My personal experience with Birth Story Medicine

The birth of my son was not the birth I’d envisioned. It was challenging and shook me to my core.

I found that very few people even wanted to hear my story or any birth story really and yet I felt compelled to share! I wanted to tell it so it could be witnessed. It felt unbearable to go about my life without recounting my rite of passage.

Beyond that, my story also made some people uncomfortable. It wasn’t like the fairy tales- it wasn’t magical and pretty. But it was real and it was mine. I also felt like I couldn’t tell the whole story based on who I was talking to - internally taking into account their beliefs and experiences (would this just validate their beliefs that I was unrealistic for thinking I could even have the birth I wanted or was I causing harm by popping their illusion bubble of a perfect, peaceful birth?).

I kept re-hashing the same story over and over to anyone who would listen. Assuming that I could gain perspective just by speaking it. Tentatively beginning to share, changing bits and pieces based on who I was talking to, and still feeling unsatisfied. Hypnotizing myself with the same beliefs and judgments: “I should have done …,” “If only I were …,” “I should have never expected I could…”, and “I shouldn’t complain because I have a healthy baby”.

A part of me knew it didn’t have to be this way; that it shouldn’t be. Something didn’t feel right. Something was left unsettled. Seeking some other way, I found Birth Story Medicine and knew in my heart that this was what I was looking for. My Birth Story Medicine session with my teacher Nicole was powerful, transformative, and an essential ritual in my rite of postpartum return.

Moving forward, my birth story is not weighing me down. Now, I don’t feel compelled to search for places to tell my story. I can share bits and pieces or nothing at all. I don’t tell it in its linear entirety and I don’t re-play all the little details in my head. I walked away from my own personal birth story session with a lightness, self-compassion, and, yes, some tears. Looking back on it now, I know that without Birth Story Medicine I would have remained in my self-judgment (self-judgment that started long before the actual birth experience) and without compassion for the powerful all-encompassing experience of birth and myself.

I trudged through the labyrinth of birth and made it out on the other side of my postpartum return. This ancient rite of passage & the meaning I’ve taken from it with help from Birth Story Medicine has made me who I am today. I am so thankful to Pam England for her work towards creating this method and her openness to share it with others and for Nicole Tricarico for teaching me. I am dedicated to continuing this work & sharing this medicine with others. 

Message me if you’d like to schedule a session. I hope our session provides you some peace as well.

With love,

Allison