I have two friends who are right at full term (one slightly over) and eagerly awaiting their new little ones. I feel like I should be able to come up with beautiful birth blessings/wishes off the top of my head, but I had trouble coming up with anything profound, so I went looking online and found this lovely poem. I especially like the last eight lines. I wish you beautiful birthings, ladies!

Birth Blessing

by Natalie Evans

Close your eyes and breathe deep

Breathe in peace, breathe out pain

Imagine your feet

Toes curling into dirt

Think of yourself as rooted

Think of your place in the earth

How did you come to be here?

Through generations of women named

A maternal lineage

That brought you to this place

Think of their birth stories

What you know, what you believe to be true

Realize that their births carry deep wisdom

Some may carry the memory of joy and transcendence

Each birth is a powerful experience

Each birth traces down to you.

Just as you pass this knowledge on to your baby

Understand that your birth is your own

It will be different from all others

Like the swirls in your thumb

Your birth will have a unique pattern

Unfolding with each contraction

Rising and falling like a newborn’s chest

This birth belongs to you

This birth is an opening

This birth is the end and a beginning

May this blessing of birth come to you without fear

May this blessing of birth come to you with great understanding

My this blessing of birth make your heart soar

May this blessing of birth bring shouts of delight to your lips

Blessings to you and your birth.

—

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