How your mother’s emotions during pregnancy shaped your worldview.
What if the way you start & finish things isn’t just a habit?
Do you struggle to follow through with projects? Do you do anything you can to avoid change? Or conversely do you leap into it chaotically? Feel a deep sense of unworthiness, even when life looks good on paper?
You’re not alone, and it may not be ‘just the way you are.’ These patterns often trace back to your earliest experience of life: your time in the womb and your birth.
This is the concept of birth energy, the energetic imprints formed before you ever took your first breath.
This month I’m sharing some insight and ideas on how your birth story can shape your subconscious beliefs about your value and sense of worthiness I’ll also look at the impact it can have on how you approach new beginnings and transitions as well as your ability to complete things, from goals to relationships
Being able to understand and heal this layer can create deep transformation, not just for you, but for future generations too.
What is birth energy?
Birth energy refers to the emotional, physical, and energetic environment that surrounds you in the womb and during birth. These experiences become your first blueprint for how you relate to the world, and to yourself.
While physical health during pregnancy is widely discussed, the emotional and energetic landscape of the mother and environment is often overlooked. Yet this energetic environment deeply imprints your subconscious programming.
“You absorb your mother’s stress, joy, relationships, fears, and love, all before you’re born. This forms the foundation of how you view yourself and navigate life.”
Self-worth and the womb: the first mirror
The way your mother felt during pregnancy can significantly shape your sense of inherent worth.
What does that mean?
For example, if your mother was excited, supported, and emotionally connected during pregnancy, you may feel a subconscious sense of being wanted and valued. This doesn’t mean it was purposeful or intentionally done by your mother, it can happen - the subconscious is so powerful.
Conversely if your pregnancy was a surprise, unwanted, or met with fear or rejection, you may carry subconscious beliefs like ‘I’m too much’ or ‘I wasn’t meant to be here.’
These beliefs can show up later in lots of different ways - perhaps you become people-pleasing and overachieving, or maybe you struggle with chronic self-doubt, or perhaps struggle with receiving love or abundance.
Of course this isn’t about blame, it’s about awareness. Most people don’t even know these things are happening. But when we understand these roots, we can rewire them.
Have you ever taken the time to explore your own birth story? Or spoken to your mother about how felt while pregnant, what was going on in the family at the time, and how you were birthed. Journaling can unlock powerful insights.
How your birth type affects change & completion
Your birth type (the kind of birth you had; natural, induced, emergency C-section, etc.) can subtly (or in some cases not so subtly) shape your relationship with starting and finishing.
Do you find yourself believing that you need to rush through life, or that things happen to you quickly and suddenly? This is often the feeling of someone who was birthed via c-section or induction. Those who have had a long labour or perhaps were birthed under traumatic circumstances may resist new beginnings or feel frozen by transitions - the subconscious beliefs might feel like ‘change is painful’ or ‘nothing comes easy to me’. However those who have had a quick or calm birth experience may feel ease with change, and naturally complete cycles.
These aren’t rules, they’re energetic patterns. And the good news is they can all be healed and rewritten. Nothing is permanent, nothing is forever.
Generational trauma and the first core wound
Birth energy is the first core wound in the cycle of generational trauma. It sets the tone for:
The level of safety you feel in your body
Your attachment styles
How you emotionally regulate under stress
Without addressing this foundational imprint, other healing work may feel like temporary fixes.
A real life experience: the money wound that started in the womb
One client came to me overwhelmed by financial anxiety. Despite being financially secure, she lived in a constant state of panic about bills and scarcity.
When we explored her birth energy, she discovered that during her mother’s pregnancy, her father lost his job. Her mother was stressed, fearful, and constantly worrying about money. That energy was passed on.
We used trauma-informed coaching and breathwork to release the energetic imprint. Within weeks, she felt calm, grounded, and stopped operating from fear around money.
That’s the power of addressing the root cause, not just the symptoms.
Healing birth energy: where to begin
Healing doesn’t require you to remember your birth. Your body remembers even if your mind doesn’t.
Simple things can take you closer to where you want to be; journaling, breathwork and practicing intentional parenting.
Focusing on activities that highlight your birth energetic impact, releasing stuck energy, opening your nervous system and formulating new energetic patterns. Working on emotional regulation, defining and setting supportive boundaries and curating a calm environment for you and your family.
You can rewire your foundation
The beauty of this work is that healing is possible, at any stage of life. By acknowledging the energy you were born into, you can begin to rebuild your self-worth. You will find yourself approaching change from a place of calm, and with clarity - you may also find that you follow through with ease, not pressure or feeling like you’re fighting against things all the time.
And if you're pregnant or are planning to be, you have the power to consciously shape the energetic blueprint of the next generation. What an amazing gift, and what an opportunity to harness all the best intentions for your child as early as possible.
You were born into energy, but you don’t have to stay there. You can change the story. And when you do, everyone after you gets a new story too.
If you're interested you can read more about my Elevate (deep-dive into healing generational trauma, starting with your birth energy) and Exhale (supportive space for expectant mothers to nurture their emotional and energetic wellbeing and consciously creating birth imprints) programs here.