Birth is a Rite of Passage

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

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

Pregnancy and birth are profoundly transformational experiences in which a woman becomes a mother, and her life is never again the same after birth as it was before. Birth has long been considered by many cultures to be a sacred rite of passage in which the power of the transformation shapes both the baby, 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 for healing.

When we recognise that birth is a rite of passage, then how you choose to treat your pregnancy, birth your baby, and care for your newborn helps establish the foundation for their life and for yours too, as a mother.