Encore: Appreciating Rites of Passage, Releasing Fear, and Healing During Pregnancy

The wait is almost over, are you ready for the Fall2023 season of Happy Homebirth? Join me from your favorite podcast platform on September4 for our first brand new episode and mark your calendars for September 18, when my husband and I will be sitting down to tell all about our most recent birth experience.  It is completely unlike our previous experiences, and you don't want to miss it.   What the heck is a rite of passage… and why does this matter in regards to birth?    This week, we are speaking with Rachael Jean, a homebirth midwife and birth rite enthusiast.  In this episode we delve into the meaning of rites of passage, why they’re important, how to reclaim birth as a rite of passage, and… how to prepare for birth through healing.  Immediately I can tell you this will be an episode you’re going to want to save and listen to a couple of times.  I’m so excited for the wisdom that Rachael brought to this conversation.      Show Notes   Rachael Jean is a midwife practicing in Maine   She’s been working in ceremonial work, and feels that midwifery is her mission.   Rites of passage: a normal social and cultural event that brings societies together:  It brings honor and celebration.   birth, puberty, marriage, eldership, death   There is not a very strong entrance into adulthood in our current society   How do we begin to prepare ourselves for this rite of passage?   -It’s about healing: Birth was robbed from women with “twilight sleep” and midwives having to go underground   -Rachael’s main goal is to go back through childhood and heal generational traumas: relationship to mother, to father, to child, and wounding patterns related to the elements   -Rachael strongly feels that babies are master teachers— they come down and know exactly what lessons you need to learn   “Birth is the utmost of the feminine….”     The goal is to gain awareness and presence so that we can create space to make choices.   Women deserve to love their birth story, no matter what.    It’s about honoring the mother, the father and the child.  In presence, we get a chance to bring honor back to daily life.     Rachael’s recommendation: Unpack the baggage while you’re pregnant!   Episode Roundup: I promise I didn’t pay Rachael to talk about this— But the topic just keeps coming up, and I know it’s vitally important.  The concept that we can choose not to feel like victims of our birthing experiences.  We can ready ourselves for the balancing act of both birth preparation and feminine wildness, and we can positively claim our birth stories, no matter the specifics of how they unfold. I love the concept of honoring these rites of passage in order to more deeply appreciate the beauty in our day to day being. The element of presence in each moment— wow, it just adds such depth to every experience, both big and small. Finally… unpack your baggage.  I love the emphasis Rachael puts on finding a way that works for you to heal yourself in pregnancy.  You know, gestation is such a time of transformation already, adding this highly important work of healing only makes sense in such a time, and it seems to reason that our minds are already in a place of willingness to take on such a task.  As she mentioned, there are so many ways we can approach healing, so find what works for you.  Counseling, Rachael’s course, self-directed.  During my second pregnancy I found such great healing and fear release through reading the Psalms.  But whatever you choose, set the intention to heal those wounds and I know the results will overwhelm you.   elementalbirthrites.com Reclaiming pregnancy and birth as a rite of passage (facebook) elementalmidwifery.com Elemental Birthrites IG