Many cultures have created rituals to celebrate a woman's passage into motherhood. The Blessingway originally comes from the Navajo tradition. Women in today's culture have adapted this ceremony, drawing on the traditions of many cultures. When creating the ceremony, it is important to incorporate rituals and traditions that reflect the mother's belief system. The focus is to generate power for the mother's journey into childbirth.

The Blessingway addresses the specific needs of the mother psychologically, spiritually, and even physically. She is recognized as a vessel for new life. Her community acknowledges her sacred function. She is cared for symbolically through a period of pampering during the ceremony in recognition of the care that she has been giving her unborn child. If gifts are given, they are symbolic gifts that are meant to remind the mother of her strengths and the qualities she will need in birth and as a mother.

The Blessingway ceremony may be a healing ritual. It can include intentional elements that help the mother to heal any blocks that may be keeping her from experiencing pregnancy and birth as a positive experience. The ceremony can offer a powerful opportunity to re-frame any previous birth experiences or abuse that may have been traumatic or difficult in some way. This healing may occur when other women celebrants share their birth stories and how they experienced them in a positive light.

Every woman who tells her powerful and transformative story enlightens the others of the possibilities of having a beautiful birth. The feeling of being loved and nurtured during such a powerful, yet vulnerable, time as childbirth has a deeper impact on the mother's evaluation of the birth experience than the specific events within the birth itself. She can look back on it, no matter how challenging it was, and know that people cared about her and her baby. This knowledge has a great deal to offer in healing any wounds, physical or psychological, that may have occurred during the birth process.

Through a Blessingway ceremony, a mother's sacred birthing community truly ministers to her. All who are involved have the opportunity to acknowledge the interconnectedness that fosters compassion and the desire to celebrate her journey towards birth.

Reid Byrne, MA, CMT, CD(DONA), CH: Reid is a certified doula, massage therapist, hypnotherapist, and Reiki Master/Teacher who helps families in their journey towards birth and wellness.