With her history as a gymnast, dancer/mover, and body worker, Heather assumed she had the tools for trusting/following her body’s lead during birth…that was until she hit deeply embedded triggers from her history of child abuse that illuminated a messy entanglement of wounds and conditioning left by patriarchal and paternalistic systems. With a nearly 70 hour labor that ended in cesarean with her first babe, Heather set out on a healing and redemptive journey towards earning her VBAC stripes. What unfolded was a journey through struggling to find VBAC support, navigating crises of confidence (her own and others), and ultimately fully trusting her babe, herself, and body as the holy trinity of the birth template she needed. 6 days of intermittent surges after waters released… little did Heather know this birth led to her own personal genesis.
And a note to all listeners, as mentioned, this episode does discuss child and sexual abuse, so if this is a topic that may trigger something within yourself, you may chose to skip over this episode.
Also, at the very end of the episode before the outro, Heather shares a beautiful and powerful poem she wrote herself called “My Mighty Womb.” So if you’re still with us, please listen on after our conversation for that.
LINKS & SHOWNOTES
13 Moons: Epic Eduation for the Birthing Year
Birth Warrior Project: 120 Day Doula Training and Transformation
Podcast (birth-warrior-podcast): Download (Duration: 59:40 — 55.4MB)
Heather, Thank you so much for sharing such a beautiful and vulnerable story. Thank you for emphasizing our womb’s wisdom, and the intuitive connection with our baby in pregnancy and birth. Would you consider sharing the words to your poem so we can read it at our local Birth Circle? Congratulations on a beautiful birth 💕