title: Birth stories: a way of knowing in childbirth education.
abstract: Birth stories have a lasting impact on expectant mothers. The purpose of this paper is to recognize the influence of birth stories as a key component of informal communication of knowledge about childbirth for expectant mothers. The review of literature and research is related to childbirth education, anthropological thinking, and applied learning theory with foundational concepts from Vygotsky, Bruner, and Bandura. Implications for childbirth educators are included.
authors.affiliation: J ane S taton S avage is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing in the School of Nursing at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. She is also an independent, practicing childbirth educator.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Savage