A Poetic Inquiry of Traumatic Birth Through Bearing Witness

Abstract

In collaboration between a researcher and poet, we have used poetry inquiry to create a collection of found poems from open-ended survey data. Found poems were created using the written responses from the Australian Birth Experience Study survey and the poems highlighted women’s experiences of traumatic birth. Analysis was undertaken through reflexive poetry from the poet and through reflection by the researcher. The poems display themes of lack of control and consent. These poems illuminate the voices of the women who shared their traumatic birthing stories to gain understanding and raise awareness in the community on aspects of birth trauma.