Birth Spirituality
Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the
hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's
home and greeted
Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her
womb,
and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
In a loud voice
she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child
you will
bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord
should come to me? As soon as the
sound of your greeting reached my
ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who
has
believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"
Luke
1:39-45
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This
passage from the Bible inspires me as
I encounter childbearing women
and their babies in my daily life. I strive to recognise Christ in each
person I meet, born or unborn, and to leap for joy when I see Him.
I’m
not going to force this down anyone’s throat, or necessarily even
mention it, but it does underlie the way I view childbearing. Birth is
not just reproduction, a physical event, but the appearance of a new
child of God. Each person is a mini-Incarnation, an intricate tapestry
of body and soul. Babies deserve to be brought into the world in a way
befitting that fact.
At
the first birth I attended as a doula, the baby (my niece) almost died.
The situation could have arisen equally at home or in hospital, but
this was a home birth in Russia.
The midwife, the woman, her husband and I had been praying and chanting
constantly during labor, and the atmosphere was electrifying.
This is
what seemed to get us through when the little girl failed to take her
first breath for twenty minutes after birth. She was revived with the
help of mouth-to-mouth, warm oil and mustard packs, and is now a bright
and healthy little girl, against the medical odds.
What a painful,
inspiring experience! It taught me a healthy respect for the work of
childbearing, and brought home how women, who in labor are at both
their strongest and their weakest, deserve to be treated with the
admiration and mercy accorded to their task.
This
is what I undertake as a doula. The word means ‘slave’ – much like the
word ‘deacon’, meaning ‘servant’. The similar etymology of these terms
shows the vital spiritual importance of caring for childbearing women, despite
the lowliness of the actual tasks involved. It is a ministry, whether
that is explicit or not – and whether the people receiving the care are
of the same faith, a different faith, or none at all.
The Church has a
wonderful opportunity, currently completely unexplored, to meet people
as they discover their souls, perhaps for the first time, on the
journey to parenthood. I look forward walking with them on that road,
and helping the Church meet them there.
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| Godsib Birth Support celebrates its patronal festival, the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Elizabeth, on 31st May each year. |
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Sonnet for
Elizabeth
The
Resurrection
‘Welcome to
life and light and space and breath!’
Were our poised
words to you of celebration –
Then a
shocking, seeming aberration
That you,
so young, preceded us to death.
Your grey
passivity, a frosty field,
Was what
remained when spirit fled from flesh
But simple
hands and lips crushed hell afresh
And – one
shock more – the grave began to yield.
At last the
ones to welcome you were we,
Not those
below, whose words, ‘She is not here,
She’s
risen’, mark your victory over death,
The pioneer
your Saviour; as for me,
Within your
name another I shall hear:
Anastasija, dear Elizabeth.
* Anastasija means 'Resurrection'
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