Inspirational Birth Stories that Will Make You Laugh and Cry

As the host of a birth stories podcast, I hear hundreds of birth stories every year. I love how unique each story is while also having a common thread — everyone is forever changed by the birth of their child. It’s so hard to choose my favorite birth stories but here are a few that have really stood out lately. These are just brief summaries of the highlights so click the links and subscribe to The Birth Hour so you can hear them all!

Two Positive Hospital Birth Stories

Christy Knutson took charge of her hospital birth experience and shares two amazing positive birth stories. She originally had a lot of fear around giving birth and when she heard about the option to hire a doula, she knew that was what she needed. She decided to have a natural birth and had amazing support both from the hospital staff and her doula. She studied The Bradley Method during her pregnancy and found that really helpful as well. These are great eye-opening stories to listen to if you know you’re going to give birth at a hospital and haven’t really thought much about what type of birth you want.

Gestational Carrier Birth Story

This is such an amazing story of strength, friendship and love. Sarah (the mother) and Cara (the gestational carrier/surrogate) join forces to share their story of the birth of Sarah’s twin girls. They have since become amazing friends and their story is truly inspirational. Grab the tissues!

Extreme Precipitous Labor

Precipitous labor is defined as a labor lasting less than three hours. Indiana Adams has three children and all three of them were precipitous labors. Indiana has chosen homebirth so she hasn’t experienced any roadside deliveries but she did have a surprise waterbirth when her daughter fell into the toilet unexpectedly before the midwife even arrived — don’t worry she was totally fine! These stories are shocking (in the best way) and funny!

Vaginal Breech Homebirth

Kristel planned a homebirth with her daughter and no one had any idea that her baby was breech until the baby’s bottom appeared while she was pushing. Vaginal breech deliveries are super rare these days so it was great to hear a story where this was handled beautifully even when it came as a total surprise.

Emotional Journey to VBAC

Elizabeth Quinn went into her first two births not knowing much about her options and ended up with what she says were unnecessary cesareans. When she became pregnant with her third baby she was determined to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) and she did! I love how informed Elizabeth became about her care and how these stories fully embody my entire goal of The Birth Hour — to inform women and empower them to know their options.

L&D Nurse Shares her Birth Stories

This labor and delivery nurse shares three different birth stories with such an interesting perspective as a birth worker herself. Her first was born at a hospital, her second at a birth center and her third at home. I loved hearing from a mom that sees other women giving birth multiple times a day about why she chose the types of births she chose.

On The Birth Hour Podcast, we share all types of birth stories and are always thrilled when we hear from moms who have been educated and inspired regarding birth as a result of listening to our podcast. I’d love to connect with you over on Instagram or have you sign up for our email newsletter to stay tuned for when we reopen bookings for sharing birth stories. You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

Bryn Huntpalmer is a mother of two young children living in Austin, Texas where she hosts a birth stories podcast called The Birth Hour. Her mission with The Birth Hour is to encourage women to be informed about pregnancy and childbirth and know their options as well as creating a community for women to come together and support one another through pregnancy and beyond. You can connect with Bryn on Instagram @thebirthhour.