It should be noted that legislation and regulation changes over time and this page from 2007ce should be read in that context.
What is a Druid birth?
As a midwife who practises Druidry I have ethical and spiritual views which can be uncomfortable, and which I often have to compromise, when working in the 21st century’s NHS. My views on ethics often have to take second place to the wishes of a woman in my care and to the policies and guidelines of my employer.
That said, ethical birth could be defined as one which meets the emotional and physical needs of a woman and her partner, honours the spirit of the baby and has minimal impact on the environment.
In today’s industrialised, centralised society in which the extended family is often so scattered and fragmented, birth tends to be something people are isolated from. It takes place in large central hospitals, often a distance from people’s homes; it is something frightening and other than the day to day. It is seen as an ordeal to be got through, not an incredible act of natural creativity. Often women, and their partners, believe that they can not do it themselves and they must be ‘saved’ from it by technology and doctors.
Birth is risky and technology has a place. Infant and maternal mortality rates have plummeted in the industrialised world in the last hundred years and there is still a huge discrepancy between the rates of the industrialised and the developing world. It can only be a good thing that these rates have come down and improved health care, antibiotics, cleanliness and smaller family size are largely responsible. But what have we lost through the medicalisation of childbirth and how do Druids find and maintain a spiritual connection through this process?
The aim of these pages is to explore these issues and questions, through stories, reflections and articles. I throw it open to the community and invite all to contribute from any perspective: mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, siblings … Or tell the story of your own birth handed down from your parents or recalled through meditation. All stories are welcome, whatever their outcome: the joy of a completely normal, inspired home birth; the trauma of an emergency caesarean section; the overpowering grief of a miscarriage, stillbirth or infertility …
Sophie Otter
- Birth Stories Workshop – Druid Camp 2007
- Birth of a Midwife
- A Fortieth Birth
- Helen’s Story
- To Laurie – a poem by Cathi Yarrow
- My Birth Story – by Francis Lee
- When Jacob was Born – by Lara Sorrell
- Stillborn – a poem by Sophie Otter
- Dane’s poems – 3 poems by Dane
- Breastfeeding & Spirituality – by Liz Pilley
- Breastfeeding & Meditation – by Helen Buxton
- Breastfeeding & Druidry – by Suzanne Thomas
- Oscar’s Home Birth – by Lou Warren