Have you told your story?

Giving birth can unleash us, it can light us up, and it can connect us with parents and babies around the world.  This is a virtual collection of birth stories—all kinds—to empower and inspire us to claim the power of this potent transformation.

Peruse our collective stories, tell yours, and join the discussion on the Facebook page.

Thanks for being part of The Birth Story Project.  These are our stories.

Finally Succeeded in Conceiving through IVF

We got married when we were 29, and we wanted to enjoy our married life, and give time to each other and understand each other more. Hence, family planning was not on our list for a couple of years, and I was also using birth control pills, to be on the safer side.

And after a few years, when couples in our friend circle were having babies, we thought this might be the time or us also, to start a family. But we didn’t know how much time it would take for us. After trying to conceive naturally for 6 months, we thought there might be some issue. Hence, I started searching a lot over the internet, about infertility, or how to get pregnant, what changes should I adopt etc.
But I was firm, and then I started using an ovulation calculator, to keep a track on my ovulation days. We even adopted healthy patterns, and my husband even quit smoking and drinking. But month after month, when I was getting my periods, my discomfort increased. I even started feeling envious sometimes, when I saw people playing with their kids. I always thought, ‘Why am I not able to get pregnant?’

I even started to avoid family functions and gatherings, so I don’t have to answer their questions, like, When are you having a baby? Are you planning or not? and so on.

I thought maybe learning more about problems related to infertility might help. But now I didn’t want to sit back, and wait for the things to happen on their own, I wanted to do something, try harder.

And then I consulted an IVF specialist. We discussed our fertility history with her and even went for some medical tests. I had my sonography, blood test and hormone test, my husband also had his sperm quality and quantity tests, and after the reports came, we had a session with our doctor. Any specific reason was not found for our problem. Hence, we first started our treatment with IUI. But as it wasn’t successful we went for IVF. Probably this was our last chance, as we were exhausted even financially, and couldn’t have been able to afford another round.

We were very disturbed, emotionally. The tension between us grew day by day. Sometimes it felt like, Is having a baby so important, that in the hope of a child, we have lost all our happiness? and so we started taking counseling sessions.

After a few days, when the hormone injections and everything were done, the doctor called to give the good news. Finally, my pregnancy results were positive. That day, we cried in joy. And now everything feels worth, all the pain, the efforts, and the struggle, everything was worth it when we saw our little daughter.

Vaani Minhas

Prayer is a Call to Action: Gideon’s Birth Story

It was my fourth pregnancy. I was low-risk with a history of fast labor, the perfect candidate for another homebirth. Despite having a 6, 4 and 2 year old at home, I always find at least an hour each day to pray, journal and do Bible studies. The Bible study I had...

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Kip, The Miracle Baby

I had bariatric surgery in May of 2021 and found out I was pregnant in February of 2022. It is advised to wait at least a year before becoming pregnant so my obgyn wanted me to see a maternal fetal medicine doctor at 18 weeks to make sure that Kip was developing well....

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Homebirth : Letting Go of Fear

It was November 28th around 4:30 in the afternoon. We had just gotten a snowstorm the previous day and my husband and I were out for a short walk with our dog in the beautiful winter landscape. The moment we had been waiting for was finally here. It was time to call...

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My Lockdown Baby

Before I got pregnant, I did not pay much attention to people sharing their birth stories and photos of their first few intimate moments in theatre. It seemed like it was too much information and, honestly, a bit gross until the baby is born. I even made sure I didn’t...

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What a Whirlwind

Kyla's Birth Story *Thursday, July 16th* I went to my 39 week midwife appointment. I was still 1cm dilated, which hadn't changed since my 36 week appointment. Since I had Gestational Diabetes, my induction was scheduled for Wednesday, July 22nd. *Sunday, July 19th*...

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Our VBAC story

Our VBAC Birth story Ever since we had our first child, which was an emergency action, I was determined to try for natural delivery the second time around. When I conceived again, I tried to gather facts about VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Caesarean Section) and the...

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A Laurel Wreath of Victory

My heart poured out raw, open, exposed. I need to write my story. The story that is hard to adequately put into words. It is the birth story of my third child and third daughter Laurel Grace. I use to have vaginismus. A very little known condition. I felt most medical...

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VBAC After One Vaginal Birth and One Emergency C-Section

"Can I have a vaginal birth in the future?" That was the first question I asked my doctor after he came in to check on me after my very unexpected emergency c-section. She assured me that I would very likely be a good candidate, and I didnt need to worry about that...

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