Call for Birth Stories

Share Your Birth Story and Support Birth Education

Do you have a birth story to share? As part of our ongoing effort to promote normal birth, Lamaze International is compiling a collection of birth stories to post on our Web site. We are seeking stories from women in their own words. We are particularly interested in stories that illustrate the Six Care Practices that Support Normal Birth:

1. Labor begins on its own
2. Freedom of movement throughout labor
3. Continuous labor support
4. No routine interventions
5. Non-supine (e.g., upright or side-lying) positions for birth
6. No separation of mother and baby after birth with unlimited opportunity for breastfeeding

Birth stories are excellent tools to provide expectant women and their families with real-life information, preparation and support for their birth experience. Through written accounts of birth, we hope to illustrate that birth is an incredible, yet normal, everyday process filled with triumph and joy.

A Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator will provide commentary to be posted along with each birth story. Again, our intention is to show how women have used different care practices to keep their births normal. We believe the best way to do this is through stories written in your own words with thoughtful and concise commentary that highlights the choices you made to achieve a satisfying and healthy birth experience.

Submit your own birth story or, if you’re an educator, encourage your students to write about their birth experiences. Submit all stories to editor@lamaze.org. You must include a statement with your story that you give Lamaze International permission to publish your story online. We reserve the right to edit your story for grammar, punctuation, spelling and length if necessary. If your story is selected, you will have the opportunity to approve any edits as well as any commentary that will appear with your story.