​The /r/birthstories project has two main components: the creation of a "living" birth story library and the search for evidence of informal learning within the library. 

 

A Library of Labor

 

The purpose of this project was to create a library of birth stories that could be accessed publically at no cost. I chose the online forum, Reddit, because I felt the nature of its user involvement would be most conducive to my goal. Foremost, users would not need to register to view the stories posted, giving them total control of the amount of their involvement, an important component of informal learning. I had spent time seeking and participating in other pregnancy forums, but found that overall, /r/babybumps hosted the most supportive, unbiased, diverse, and mature community of users. As mentioned in the research section of this site, there is a lot of emotion involving birth stories, and I wanted to be sure that contributors could feel free to share their most personal moments and thoughts without the worry of judgment or disparaging language. Additionally, because Reddit is not a site limited to pregnancy and baby related information, contributing users often have a variety of interests of which often make themselves present within the /r/birthstories library, contributing to a more holistic experience. Finally, with the ability to receive and share comments regarding these stories, users have the opportunity to extend and continue their learning beyond sharing and reading. In this way, the library may remain forever active.

 

​Before creating the library, I wanted to be sure that I would not be competing with any subreddit that already existed. Because subreddits may be created by any user at anytime, there is no official catalogue or index. I used a number of tools within and outside of Reddit to search for birth story subreddits and was unable to find anything. Each subreddit has one or more moderators, usually consisting of the creator of the subreddit along with a number of people to help monitor activity, make changes, or intervene as necessary. I messaged the moderators of /r/babybumps to inquire if they were aware of any subreddits dedicated to birth stories and if they felt there was a need for such a subreddit. Their response showed that the subreddit had not yet been created and their support for my project. 

 

Initially creating the /r/birthstories subreddit was a one-step process in which I needed to define around 10 items in its design, such as its title, description, and a few other specifications. Since the handle "birthstories" did not yet exist, I was able to have a live subreddit within minutes. I spent some time to design a banner as well, which involved me learning a bit of CSS coding. Because I have little to no experience with this process, I used other forums in Reddit to get support and guidance. 

 

In order for /r/birthstories to function fluidly and meet the goals of my project, I needed to clarify a few things on the sidebar. (The sidebar gives users information on the purpose and rules of the subreddit.) The /r/birthstories sidebar information is as follows:

 

PLEASE FOLLOW TITLE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES TO ENSURE EASIER SEARCHING

This subreddit is intended to act as a library of birth stories, serving mothers-to-be and beyond. Please share your birth story (recent or in the past). Mothers, partners, grandparents, doctors, midwives, doulas, siblings, and any others who were present during childbirth are encouraged to share their tales. Feel free to write informally, technically, or artistically. Stories can be positive, less-than-positive, graphic, modest, and have both happy or sad endings. Thank you for sharing! This subreddit is to act as a community of inspiration, documentation, and education. Please keep comments constructive!

 

​In addition to my objectives, it indicates the desired atmosphere I am seeking for this community. As a moderator I have the choice to allow text posts, link posts, or both. Because I want the content of this subreddit to be stories only, I have chosen to only allow text posts. When a user submits a post, they are met with few guidelines for submission. The guidelines for posting in /r/birthstories are as follows:

 

Please be sure that this is an account of your own childbirth, one that you witnessed, or one that was told to you via someone who is unable to submit on their own.

 

GUIDELINES FOR TITLES

Titles can be anything, but please begin them with one or more of the following tags, if applicable:

 

 

First-time Birth

Home-Birth/Birth Center

C-Section

Less-than-positive

High-Risk

Hospital

Unmedicated

Induction

Emergency

Sad

Outside Perspective

Graphic

Modest

Complicated

 

Examples:

[NATURAL/LESS-THAN-POSITIVE] My med-free birth story and why I would never do it again!

 

[OUTSIDE PERSPECTIVE/BIRTH CENTER] A Doula's account of a textbook labor and delivery!

 

​By adding key words in the titles, users can then search just those words within /r/birthstories to obtain a list of only the specific stories they wish to read. This allows users to have more control of their experience. During the course of this project I have chosen to change the language used to categorize these stories. I have eliminated "negative" "positive" and "natural" as I feel that these words place value judgment on the experiences, which conflicts with my goal of creating an unbiased learning environment. I also have added a few categories as I noticed trends among certain experiences. 

 

In order to create the library, I had to collect stories, going about "advertisement" in a number of ways. First, I used my personal social media accounts to announce the subreddit to my friends and family. I petitioned to those I knew who had children to please take a moment and share or create a birth story to contribute to the forum. I knew that my largest source of potential contributors would be within the Reddit community, so I began to introduce the /r/birthstories to the other subreddits on the website. I did not want to be seen as a nuisance or marked as SPAM, so before I could do that, I thought it best to first touch base with the moderators of those subreddits. I explained the purpose of my project and requested permission to post about it. I received only positive responses from most of the moderators I propositioned. These included /r/babybumps, /r/parenting, /r/beyondthebump, /r/mommit, /r/daddit, /r/midwives, /r/parentsofmultiples, and /r/breastfeeding. I chose these based on my assumption that the majority of the subscribers and users of these subreddits either had children or work in a field where children are born, and therefore are in a position to provide a birth story. Again, I received positive feedback, suggestions, and deeper inquiry regarding my project.  I encouraged them to write new stories (regardless of how much time has passed), post stories that they may have already written, and to pass this request along to their spouses or birth workers in the hopes that someone may provide multiple perspectives of the same birth story. 

 

The design and methods used in creation of /r/birthstories was geared to create a welcoming, tolerant, diverse, and efficient venue for informal learning. In less than two months of the creation of the subreddit, /r/birthstories has accumulated over 75 stories and 300 subscribers worldwide.

 

A Gestation Investigation

 

In order to determine Reddit's functionality and efficacy as a site of informal learning for expectant mothers, I chose to conduct a pair of surveys, pre and post birth. I made a post on /r/babybumps--the subreddit with the most concentrated number of expecting mothers--requesting volunteers. I specified that the volunteers should be women who expect to have their baby within the next five weeks. 

 

The surveys were created using Google Drive. This platform allowed me to have an account based around a unique email address: redditbirthstories@gmail.com. I developed the surveys with ease and included short answer, long answer, multiple choice, yes/no, and checkbox questions. After the surveys were created I generated a link that would take participants to the survey immediately. The survey was one-page long and very intuitive with an aesthetically pleasing design. Users received a message of thanks with further instructions upon completion. As the participants completed surveys, all results were immediately exported in a spreadsheet that I could access through my Google Drive account. 

 

Volunteers were asked to take a brief survey immediately. This pre-survey asked them demographic questions about themselves and their pregnancy. It also inquired about their previous knowledge of the birthing process, how they intended to use the birth story library, and what they expected to learn from the experience. Upon completion of the survey I asked that they read any five stories from /r/birthstories and to message me a list of the stories they read. 

 

I also provided each volunteer with a post-survey. I instructed them to complete this survey after giving birth, acknowledging my understanding that it may take some time for them to complete it, given that they will be busy with recovery and caring for a newborn. This survey asked for similar demographic information as the pre-survey as well as objective and subjective information about how their birth went. It also inquired how they used the birth story library, what they initially learned, how the photographs in stories affected their experience, and what information they may have used during birth that was a result of reading the stories. At the conclusion of the survey I encouraged them to share their stories in the library.

 

Although I received many volunteers, I knew that it would be a challenge getting all of the participants to complete the post-survey. As you may learn from reading these stories, giving birth is an intense and unpredictable experience. Having and caring for a child is no less complicated. In an effort to keep track of participants and gently encourage their completion of the post-survey, I kept a list of all mothers and browsed their user history to see if they made mention of giving birth. If they had, I sent them a congratulatory message, thanking them for their participation, and suggested that they share their story whenever possible. This was an easy task to accomplish, as I had already developed a natural interest in their unique journeys after reading their pre and post surveys. 

 

The pre and post surveys were created with the purpose to gain some casual insight into how /r/birthstories functioned in terms of informal learning. 

 

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