Birth is a Rite of Passage

When a child is born, there are two births.

The birth of the child and the birth of the mother.

~ Laura Ramirez

A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform.

Throughout pregnancy, a woman experiences profound change: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. These changes occur in a pregnant woman’s body, brain, hormones, and her heart.

Spiritually, birth is often described as a portal, in the time and space in which a woman is birthing her baby at the same time as she is giving birth to herself. This is a profoundly transformational experience in which a woman becomes a mother, and her life is never again the same after birth as it was before, the fourth trimester acknowledges the first 3 to 4 months following birth as a time of transition and learning, considered by many cultures to shape not just the baby, but the mother, family, and the entire community.

Communities the world over have created ways of honouring and celebrating womanhood, pregnancy, birth, and the newborn through physical, social, and spiritual rituals and ceremonies as a sacred rite of passage in which there is a monumental milestone, shift or change in one’s life.

When we recognise that birth is a rite of passage, then how you choose to treat your self, your body, your pregnancy, the birth your baby, and care for your newborn helps establish the foundation not just for their life but for yours too, as a mother.

Giving birth today is a highly medicalised experience for many women; rates of intervention have been rapidly rising in the 16 years since I first started teaching prenatal yoga, here in Western Australia we have one of the highest caesarean birth rates in the world. It’s not uncommon for new mothers to experience the "baby blues", in addition to obstetric violence and birth trauma, new mothers are at risk now more than ever before for more severe postpartum depression. Rather than burying your head in the sand or entrusting your birth to someone else, your birth is an opportunity to truly step into your power as a woman! Birth is beautiful.

One of the ways in which I am determined to inspire is through mindset and guiding women towards the intrinsic wisdom and trust that is already present from within. There are a myriad of ways in which yoga and birth are interconnected - and I only fully understood this myself during my first birth...17 years ago. It’s why I chose to study yoga - so that I could provide a space for women to learn, feel and connect through their pregnancy.

I have designed my pregnancy yoga classes are designed to support women through continuity of care, offer prenatal yoga as a series of classes to provide ongoing support through yoga asana, meditation and visualisation practices while at the same time creating a community of connected women in the lead up to their birth. As well as integrating birth education throughout each pregnancy yoga series, I teach techniques for building the resilience required not just for birth but for the transition into mothering! Bloom pregnancy yoga classes educate women on their unique female anatomy and how it is perfectly designed for birth.

Together we explore ALL the changes of pregnancy and birth - from the physical to the spiritual.

Birth work is not only special, like birth itself, it is sacred. I have been incredibly honoured to hold space for thousands of pregnant women and mothers in my work as yoga teacher, a birth educator and teacher trainer.

I truly believe that birth matters, it is a primal imprint that we carry with us throughout this one precious life.

Sara