It is time to gather together as women, and create a tapestry of healing for mothers, a statement about the power of birth as a sacred rite of passage, and the impact upon a mother who experiences trauma or loss in pregnancy or birth.
Was your birth a traumatic event? Did something happen during pregnancy or birth that you needed time to incorporate, to process, reflect upon, and integrate, or are you still suffering from that experience, even if you are suffering silently? Have you needed Birth Healing?
You certainly are not alone.
If you or someone you know had a difficult birth experience, or a pregnancy-related loss, I invite you to create a quilt square in honor her healing journey. This quilt will adorn the walls of the Life Song Cottage, as a visual representative of mothers everywhere who need tender healing following their pregnancy or birth experience. In addition, the quilt will be brought to Birth Healing Retreats, so women journeying through their Birth Healing will know they are not alone in their need for tender healing.
Jeannine Parvati Baker says so beautifully: “Healing the Earth by Healing Birth.” That is the essence of this quilt.
As this quilt grows, it will be brought to other birth-related gatherings, red tent events and conferences to bring awareness to women’s birth experiences, and the need to protect that, the most sacred of moments in a woman’s life. Pictures of the quilt will be posted on this blog.
The Quilt – A Tapestry of Healing Hearts and Bodies
Fashioned after Ina May Gaskin’s Safe Motherhood Quilt Project, the Birth Healing Quilt is made up of individually-designed squares. Each square represents one mother on her Birth Healing Journey. A woman can make a quilt piece for herself, or one for another motherhood-sister. Doulas and Midwives are encouraged to make quilt pieces in honor of women they have served. In creating the quilt square, using her hands, creating her story, and acknowledging her journey, the hope is that the woman more fully heals from her difficult pregnancy or birth-related experience.
Quilt Details
Quilt squares should measure 12 inches by 12 inches. Cotton material is encouraged. Please leave a blank 1-inch margin on all sides of the square so the quilt can be sewn together. Be as elaborate or as simple as you wish. Quilt-makers are encouraged to create the name of the woman on to the square, as well as the date of her birth experience. In addition, she can have the reason for the square as well (e.g., Mary Brown, 2004, cesarean birth; Mary Brown, 2007, miscarraige, etc).
Submission for the Birth Healing Quilt Project:
Please include the following information when submitting a quilt piece:
Contributor’s name
Mother’s name
Street
City
State
Zip
Phone
Reason Quilt Piece Was Created / Reason for the Birth Healing Journey
Blessings for other mothers on their Birth Healing Journey
Send to: Mary Burgess, Life Song Perinatal Services, 3039 Peabody Street, Bellingham, WA 98225
