Well no, they don’t. But they do. Really. Let me explain.
There is tremendous wisdom and power in our natural cycles, our natural rites of passage, embedded in nature.
Having babies and giving birth is part of nature. Even if modern medicine and politics might deem otherwise, it still, really is.
What I find quite fascinating, is that within every birth, each one is absolutely and entirely unique, lies the encoded manual on how to be with that particular baby and how to raise it. Yes, it is.
Let me explain.
Or maybe better, let me illustrate.
Giving birth is one of the most significant rites of passages for a woman. Along with menarche (first period) and dying, giving birth is right up there. Marriage, divorce, loosing a parent or child is also right up there, but not quite.
What I have been assisting mothers lately, is retrieving the very gift and requirement that each baby delivers at their birth. I lead the mother through a deep process of decoding, herself, what the message of the birth entails.
It isn’t the obvious one. It is the hidden one.
Once decoded, the mother knows exactly what approach to take in raising that child. Not her other children, as they came delivering different gifts and messages.
An example is, from a young mother I worked with recently. Her baby needs her to be in a state of surrender. You see, the baby herself is a being who is very in tune with life and the higher realms and is thus very much in a state of flow. She hardly cries, is never fussy, and brings constant delight to all who are around her.
By decoding the birth, the mother was able to extract and then transform her own experience of surrender. It no longer was a concept, but she unlocked how to get into that state herself, over and over, as she is raising her child.
This was the second birth I helped her integrate. Her first child brought a totally different gift and requirement. And once she put the first and second gift/requirement together, both bequeathed on her by her two daughters, she could recognize how perfectly her path was illumined. The tension between what the first baby needs (radical presence – clear boundaries – standing strong) of her and what the second baby needs of her produce the exact and perfect condition for her, the mother, to grow into her full power and beauty.
Life is mystical. Life is beautiful. Life is amazing. And she gives us so many ways in.