Beyond Fear: Reclaiming the Sacred Power of Birth, Death and Intuition
Birth and death are both experiences beyond our human consciousness. They are sacred and precious rites of passage.
There seems to be an invocation of fear surrounding birth and death, perhaps because these events are considered painful and because of the lack of control we have over them. It is our souls that decide our birthday and our death day. So, can we let it be? Can we trust life?
The death of a loved one is devastating, and we are often left questioning whether there was something we could have done to save them. We do the best we can to nurture life, but ultimately, each soul decides when to leave.
During my pregnancy with James, I felt strongly that birthing at home was the right choice for me. It was where I felt safest. I had plenty of voices of fear around me (including James' father, who protested against my wishes), trying to persuade me otherwise and I've heard countless stories of other women who have experienced similar fearmongering and the feeling of being coerced into decisions that weren’t aligned with their intuition.
I know of women who have sensed that “something wasn’t right” and asked for medical assistance, only to be dismissed, ending up nearly losing both their own life and their babies. I also know of women who have been coerced into having a C-section without valid reason.
This begs the question: Why aren’t we trusting women to know what’s best for them? Why must we surrender our power to “others” who claim to “know what’s best for us”? When we give our power away, we lose trust in ourselves and in our innate intuition.
I wanted an older, experienced woman to attend my birth and began searching for a midwife. Sadly, there were not many practicing midwives around—only those in small settlements deep in the forest. At last, we met Dona Concha (see photo), a tiny, eighty-two-year-old woman who had birthed twelve of her own children at home and helped countless other women give birth.
A week after we met her, the waves of intensity that signaled the imminence of birth began—one month earlier than we expected. James' father brought Dona Concha to the house on the back of his motorbike, and within minutes, I was pushing my baby’s head out with a primal roar. We didn’t even have time to blow up the paddling pool I had wanted to birth in.
Every woman has the authority to make the right decision for herself, especially when it comes to her own body and her own baby. Every woman deserves to feel safe and supported, wherever she chooses to give birth. What’s essential is that women know their options and are trusted to make decisions for themselves.
Birth and Death are topics which are important to me and I think it’s important that we share our stories and experiences so that we can heal together and change the narrative to one of love and trust instead of fear.
If you would like to share your stories of birth and death in a safe space and begin to process your grief or if you are a pregnant woman ready to feel empowered in birth book a FREE discovery call here to feel if coaching is right for you.
If you are a Bereaved Mother who has lost a child in utero, birth, infancy or child-hood you are welcome to join us in our Women’s Circles
