08/03/2022
Hell yes 🙌🏼
Rites of passage are defined as ceremony & rituals used to mark significant life changes.
Birth is recognised as a sacred rite of passage by many cultures all over the world. It is a time of profound transformation shaping the baby, mother, family and community.
The experience of pregnancy and birth holds great power to change women. Dramatic changes occur in a woman’s body, brain, hormones and heart.
Rites of passage allow us to approach a time of transition with conscious awareness and move forward into a new identity with clarity and understanding. How we choose to treat pregnancy, to birth our baby and to care for our newborn sets the foundation for their life ahead, and our new life as parents.
It’s so important we honour and recognise the significance of this miraculous life event for ourselves, and support other families through their journey.
Individually, we can honour this significant event by understanding and reflecting on what’s happening/happened, educating ourselves on the process and our options, noticing how we are changing, tuning in to how we are feeling and sharing our experiences.
As a community we can come together to support families by encouraging a broader dialogue around birth, holistically supporting families with integrative care models, promoting access to education and most importantly; by listening and honouring individual stories. To rejoice, to cry, to grieve and to celebrate.
If you haven’t already I HIGHLY recommend reading Rachel Reed’s book ‘Reclaiming Childbirth as a Rite of Passage’. Articulate, informative, transformative and healing. It should be essential reading for all!
Jess x
