by Lucy Corkhill
My Heart Flies
My heart is so joyous,
My heart flies in singing.
Under the trees of the forest,
The forest, our home, our mother.
In my net I have caught
A little bird,
A very little bird,
And my heart is caught
In the net with the little bird.
Pregnancy song of the Efe peoples
Cast your mind back through time, to a place in history when the Great Mother was revered and honored in rituals and ceremonies. A time when as a pregnant woman, you would be the focus of joyful celebration and deep respect. You would spend your pregnancy intuitively listening and communicating with the new life growing inside you. Your community would surround you with love and protection and help you celebrate your journey. You would have midwives attending your needs and your mother, grandmothers, aunts and sisters would be there to teach you all you needed to know. Your birth would be rejoiced in as a transition for you and your partner into parenthood and your baby’s auspicious day, and there would be feasts, rituals and ceremonies in all of your honor.
This may sound like an idealized notion of pregnancy and birth, but it is the way in which our ancestors lived through this very magical time in their lives. Many cultures still have elaborate and joyful celebrations to mark their experiences. It is really only in the Western world that we have lost touch with the sacred in our preparations for birth. We have become used to connecting with our unborn child through a fuzzy picture on a sonograph and not through ritual, meditation and ceremony. Nature has created a mind-blowingly complex and perfect process that has worked successfully for millennia. It is only in the last century that we began tampering with such an unquestionably wondrous design, using machines which further distance us from innate knowledge. Technology is a marvelous thing and has saved many lives, but it has also served to remove us from our own deep knowledge. We are far more likely to trust what some colored lights are doing on a screen than listen quietly for the messages from our own body.
Pregnancy is a time to relearn your body and to have faith and love in all its miracles. Many women report heightened senses as their child grows inside them, and the development of what is sometimes called a ‘sixth sense’. Unfortunately we do not currently live in a society which celebrates or even recognizes this deepening spiritual awareness. Yet a pregnant or birthing woman who doesn’t get the opportunity to access her spiritual realm can feel robbed or as if something unidentifiable is missing from her experiences. The rise in post-natal depression has been linked to birthing in sterile hospital environments utilizing invasive procedures which result in the mother feeling victimized or out of control. If a woman has the opportunity to connect with her spiritual essence throughout her pregnancy and before her birth, there is every likelihood that she will feel stronger, wiser and able to make choices that empower her and her baby.
Primal Mother
Your primal self needs recognition and release, she is a vital part of your birth experience, as she is the part of you who knows instinctively how to give birth. Watching a storm can be a liberating experience, especially if you take the opportunity to run outside and do a rain dance, throw back your head and let out a few roars and howls. We can be very inhibited by the sound of our animal voice but it is a very potent and powerful part of our primal self. Getting used to releasing in this way will free you up during your labor when you can really let rip! Belly-dancing is a great way to get in touch with your body and helps prepare the pelvis and abdominal muscles for birth. It was traditionally known as la danse du ventre or womb dancing as its undulations and squatting simulate labor and birth.
Welcoming Your Baby
In Indonesia, the child in the womb is thought to be a mystic meditating in a cave, strengthening herself spiritually for her emergence into the world. A newborn baby is an old, wise soul who deserves to be treated with the same reverence and respect as an elderly traveler who has completed a long and arduous journey. Welcoming your baby into the world with gentleness and kindness lets him know instantly that he has reached his destination safely and is with those who love him.
Creating a birth space that is right for you both is tantamount to a birth that affirms your spirituality. Think of an animal that you respect and think has an easy birth and look where they choose to undertake this very private ritual. Humans are the only mammals who make a nest and then leave it to give birth. Think very carefully about what you want from your birth, and what ceremony or ritual might be appropriate for you to celebrate your achievements. Rigid birth plans are very limiting, as birth by its very nature, is transient and changeable. Consider all eventualities and visualize yourself giving birth happily in different situations – that way, if there are any unexpected changes, you are prepared and have inner spiritual strength.
Connecting with your spiritual nature in pregnancy and birth is about having the most profound and beautiful experience and celebrating every moment of it. You are a mother – the guardian of life and part of the magical regeneration that sustains all humanity.
An extract from issue 22 of The Green Parent magazine; a bi-monthly dose of ideas and inspiration for natural parents! Find out more at www.thegreenparent.co.uk