Compassionate, non-judgmental support in pregnancy and the postpartum period. Birth doula support, childbirth education and birth story processing, in-person and virtual.
Holly Rogalski
Doula, Childbirth Educator, Birth Story Facilitator
Compassionate, non-judgmental support in pregnancy and the postpartum period. Birth doula support, childbirth education and birth story processing, in-person and virtual.
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…
What to expect:
To be forever changed…
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.
I am a Texas-transplant who moved to Chicago for a degree in Music and Art. Soon after graduating, an unexpected pregnancy catapulted me into the world of birth plans and stretch marks and the vast unknowns on the other side.
While pregnant, I consumed every book about pregnancy, labor and postpartum. I was obsessed with giving my child the very best start to life. I had a core belief that the transition into parenthood mattered. After that birth, I found I was still reading the books and talking about birth.
Some big life changes, two more children, 17 years of doula work, and I’m still fascinated by the psychology of transition. I have worked with hundreds of childbearing couples since 2006 as a doula and childbirth educator.
I am a Birthing From Within mentor with previous certifications through DONA and BirthWorks. I have received advanced training in “Birth Story Medicine” with Pam England, Virginia Bobro, Nikki Shaheed and Danit Tsur, and have been holding Birth Story Listening sessions since 2014, bringing compassion, nuance and expert-level skill to each client.
Besides teaching expectant parents, I also train medical professionals in patient care and communication.
My greatest teachers have been the babies and parents who have shown me the nuance, complexity and eternal mystery of birth.