The five steps may be used to describe the process of childbirth. The following is an explanation of the relationship between the five–step process as it applies to a pregnant woman and informs Birthing Intuition and Holistic Childbirth Preparation.
A first time pregnant woman faces unfamiliar territory. As she begins to explore the previously unknown terrain of pregnancy, she walks as the person she is while simultaneously becoming a mother. The nexus of this journey is through her transforming body and the awareness of a child growing inside of her.
During the second trimester, a woman often feels energized and excited. She is integrating being pregnant with her daily life and may focus on nutrition, exercise, body image, homeölife and career challenges. In terms of prenatal care, this is an opportunity for couples to evaluate their choices with regard to where and with whom they will birth. The energy of Preparation, as in the latent phase of labor (early labor), marks a beginning. At the beginning of labor, contractions may be present but a woman is usually able to speak through them and distract herself. She is aware and excited that the process has begun and begins to prepare for birth with an outward focus.
With the rounding of her belly, a woman is perceived as pregnant by others and becomes a magnet for attention. She may find herself hearing unsolicited advice and birth stories from strangers, family and friends. She may be reading numerous books and paying attention to societal images of pregnancy and childbirth. She may be wondering about her own experience of being born and the birthing stories of her women ancestors. In Purification, women identify their burdens and obstacles and explore ways to release them. At the same time, women recognize and invite that which supports and nourishes them.
In Purification, we study active labor. During active labor, contractions intensify and become more regular and predictable in strength and rhythm. There’s a purging of the digestive system, a woman might vomit or eliminate. This resonates with Purification–it is an opportunity to clear the body and psyche. As a woman moves deeper into labor, her attention is drawn more inward. She maintains her energy through adequate nourishment, breath and body movement. She will need lean into her birth team more directly and be receptive to the help of others.
On the path from maiden to mother, Initiation is a moment of realization. As a woman approaches childbirth she recognizes the challenge ahead and that there is no turning back. She may become concerned about her capacity to actualize her desired childbirth experience. Initiation necessitates surrendering into the unknown and asks a woman to deepen faith and trust in herself, her intimate partner and her birth–support circle.
During Initiation we study transition, the moment in the labor process when contractions intensify and life force energy awakens. Women may throw up, tremble, encounter resistance, and medicate to stop the process. It is quite common for a woman to say, “I can’t do it.” In transition a woman is at the gate of her perceived limitations and is being challenged to push through and discover the well of her power.
During Integration a woman feels her body grow larger with her maturing baby. She may feel her body is no longer hers and wonders if she will ever recover her familiar self. Ideally at this time, a woman takes comfort in knowing she has prepared herself for childbirth and enjoys the support of her partner and family. She may take leave from her work and other activities to begin nesting. Hopefully, she can use this time to turn deeply inward, breathe into herself and into her womb as she reassures her baby that she is ready for childbirth. A woman integrates the journey thus far and celebrates the fullness of possibilities. She gathers all of her tools and support as she steps up to the threshold of childbirth and waits for contractions to begin.
Integration signifies the time just before a woman begins to push, when she is pushing and the moment her baby arrives into the world.
As a woman aligns herself with the baby’s efforts to extend into the world, she gathers her focus and pushes. The popular image of pushing is with eyes closed, mouth strained shut and a room full of people shouting “Go, Go, Push, Push” as they all count to ten. This can be exhausting for the mother and can interfere with oxygen for mother and baby. How do we learn to wait for the urge to push? How do we allow our breath, our focus, our vision, and our strength to open us and make way for life? Integration during pushing can be a moment of focused openness. With the urge to push a woman responds to each contraction with fiery intentioned filled power to answer her body’s call. Through this process, life manifests.
Actualization is manifestation. The previously unknown story of a womanâs childbirth experience has revealed itself. Actualization culminates with a birth but it also signifies the beginning of new identities. A woman has passed through the doorway into motherhood. The partner is now a dad, or co-parent. Life is completely different for this family.
In Actualization a woman and her partner are now living the moment they have prepared for: everyone is focused on taking care of the baby and adjusting to a new life together. A woman is in post partum and continues to experience profound body changes as she recovers from pregnancy and childbirth and establishes breastfeeding. Previous habits and routines have most likely changed. The challenge is to integrate the labor and birth process into one's new self as a parent and expand into new family relationships while caring for a newborn.
Birthing Intuition offers an opportunity for parents-to-be to cultivate awareness as they prepare for their next developmental step into childbirth and early parenthood. Ultimately, parenthood is an opportunity to experience a new level of service, responsibility, unconditional love and presence as human beings.
Actualization is an ending of one part of a journey and a beginning of another. How each family, mother, partner and child, experience and express actualization, no one can know. Parents can only show up and agree to participate. We hope that through Birthing Intuition and Holistic Childbirth Preparation, new parents have created a well of resources that support and nourish them.