What Does it Mean to "Honor Your Body's Wisdom?"

When it comes to childbirth, "your body was made for this" is not the same as "your body holds the wisdom you need."

The first one upholds an unrealistic (and honestly ableist) standard that leaves people feeling broken when their body deviates from this over-generalization.

The latter statement honors the codes of ancestral wisdom alive in your DNA and aims to empower your ability to trust yourself in naming what is best for you—whether you're at home, at a hospital, medicated or not, uninterrupted or with medical interventions. Everyone deserves a doula that gets the difference.

On Sunday, The Guardian published an article about the documented harms of the Free Birth Society, a group that promotes birthing without the assistance of licensed care providers altogether.

In this childbirth movement, evidence-based resources, professional support, and the unique needs of each individual have been replaced with the simple claim that "your body will know what to do."

But how can we declare the hospital an unsafe place due to its racist, capitalist roots without also acknowledging the ways those same -ism's still live in our bodies in the form of distrust in our own inner wisdom?

The answer to the birthing crisis in the U.S. isn't Do-It-Yourself. On top of a need for more midwives, we also need to increase access to informed, intuitive, and individualized care. 

Pregnant folks need unbiased resources to inform themselves, dedicated space to repair their ability to identify and name their own needs, and care teams committed to respecting their autonomous choices.

There is no one way to birth. While a cesarean may be unnecessary and coercive for some, it may also be life-saving for others. While an epidural may not be safe for some, it may also provide the physical rest needed to safely birth for others.

Childbirth is a collaborative dance between yourself, your baby, and the team you've assembled to support you through it. Ultimately, you are the leader of that team.

As a spirit doula, I combine my callings as both a trauma-sensitive doula, having attended the full spectrum of reproductive events, and as a practicing mystic, passionate about helping people access the spiritual tools and guides that can support our material lives.

Tapping into the wisdom of our bodies is also the foundation for birthing the liberated worlds of our dreams. 

We are living in unpredictable times and, much like childbirth, the only way through is by being present and connected enough to identify when choices need to be made and when to call in support.

As mothers, doulas, stewards of liberation, we know that our sovereignty — the power to listen, trust, and act in alignment with what we hold true — is the most valuable resource we carry today.

When we connect to our roots and its wisdom, we carry forward the same practice of trust and presence that begins in our bodies and extends into everything we birth in this world.