Birth Rituals
Editor's note: I have gathered descriptions of some birth rituals from various articles in past issues of Midwifery Today. At first reading they may seem like superstitions or fear-based or prejudicial, but given some thought or research as to what they may actually accomplish beyond the superficial intention, they may be quite valuable to the mother, baby, and/or the continuance of the community and culture they live in.
If you know of other rituals, please share them with E-News readers. Send them to Mtensubmit@midwiferytoday.com
Guatemala
- If the baby will not come, a common remedy is to boil a purple onion in beer and have the woman drink the liquid.
- Midwives believe the placenta needs the "heat" of the newborn to deliver, and if the cord is cut beforehand, the placenta will rise into the throat of the mother and choke her. If she must cut the cord prior to the placenta delivering, the midwife ties it to the mother's leg with a strong stout string, using many knots to keep it from rising.
- Soon after the birth, the mother eats hot chocolate and sweet bread. She does not get out of bed for 24 hours. The only fluids she takes are hot chocolate, hot water and chamomile tea.
- Elizabeth Withhnall, Midwifery Today Issue 25
Central African Republic
A call-and-response song used during birth: "EI-OH mama ti mbi, ti mbi aso mbi" ("Ei-Oh mother of mine, my belly hurts me"). The response: "Kanda be ti MO!" ("Tie up your heart," meaning "Tough it out").
- Jennifer Wright, Midwifery Today Issue 32
Niger
In the Moslem tradition, a woman's genitals are not to be touched by anyone other than the husband. The matrone (midwife) respects this custom and rather than "delivering" the infant, she aids the labouring woman by offering herbal drinks to stimulate contractions, sprinkles herbs over the woman's abdomen, and recites prayers for a speedy, safe birth.
- Phyllis Sommer, RN, Midwifery Today Issue 32
Mexico
A pregnant woman should avoid all contact with anything death-related. She is forbidden from attending funerals or burials and from visiting cemeteries.
- During childbirth, it is thought that the woman's womb loses heat and her ovaries and genitals soften, never returning to their original position. To prevent this, some traditional midwives place themselves between the woman's legs at the moment she is giving birth, to help keep the heat in and curses out.
- During pregnancy, a woman must avoid cold or hot baths, using warm water instead. Cold water is believed to affect bones and joints; the pelvis will be rigid and this could cause a longer and more difficult and painful labor. And varicose veins and other circulatory problems seem to appear as a consequence of hot baths. Many also believe that a pregnant women should not expose herself to the sun's heat or stand near a fire, since excess heat may burn the placenta or heat the baby and irritate it.
- A 40-day period of caring for the mother and child is considered essential for the prevention of diseases and complications.
- Guadalupe Trueba, Midwifery Today Issue 32
Japan
Nutrition during pregnancy is extremely important in Japan. As soon as I told my friends I was pregnant, I often received gifts of shriasu, a tiny white fish high in calcium. The Japanese diet is normally very healthy, but during pregnancy a woman takes special care to increase her calcium intake. The daily diet almost always includes shirasu, rice, miso, and nori (seaweed).
- Debbie Treijs, Midwifery Today Issue 32
Peru
If the placenta doesn't come out on its own, put salt on the woman's tongue.
Angola
The Umbundu people do not take the new baby outside the home for the first seven days because they believe the child's life is tenuous and bad luck might befall it.
- Eliza Buck, International Midwife Issue 2
Malaysia
The bleeding postpartum woman is considered polluted and polluting. At the same time, she is still vulnerable to evil spirits. Therefore she is forbidden to leave the house or participate in cooking and cleaning.
- Tina Kanagaratnam, International Midwife Issue 3
Ghana
The mother is to close or cross her legs during the postnatal period, based on the belief that it would reduce the air entering the body which could result in a bleeding and/or a permanently fat abdomen.
- Yvonne Lefeber, International Midwife Issue 4
Inuit
If mothers begin a project such a sewing she should finish it so the labor won't be long.
- Every newborn is greeted with a handshake by everyone, even the children.
- Don't make bubbles with gum or blow up a balloon or your membranes won't rupture.
- Don't wear a ring or have braids in your hair because this will cause the umbilical cord to be wrapped around the baby's neck.
- Leah Qinuajuak, Midwifery Today Issue 40
The United States
- Midwife Margaret Charles Smith was taught to place the fathers' shirt around the birthing woman's shoulders and place his cap on her head so the father's energy would help his woman in labor.
- Clarebeth Loprinzi-Kassel, Midwifery Today Issue 50
- I know two midwives in Montana who won't attend a birth unless a cat is in the house because they feel it is likely the child will not live to its first birthday.
- Anon. E-News reader
- If my senior midwife saw a black cat on the way to a birth she would say, "I saw a black cat on the way here, stay on your toes--we're going to have trouble." She was always right. Something would happen like a tight nuchal cord or a really tight shoulder, maybe a bleed. I am not superstitious and didn't believe these things happened because of a black cat. A few years after my apprenticeship was over I attended a birth with another midwife. That night we came to the door and I saw two black kittens playing. I chuckled to myself, remembering the past and thought nothing of it. When we stepped in, a huge black cat rubbed against my leg. I still laughed but started to feel a little concerned, yet thought better of mentioning it to the other midwife. That birth turned out to be the scariest birth I have been to. All was well with mother and baby, but it was scary. I now pay attention to black cats and when I see them on the way to a birth I "stay on my toes."
- I.Duncan
Uganda
The mother is instructed not to drink water while standing, to prevent the baby from being born with squinted eyes.
Bolivia
Don't do any knitting while you're pregnant, as it will cause the umbilical cord to become wrapped around the baby's neck.
- Ann Davenport, International Midwife Issue 6
Bihar, India
If a woman's labour was not progressing she was made to drink a glass of water in which her mother-in-law's big toe had been dipped.
- Janet Chawla, Midwifery Today Issue 52
Mandy-Saint Louis Doula/ Purple Lotus Doula
~ Birth Doula ~ Saint Louis, Missouri
