Who have you chosen to be in your Birth Field?

 I recently quiried one of my former prenatal yoga students why she chose me to be at the birth of her son. This is her reply:  
“You have strong, direct energy and you accept whatever the situation is (and could help make decisions if needed) and overall I felt like if you were present I would feel more confident in myself. You reflect that small, small place inside me that knows I would be ok….the rest is filled with bull shit and fear, but I do have a little knowing…..
Thank you for letting  Love be your guide.”

Another mama wrote:  “I chose you to be at my daughter’s birth because I felt you had a clear vision of birth, and in the event that anything should arise that I would trust you to guide me in a way that was right for myself and the baby.”

 The silent  contract that I was anchored in but did not speak about to either of these mamas was,  “I agree to be at your birth, as long as you anchor in your body’s knowing.”    Both of these mamas (First birth), gave birth to healthy babies in less than 12 hours, no medication, except the biochemical soup produced in their own birthing bodies!  What was most amazing for me was to witness the sweet joy of release and strong sense of accomplishment that followed the birth of their babies.

 In the past decade that I’ve been teaching three students have asked me to be present at their births.  I do not advertise myself as a doula or birth attendant.  I see my primary role as a pre-natal yoga teacher who reflects to her students what she is capable of being during the birth of her child.  Inherent Birth Wisdom is our birth-rite as women.

The birth mama does consciously (or unconsciously) make choices in who she allows into the Birth Field.    In her book:   Primal Mothering,  Hygeia Halfmoon tells the story of her 3 births.  She illustrates beautifully how what was held in her unconscious played itself out in her first and second birth experiences.   Instead of falling into despair, she took the path of deep contemplation and forgiveness.  Her third birth was experienced in her home on Maui, ocean waves crashing as a backdrop, her first two children present as assistants.   

I do not agree with these words,  “good birth, bad birth.”  I feel each birth that a woman experiences is an opportunity to expand into the fullness and glory of her Being as a Woman.   How she chooses or even if she chooses the path of contemplation and self-examination is indeed her choice.   The question I ask of myself as I guide the beautiful mamas who share of themselves in my yoga classes is this:   How would love choose?