Reclaiming Childbirth as a Rite of Passage by Dr. Rachel Reed
Book review by doula Shelley Duncan
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Dr Rachel Reed’s book and was fascinated to learn about the rites of passage and rites of protection that weave around a woman through her journey to motherhood.
Rachel did such an incredible job of weaving the tale of a woman’s journey to motherhood from her menstrual cycles, the moon and seasonal changes, to traditional and ancient birthing rituals, which leads into the modern birthing customs we now see. Learning about the stages of birth- preparation, separation, liminality and emergence were profoundly helpful to me to cement the foundations women experience in giving birth and will undoubtedly give me much more understanding in my future work as a doula. I thank Rachel for that.
Rachel highlighted the importance of allowing a woman to lean into her innate sense of giving birth and allowing her body to do what it’s been created to do. By allowing a woman to do this it transforms her sense of self and galvanises her role in society. A woman will unintentionally incorporate her birth experience into her sense of self.
In essence, Rachel is highlighting the history of how medicalisation and mistrust in women’s bodies, have led to the undoing of physiological births. Women’s bodies have been historically viewed as dirty, inferior and dangerous, and that modern rites of passage can control the chaotic process of birth and make it safe. In saying this, if we put trust and support back into women, we have the power to allow women to have their mother-baby birth dance. Through modern rites of protection, they somehow need to be restructured to give women the confidence and rights to birth their babies instinctively and without having interventions imposed on them.
My favourite part of Rachel’s book was the opinions/stories written by mothers, midwives and doulas on their perspectives and beliefs. It really solidified the message that women are powerful beings and throughout history and to this present day, always have and will always know how to birth their babies, if given the chance.
If you would like to purchase the book to read for yourself here is a link:
https://www.rachelreed.website/rcrp
My name is Shelley Duncan, and I am an emerging doula completing the training at the Doula Training Academy, and I will be servicing the northern suburbs of Brisbane. I will be able to assist you for postpartum support. If you would like more information about my doula services, please contact me:
Phone:
0438 558 439
Email:
[email protected]
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/bloom.birth_Doula/
Website:
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