How To Honour the Momma Who’s About To Give Birth
My friend, Kate Varsava, Halifax Birthworker, Wombyn’s Summit Leader and Musician prepares for her own birth in the company of her beloved friends, yogis and fellow birthworkers. I was so inspired by her tale of being honoured with care, love and beauty that I asked to share her Instagram post with you.
“Yesterday my house filled up. Yesterday I was filled up.
From my bath, filled with warm water, rose petals, and lavender oil, where I was receiving a massage from the loving maiden hands of my sweet friend‘s daughter, I could hear the joyful chatter of wimyn gathering and organizing themselves. I was adorned with a gorgeous fresh flower crown made by my sister, had my hair fixed up, put on my precious jewels…when I emerged from my room, drawn by singing voices, I found my kitchen full of food, my living room full of flowers and ladies (and baby daddy), and my whole house full of beautiful, buzzing, nurturing energy, beaming faces, radiant beings.
I was passed a cup of Guatemalan cacao, sat on a thrown, and treated like a queen. Tender recollections of how we each met, supportive expressions of a belief in me to enter the role of mother, a showering of love to wash me in confidence and fill my heart beyond measure. A feast of the most nourishing foods, a dance party, gifts of herbs and plants and salves, potions, candles, and sacred objects…it was the most dreamy day I could have imagined.
I feel like the luckiest womyn in the world to have community to hold me so, to have a coven sister to organize everyone (I love you so much marapanacci), to now have a freezer full of meals for my postpartum, fresh flowers in every room, art to decorate my birth room, and a heart so full full full ?? Thank you, thank you, thank you to all you gorgeous wimyn and all you ladies sans IG ??
I truly believe that if all wimyn were treated this way by loving community: held up, made to feel strong, cared for, and trusted through their pregnancies and motherhood (our whole lives actually), the world would change, humanity would change, we would all be better off, healthier, and happier.”