Talk about 'singing your baby down". This is beautiful!!!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Blessing the Way
A Mother Blessing is a wonderful alternative to a traditional baby shower. A Native American custom, blessingways centre around celebrating the pregnant woman and her upcoming rite of passage into motherhood. Each guest, because of her special relationship with the mother-to-be, is asked to bring a written blessing or thoughts about the upcoming birth, which will later be placed in a journal as a keepsake.
As the blessings are read, each guest places a bead on a necklace to represent the blessing. This necklace is then given to the mother as a visual tool to be worn or kept nearby while she is in labour - reminding her of all the positive wishes for her birth.
The mother blessing is usually facilitated by the doula who gathers the group in a circle. The mother's feet are soaked in a beautiful flower-laden tub of water to symbolize both the journey she is about to embark upon, and the fact that she is soon going to stand on new feet in her role a mother. She is crowned with a wreath of flowers so that she stands out as the most important woman in the room.
Once the blessings have all been read, the ceremony is closed by giving each guest some keepsakes that they be invited to call upon once the mother goes into labour. Knowing that there are many women thinking about her and sending positive thoughts her way can give great strength to her during her labour.
Everyone then gathers for refreshments and the mother opens her gifts. These gifts should be pampering gifts just for the mom to enjoy in the last days of her pregnancy and the first few weeks after the baby has been born.
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