The Spirituality of Giving Birth
Using Faith to Help with Challenges of Labor, Birth and Parenting
Sep 18, 2008
As you walk through your own journey as an expectant or new parent, you may be seeking guidance from many sources in challenging moments. Pregnancy complications, prenatal testing, making choices, how to manage the difficulties during childbirth, as well as how best to parent your baby, can make mothers and fathers alike reach out for faith-based solutions.
Forms of Spirituality for Expectant and New Parents
Spirituality means different things to each new or expectant couple or family. For some, spirituality means that new parents look inside for the answers and that they will "know" what to do in each situation. For some parents, spirituality may mean looking to ancient or tribal cultures and how they worshipped for guidance about how to live their lives and find truth. Other folks find spirituality in the faith or traditional beliefs given to them by their families. Still other expectant couples or new parents believe that they cannot always rely on feelings and instincts since they change all the time. Instead these new parents seek spiritual truth from God and scripture
Why Expectant and New Parents Use Faith During Birth and Pregnancy
Pregnancy, birth and childrearing are not only challenging to most parents, but can propel them toward seeking ways of coping or answers to questions about how "best" to accomplish something, help us in self exploration, how to find healing and cope with our own painful past. The fact is that using faith during childbirth and pregnancy can be a help to expectant and new parents. Expectant and new parents use their faith to take a deeper look at themselves, their past, and communication and behavior patterns toward others.
How Expectant Parents Use Faith During Birth
In the birth setting, expectant parents may use their faith to find peace and comfort through prayer, meditation and reading scripture. Listening to praise music or other forms of uplifting music can also be helpful way for expectant parents to bring their faith into birth. Since faith is such a personal and deep issue, it is crucial that the expectant mother and father who are interested in bringing aspects of their faith into the birth of their baby have support and understanding from those around them.
For example, if you are Jewish or Christian parent-to-be, it may be a great source of comfort for you to select a care provider with the same faith to accompany you during birth. Expectant parents may also decide to use a birth doula who shares their faith so that she can participate in some of their faith rituals with greater understanding. Meaningful verses can be read to the expectant mother at various times during labor and birth. Sometimes doulas can also encourage privacy for the expectant couple if prayer is needed. Doulas who are involved with expectant mothers and fathers early in pregnancy and share the same faith as the expectant couple can also help them incorporate aspects of their beliefs into all of their decision-making regarding pregnancy, birth and parenting.
How Faith is Useful for New Parents
New parents can use their faith in the early years of parenting so that they can not only be healthier parents, but be able to serve as a role-model to their children. Sometimes new parents who have grown up in a less than ideal home are very motivated to not pass on those same bad behaviors to the next generation. Learning ways to have heart changes from the inside through their faith, can help new parents be more loving and accepting parents themselves.
New mothers may also find that faith-based resources such as mother support groups, groups for single mothers and playgroups offered by their local church community can be very helpful in the early days of parenthood.
Faith-Based Choices to Help Expectant and New Parents
Some of the faith-based choices parents make include reading self-help books, attending support groups or classes, or exploring various forms of healing therapies or arts. Some new parents become more interested in attending church or participating in Bible studies. When expectant couples are getting ready to have their baby or as new parents in the early years of parenting, utilizing other faith- based choices such as professional or lay counseling can be a huge support.
One of the most beautiful things about having faith is that even in our most challenging moments of life, including birth and early parenthood, we can truly find help and hope!
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