For moms that are looking to submit their birth stories, we have compiled some suggestions and tips to help you write your birth story.

Birth stories include a wide range of elements…physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual details all comprise the moments leading up to the birth of a tiny new person.  It would be easy to become overwhelmed by all the details you want to include in your birth story, but consider the following approach:

1. Reflect on birth day.  Choose a time to write when you can dedicate time to reflect on birth before you write.  Relax and enjoy the memories!  Listen to music you listened to while in labor, look at photos, and close your eyes and picture the day again.
2. Free write.  Don’t worry about getting things perfectly in order, or missing details.  Just write things down as they come to mind.  Write the story from start to finish without going back.
3. Add details.  Once your entire story is written out, read it over and add details that come to mind that you might have missed.
4. Consult the guide.  Look at some of the questions and bullet points below.  If they bring to mind any additional details, you can add them to the story as you choose.
5. Check with your birth support.  If you want, have your spouse or someone who attended your birth read over your story and fill in details from their perspective.  Sometimes an observer will have different moments stick out in their mind.
6. Submit to Focus on Birth.  Email your story to Julie@focusonbirth.com for review!
7. Smile!  Read over your story and enjoy the unique perspective and experience.  There is no other story like yours!  : )

*Above everything else, remember there are no “rules” when it comes to telling your unique and amazing story.  It is not important to capture every single little detail in your story.  Every birth story is as individual as the tiny fingerprints welcomed into the world…and there is no right or wrong way to tell that story.*

Below are some questions and points you may wish to include in your story.  Please remember that you do not have to include all of these points, they are just suggestions to help you write and paint a picture of your birth.

Physical Facts – Personal

• Timing, spacing, and intensity of contractions.
• Physical sensations during labor.  (Were you hot/cold?  What did contractions feel like?).
• Positions used for laboring or pushing.
• What positions were least effective during various phases?  Most effective?

Physical Facts – Support Team

• People attending birth and their roles during labor.
• Did anyone (spouse, doctor/midwife/doula) say anything that really helped you focus or stuck out in your mind?

Mental/Emotional Details

• What were you thinking in various stages of labor?
• Did you cry or laugh during labor?
• How did the labor compare with your expectations?  (More/less painful?  Longer/shorter?  Harder/easier?).  Did this influence the experience?
• Was there a high or low point during labor that sticks out in your mind?

(This page still in progress.  Please check back again for more helpful questions/suggestions.  Thank you!).