A true midwife operates from a place of deep respect and reverence for life. She understands suffering and is therefore capable of magnanimous compassion. Such a midwife is able to stand in her strength yet be as flexible as a willow branch in the wind, in order to withold her projections and refrain from disturbing the process of labour and birth. A good midwife tends her spiritual garden and nurtures it, making sure she herself is nourished from the Divine Source.
When a midwife is afraid, her own fear will influence the progress of the labour and birth. To overcome her fear, a midwife needs to know herself on a primal level and understand the place from which her fear originates. She also needs to learn and know extensively the anatomy and physiology of labour and birth and continue learning throughout her lifetime. A good midwife will recognize each mother’s unique composition and allow her labour and birth to unfold in her own individual pattern. A good midwife spends her time waiting for babies and never tires of listening to the mother or loving her.
While a true midwife may love and bond with each baby born as if it was her own, she facilitates each mother and baby’s bonding and attachment style with loving assistance and acceptance. Labour and birth is not just about the business of being born, it is also about love, tremendous yielding and immense self discovery.
Ina May Gaskin has said in her book Spiritual Midwifery: “Great changes can be brought about with the passing of a few words between people or by the midwife’s touching in such a way that great physical changes happen. For this touch to carry the power that it must, the midwife must carry herself in a state of grace. She has to take spiritual vows just the same as a yogi or a monk or a nun takes inner vows that deal how they carry out every aspect of their life. A midwife must do this if she is to have a touch that has any potency. A person who lives by a code that is congruent with ‘life in compassion’ and truth, actually keys in to and agrees with the millions-of-years-old biological process of childbirth”.
A spiritual midwife observes where there is a lack and acknowledges the responsibility she has to Great Spirit to fill the lack, impart the knowledge and share her skill. A spiritual midwife is skilled and practical and this coupled with a recognition of the divine source of all life gives her the tools to meet the needs of pregnant women, unborn babies, fathers to be and the expectant community.
Our world desperately needs midwives at this time who are filled with courage, are unafraid to take a stand against both the desecration of biological birth and the lack of midwifery services in areas of need. Our world needs midwives who are willing to protect spiritual birth.
thank you for sharing, your words were inspiring and well conveyed.
I’m 22 years old and was assisted into this expirience (life) by a midwife in Flagstaff in 1993. I wish I could meet her just to show her how her projection love and knowledge has come full circle and helped me discover new things about my very own spiritual path… My mon says she remembers it being a beautiful experience. I am very spiritual now and find it exhilarating to know I was introduced to the Earth in a natural and spiritual way
Beautiful! This applies to life and symbolically to growth–how we birth our true selves throughout life. Thank you!
Marianne, you write so beautifully and sound a kindred spirit. The world needs more midwives like you! I’ve shared this on Twitter and my FB page Syntonic Birth.
And as your philosophy states, a woman does indeed deserve “the right to choose her companions as well as where and how she will give birth to her child”. Sadly, here in London, the NHS guarantees me strangers at my planned home birth, if any at all. Being 6 months pregnant with my 2nd son and having enjoyed a wonderful birth with an independent midwife for my first that set me on the path of birth work, I’ve not quite decided yet whether to search for an independent midwife or doula or hold out hope for NHS community midwives who are on our wavelength. My prayer is that I am attended by someone as sensitive as you when the time comes, whether I have met them before or not. Keep up the good work!
What do you do when you are both spiritual birth Mom and a spiritual midwife – birthing someone into something? Tell me more about keeping the ‘interventions’ minimal toward the pregnant client. there are times they don’t want it.
Dear Claire
Sometimes, as you point out, mothers desire interventions and they are entitled to demand and/or allow these interventions to take place, such as drugs for pain relief or surgery. It is our task to support mothers on ‘their’ journey, even if we believe it is not always the best course of action. Every mother wends her own path and deserves our love and support no matter what. Having said this, I do hold that preparation for an intervention free labour and birth is of utmost importance and good preparation before birth can usually offset the need for intervention.
As spiritual birth Moms, we go through such pain and tears. What do you do when your ‘baby’ has rejected your nurturing and spits out the breast?
Dear Claire
There are many reasons why a baby may reject the breast and it can cause anguish for the mother concerned. A good breastfeeding counsellor can help, and a few tricks up the mothers sleeve, such as putting the baby to the breast when he is still sleepy and before he wakes up fully. I would have to know more personal history to counsel about this issue online. Kind regards Marianne
Can you translate this into a spiritual parallel for me? I am a spiritual midwife!
Well written. I hope that many people read this.
.. the description @ the start of the article describes betsy perfectly.
you inspire me more every time we work alongside each other.
Just lovely