Birth
Painful Sex After Episiotomy: Lifelong Scars from a Traumatic Birth Story
Birth stories often fall into two categories: lovely and full of warmth and downright horrifying. In fact, we’ve published several birth stories that run the gamut from joyful to petrifying. Unfortunately, Melanie’s story falls into the latter category. A German mama living in France, Melanie gave birth to her child in a French hospital where […]
Maternal Mortality in the US: We Haven’t Come As Far As We Think
What is maternal mortality? The CDC defines “pregnancy related deaths,” often referred to as “maternal mortality,” as “the death of a woman while pregnant or within 1 year of the end of a pregnancy.” And it’s terrifying to realize that maternal mortality rates have been steadily increasing in the United States. Undefining Motherhood is, in […]
Disadvantages of Natural Birth: How Being Guilted Destroyed My Birth Experience
Some pregnant women feel pressure to have a natural childbirth. Learn about the importance of choice and some of the disadvantages of natural birth.
The Benefits of Patient Empowerment for African American Mothers
Aisha Stith is writing this article for her rockstar son, Chase, one of the most magnificent beings. And for everyone who has endured the trauma of delivering a child early. You see, Chase was born very early, at 30 weeks and 1 day. Aisha experienced both pregnancy and labor complications that reminded her of the […]
Taylor’s First Baby: A Labor Story
One mom shares her first baby labor story to help others know what to expect with a first baby. She discusses anxiety, waiting, and managing family.
Birth Stories Roundup + How to Write Your Labor Story Before You Forget
Love reading other mom's birth stories and want to find more, or learn how to write your own? Do both of those things here! This article contains links to birth stories by different moms, plus a few partner's versions of labor stories. It also provides useful tips on how to write your own birth story!
Childbed Fever: The Epidemic Victorians Ignored
If women were dying in mass numbers in hospitals compared to home births–15 childbed hospital deaths for every 2 at home–wouldn’t you expect national, even international, outcry try to figure out why? I damn sure would. But that didn’t happen in Victorian England. Or anywhere else during the nineteenth century where the same phenomenon occurred […]