Mary Cooper: "Defuse the Fear"
MARY COOPER, SAGE MIDWIFE, JOINS NOVA THIS SPRING FOR NASHVILLE'S PREMIER MIDWIFERY CONFERENCE "B E A U T I FU L" .
Mary Cooper (L) and Tara Garner (R), founder of NOVA Birth Services, met and struck a friendship at a midwifery conference in 2011.
The excerpt below is about their initial meeting from Tara's article: "Two of My Births" published in Midwifery Today, issue 111, Autumn 2014.
"After a traumatic shoulder dystocia birth experience with Xavier, I struggled to accept or fully process my fear and trauma concerning having more children. Everyone who knew me knew that I had always desired a large family, yet his birth experience was enough to change all that for me. Fear can do that to people—really change them, paralyze them and keep them from tasting the life that exists past fear’s haunting gates.
Eleven months after Xavier’s birth, I attended a midwifery conference where I met veteran midwife Mary Cooper. During a session on shoulder dystocia, she asked me to stand up and share my experience with an entire room of birth workers. That day marked the beginning of my journey facing fear in the face and recognizing the trauma that was buried deep in my nervous system.
“Mary looked me in the eyes and thanked me for sharing my story. Then, with so much love, she said, “Tara, I believe you will give birth again. You have to keep sharing your story. Every time you share your story, it defuses the fear.””
Mary’s love and faith impacted me that day on a deep level. Her words and the safe forum she provided for me to tell my story before a room of listening ears liberated me, freeing me to start the healing process. In fact, I have now spoken the same exact life-giving words to many other mothers I have served in birth—mothers who, like me, needed to share their story in order to defuse fear and move forward."
We're honored to have Mary be a featured conference speaker and look forward to hearing her share on the following topics: Breech Birth Skills and VBAC & HBAC Support.