In the West, a broken teapot or sculpture will be thrown away or repaired with invisible glue to conceal the cracks and make it look like new. But the Japanese view once-broken pottery—after the pieces are fused with gold—as even more beautiful and valuable than the original piece. No two ceramics break in the same way, so the lines and patterns of every repair is one of a kind.

The same holds true for birth stories. No two people—even when they are in the same birth room—experience or are cracked open by a birth the same way. Like a treasured ceramic unexpectedly dropped and shattered at your feet, unforeseen events in birth can suddenly shatter expectations, beliefs, dreams, confidence, and even relationships. Our first task is to gather up the scattered pieces and discover that what initially us can become a source of compassion.

Who the Kintsugi course is for:

Every birth-related professional--midwife, lactation consultant, therapist, social worker, chaplain, and life coach —who wants to learn about listening to birth stories that have cracked you open and the stories you are telling yourself.