Pam England is the Founder and Director of Birth Story Medicine. When I was a young nurse-midwife, certified but not yet initiated by the power of birth itself, I used to teach 'fantasy birth' classes.  In labor, I had a profound awakening and vowed to tell the truth and to bring change to how women are prepared for birth. While on the cesarean operating table, I realized that the naive positivity and promises I believed (and taught) were the seed for my own rapidly manifesting emotional birth shock, trauma, and postpartum depression. I sought counseling from a midwife, cesarean support group, and therapist, but found only superficial listening. This prompted me to earn a Masters in Psychology /Counseling from Antioch University, with an emphasis on perinatal issues and group dynamics. Eight years of searching for answers and self-acceptance had passed since my initiation through birth; after meeting many teachers and authors and participating in conferences and ceremonies, I had a second epiphany which made me laugh out loud:   'All this time I thought I had to heal my birth, but now I see my birth healed me.'  Perhaps this was the pivotal moment I morphed from the seek to a wounded healer. Thus began Pam's now three-decade-long devotion to the study of emotional birth trauma and the development of the Birth Story Medicine philosophy and process that has helped many find their way "home" to self-acceptance and self-compassion following their initiation through childbirth or birth work. Following the publication of her best-selling book, Birthing From Within, Pam created a profound movement in multi-sensory, holistic, and mindful childbirth preparation and developed the concept of childbirth mentoring (versus teaching). What you'll hear in this episode: The message "I'll never lie to another pregnant woman again." Stories we believe before birth Children recalling their birth Hypnobirthing The judgment of your birth story The surprise The seven gates Trauma comes from self-judgment Free birth story sessions available through Oct. 31, 2020 Connect with Pam: birthstorymedicine.com [email protected] YouTube Facebook Instagram