We recognize that not all birth stories will fit into the same mold and some stories may not include all of the elements listed below. Please submit stories with as many of the listed elements as are applicable. A main focus of this book is to highlight the effects of traumatic births on the lives of women and what they have done and are doing to overcome their struggle. We are interested in stories from women at all points in the healing process. Full healing is not a prerequisite.
Stories should be formatted as follows:
1. Trauma
Please describe your birth and/or postpartum story, particularly what events were traumatic for you. Please describe anything before or during pregnancy that may have led to the trauma or contributed to it such as previous physical or sexual abuse, or the attitudes or policies of your care provider.
2. Symptoms
What trauma symptoms did you experience? How long did they last? How did they affect your everyday life and your relationships with friends, family, and especially your baby?
3. Healing
Describe your healing journey. What have you found particularly helpful in healing and overcoming your traumatic experience? How is it going currently?
4. Speaking Out
Was your traumatic experience something that may have been avoided under different conditions such as with another care provider or at a different location? Whether or not it could have been avoided, what do you wish had been done differently? What do you wish you had known before your traumatic experience? What would you say to care providers who work to prevent the chances of women being traumatized in their care? What would you say to first time mothers to help them avoid trauma from childbirth?
We are seeking stories fitting or similar to the following categories:
- Emergency situations causing trauma
- Trauma caused or made worse by care providers
- Traumatic vaginal birth
- Traumatic c-section
- Coerced c-section
- Traumatic home birth
- Traumatic transfer
- Trauma from NICU stay
- Extremely painful birth
- Sexual abuse trauma triggered during birth
- Trauma due to abandonment or lack of continuous support
- Trauma due to insufficient cesarean anesthesia
- Trauma due to very premature birth
- Trauma during postpartum period (complications, especially hemorrhage or heart trouble)
- Trauma caused by fetal/neonatal death, particularly choices around end-of-life care
By sharing our stories we hope to raise awareness of the problems with maternity care so that they may someday be addressed and improved. We also hope to let women who have been victims of birth trauma see that they are not alone, and that there are resources for healing available. Be sure to include your contact information with your submission, especially email address, so that we know how to contact you. Submissions may be published anonymously or under a pseudonym, if desired.
Contact Information:
For inquiries: jennealderks@solaceformothers.org
For submissions: jennealderks@solaceformothers.org
Website: http://www.solaceformothers.org
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