12/05/2025
December 5-11th is the first ever Neurodivergent Birth Awareness Week. Started by Victoria White, a mother and Doula in Scotland who wanted something better for her daughter if/when she chose to give birth one day.
This is my signed copy of her book, “Why Neurodivergent Birth Matters”. It is a little beat up (well-loved) because it has been in my bag and on my nightstand every day for the last several months. I ordered it as a way to help other birthing people, and what I found in the pages was a portrait of my own birth experience. Explanations for why things were so difficult for me during labor, so difficult as a mother (especially in the early days), some reasons why the birth process had been so traumatic for me, and all the things that could have been different. This book is the first related source I have found that truly speaks to the struggles of neurodivergent people as they try to navigate the experience of starting a family with few tools and even less awareness from their providers. Birth is an experience that we will remember for the rest of our lives, and deeply shapes how we see ourselves as people, parents, and partners. The work of helping everyone giving birth to feel seen, respected, safe, and cared for is some of the most necessary work a society can do.
I began birth work as a way to guide and empower others to have deeper, more empowering birth experiences. Providing individualized support for neurodivergent folks is one of my next steps.
So, this week I hold neurodivergent birthing people and my own birth story in my heart. We all deserve individualized, respectful, and emotionally safe birth experiences. We can do better.
