Re-enchanting Birth: A Sacramental Imagination of Childbirth
Jamie Konerman-Sease, BA Theology, Graduate Assistant, Saint Louis University
In this presentation I attempt to answer the question: is there an enchanted aspect to childbirth? I do so by imagining childbirth as sacrament, examining the birthing practices that make space for sacramental childbirth, and by comparing the medical model of childbirth to the model advocated by Ina May Gaskin in her book Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth.
The experience of childbirth varies vastly between women. For healthy women, it can sometimes be the first encounter with medical decision making. Giving birth is deeply meaningful and personal. Among other things, it can signify the markings of a hugely transformative event: from woman to mother. This transformation has been described by Robbie Floyd Davis as a rite of passage.
In Christianity, we call these transformative events sacraments. In the most basic understanding, sacraments are moments where God’s presence is heightened and celebrated. Alexander Schmemann in For the Life of the World envisions sacrament as the revealing and communication of the life of God. Many women would acknowledge that this definition of sacrament well describes their birth experiences. Birthing is, for some, the participation in the divine act of creation. Yet, in many traditions, birth is not considered distinctly sacramental, rather it’s a private event relegated to the practice of medicine. If we are to take the stories of birthing women seriously, we should consider that childbirth is enchanted.
Sacraments offer two ways of imagining an enchanted childbirth. First, as God’s communication and revelation in the world, sacraments affirm the world as good. Similarly, God is communicating and revealing in birth. The birthing woman can be affirmed as good. Thus, a sacramental imagination of birth affirms the goodness of the birthing woman’s body. Second, sacraments, as the affirmation of God’s presence, abolish fear. In the sacraments, the life of the Christian is given to God and the Christian is opened to the possibility of acting out in love without fear. Gaskin’s approach affirms the physiological process of birth and rejects a culture of fear. This way offers space for childbirth to be enchanted and specifically imagined as sacramental. Does medicine make room for sacramental birth? Birth as an enchanted rite of passage could possibly be disenchanted through the medicalization of childbirth. We must question if medicalized childbirth operates under a culture of fear and affirms birthing women's bodies as good.
In this presentation I attempt to answer the question: is there an enchanted aspect to childbirth? I do so by imagining childbirth as sacrament, examining the birthing practices that make space for sacramental childbirth, and by comparing the medical model of childbirth to the model advocated by Ina May Gaskin in her book Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth.
The experience of childbirth varies vastly between women. For healthy women, it can sometimes be the first encounter with medical decision making. Giving birth is deeply meaningful and personal. Among other things, it can signify the markings of a hugely transformative event: from woman to mother. This transformation has been described by Robbie Floyd Davis as a rite of passage.
In Christianity, we call these transformative events sacraments. In the most basic understanding, sacraments are moments where God’s presence is heightened and celebrated. Alexander Schmemann in For the Life of the World envisions sacrament as the revealing and communication of the life of God. Many women would acknowledge that this definition of sacrament well describes their birth experiences. Birthing is, for some, the participation in the divine act of creation. Yet, in many traditions, birth is not considered distinctly sacramental, rather it’s a private event relegated to the practice of medicine. If we are to take the stories of birthing women seriously, we should consider that childbirth is enchanted.
Sacraments offer two ways of imagining an enchanted childbirth. First, as God’s communication and revelation in the world, sacraments affirm the world as good. Similarly, God is communicating and revealing in birth. The birthing woman can be affirmed as good. Thus, a sacramental imagination of birth affirms the goodness of the birthing woman’s body. Second, sacraments, as the affirmation of God’s presence, abolish fear. In the sacraments, the life of the Christian is given to God and the Christian is opened to the possibility of acting out in love without fear. Gaskin’s approach affirms the physiological process of birth and rejects a culture of fear. This way offers space for childbirth to be enchanted and specifically imagined as sacramental. Does medicine make room for sacramental birth? Birth as an enchanted rite of passage could possibly be disenchanted through the medicalization of childbirth. We must question if medicalized childbirth operates under a culture of fear and affirms birthing women's bodies as good.