If your birth didn't go as planned, this is for you...

Unless you're new around here, you know that we believe birth is not a medical event, but rather a transformative rite of passage that sometimes requires medical intervention.

A birth that requires medical intervention does not "skip" the rite of passage piece - far from it. 

It can seem though (especially in natural birth circles) that have to "do birth" a certain way in order to experience the power and transformation of "natural" birth. We believe that is far from the truth. 

Every right of passage includes an element of surrender and letting go. In a "natural" (or physiological birth), that surrender may look like allowing your mind to take a back seat and your body to do whatever it needs to release your baby. In the case of medical intervention, especially unwanted medical intervention, you're still surrendering to that which is out of your control. 

Birth is not meant to be easy. No rite of passage is. It is meant to illuminate those parts of yourself that are ready to be transformed. It is humbling. And it will rock you to your absolute core - whether your baby arrives with or without medical intervention. 

So to the moms who are currently preparing for birth, know this: You don't have to be "perfect" to get this right. You don't have to "do birth" a certain way in order to have a profound and beautiful experience. 

And to the moms who are grieving the birth they didn't get - we see you. Your journey is no less empowering or transformative just because it didn't look like what you imagined. In fact, that is kind of the point.

You can find the silver linings and lessons, and also feel grief, shame, guilt, or sadness around your birth story. None if it is "bad", and having those feelings doesn't make you less of a mom. It makes you fully human. 

Always in your corner, 

💛 Kayla & Leslie