Trust and respect and all that jazz…

Well now, let’s see, where does this fit in with birthing a baby. Well I would say that it is an integral part of the process but sadly very little of it is going around nowdays.

Seldom do we hear good, positive birthing stories about how everyone involved in the birthing process worked as a team and each brought their own personal gifts to the event.

Who would need to bring trust? Everyone! starting with the mother-to-be herself. She would need to trust her body and her baby and ultimately those in her sacred birthing space. The midwife, Doctor, Doula or partner need to be trusting that this wonderous event will unfold, as nature intended it to, ever mindful that a new life is about to be breathed into this plane. Who are we to interrupt and co-ordinate this event.

Trust is a deep thing, you can’t just hand it over to someone who walks in through the door. It is built on a foundation. It will take time and energy and maybe even some good will. It seems that fewer and fewer people want to take the time to build a relationship on trust. We want it all and we want it now! But this is just not going to work in birth or in life.

Ahh respect. I suppose respect can mean different things to different people, but fundamentally we’ve lost its true meaning. It’s enought o just watch human interactions on our busy, taxi-infested roads to realise that all respect went out the window a long time ago. It’s all about us and what we can get and the rest can just go bungy if they don’t like it. Bringing it back to birth - how does one bring respect to the birthing process? Well this is a sacred rite of passage for mother and father. As the child is born so is a mother and father. There is no return. The maiden is no longer and the mother is here forever. Powerful stuff this but do we, in our highly medicalised world, stop to think a minute that we are being witness to a life transition that other cultures would treat with respect and reverence. Says a lot about us doesn’t it. We’ve become accustomed to seeing only the outer layer, the top most, where things just are. Life is like an onion (or an ogre;-)) and the juicy, tender bits are covered and kept secret and safe inside. Why not surprise yourself today and discover what lies deep inside you or someone else?