latch for free but you can also buy that course separately if you prefer. Beyond the First latch covers feeding your baby, pumping, storing milk, going back to paid work and more. Both of these courses include zoom calls twice a month and access to a FB group especially for course students.
How do you find birth stories to share on the podcast?
We have a birth story submission form that anyone can fill out. We choose the birth stories based on many factors, trying to always have the most diversity in types of stories as possible while also responding to the feedback we get from listeners for what they most want to hear. We also choose two birth stories each month from a special submission form only for Patreon members so that’s another perk of supporting the podcast via patreon.
