Birth and Poetry with Doula Sarah Auna

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This week, I’m joined by Sarah Auna, a birth doula whose story we first heard live on stage at Intersections, a live storytelling event produced by the Center for the Art of Medicine in Minneapolis in 2024 through our program, The Nocturnists Satellites.In her story, she takes us into a freestanding birth center, where chaplain Katie labors surrounded by her family, her midwives, and the steady encouragement of Sarah’s hands. The story captures what happens when the human body—guided by trust, safety, and love—takes over. It’s a reflection on lineage, nervous system regulation, and the quiet holiness of birth.Below are a few moments that stayed with me. Please enjoy!Enjoy,Emily and The Nocturnists TeamFavorite moments from this week’s episodeThe Sphincter Law “Humans have lots of sphincters in their bodies. Their eyes, their mouths, their cervix—all talking to each other like a walkie-talkie system. When the room feels safe, they open. When the room feels tense, they close. So oxytocin isn’t just about labor—it’s about love, safety, and belonging.”Lioness at the Birth Throne “Her curls have fallen out—tumbles of brown and gray ringlets. There’s not a scrap of clothing in sight. She stalks up to the silks, runs them between her hands, gets as low as she can, and bites down. The midwives’ headlamps tilt toward the floor. Her husband’s arms hold her like scaffolding. And then Jasper is there—all ten pounds of him.”A Birth that Healed a Family “Down the hill, Katie’s mother—an L&D charge nurse—is waiting, along with her two sisters, also charge nurses. Birth, for them, has always been a story of emergencies. But when Katie gave birth outside the hospital walls, their family’s story changed. It became one of joy.”Lioness Returns “Two years later, after a divorce and a pandemic, I walked into a bar for what I thought was a business meeting. I met Rachel—a musician, a single mom, a late-in-life bloomer like me. She told me she’d written a song called ‘Lioness.’ I laughed. That word had carried me through everything. And