Birth Story Processing

Have you experienced a birth with traumatic or unexpected events?

Do you find yourself ruminating on the same moments from your birth?

Perhaps your birth went according to the “plan”, but you were still shocked or disappointed by it. (Even a straightforward birth can rock your heart.)

Are you confused by why you can’t just “move on” and “get over it”?

Many women discover that the events and emotions of their birth linger for months or even years after their baby has arrived. Feelings of frustration, inadequacy or self-judgment can plague new parents without a dedicated process to transform their story of confusion into a story of understanding and growth.

It is possible to gain healing, peace and self-acceptance!

Birthing parents, supporting parents and birth-workers can all experience challenging births. And they all deserve to process those experiences in a safe and dedicated space with a compassionate and mature listener.

Imagine telling your birth story to a wise listener who does not bring judgment, “should haves”, toxic positivity or platitudes to your story. With 17 years of labor doula support behind me, I know birth on a deep level. Unlike your friends or therapist, you will not need to explain medical events or the birth process to me. Instead we focus on YOU and YOUR experience of the events.

Pam England (the founder) describes Birth Story Listening as “an uplifting guided personal growth process intended to bring about insight, resolution, and healing after a difficult or disappointing birth. This process was developed over thirty years of birth story listening through the vision, observations, and experiments of Pam England, and her eclectic adaptations and integration of others’ work. Birth Story Medicine is designed to help parents and birth professionals find new meaning in their birth stories.”

Birth Story Medicine is not a passive process. You will be guided into a new understanding of yourself as you navigated the difficult moments of the birth. With solution-focused, skillful questions, you will unearth new ways of viewing your own strength and resilience. And even more, you will take those lessons into your every day life and allow them to change how you move and act and parent in the world NOW.

Who is this for?

Anyone who has been present for a birth or postpartum experience! including…

• Mothers (or Birthing Parents)
• Fathers (or Supporting parents)
• Expectant parents wishing to process a previous birth before giving birth again
• Other family members

What to expect:

• Sessions can be held over zoom, in your home in the Chicago area or in my office in Lake County
• Each session lasts 60-90 minutes
• During this time, you MUST be free from distraction or child-care responsibilities
• Most clients make HUGE strides in just 1-2 sessions.

To be forever changed…

Birth Story Processing Workshop

Connect with other parents and birth-workers in a safe, open and inclusive group to process the experience of a birth. Come away from a group Birth Story Processing session with a new, self-narrated version of a previously troubling experience. Attend with confidence that no individual stories will be shared or compared. Members of the group will be skillfully led through their own inner inquiry, using art-making, mythology and solution-focused dialogue, to see their birth with fresh eyes and a revived heart. Sessions are held in both Highland Park and Chicago locations.