Any time a new baby is added to a family, it is worthy of celebration. However, when the expectant mother is not a first time mom, she might be hesitant to consent to a traditional baby shower as she often doesn’t need any new items for the new baby. Having a baby though–whether it’s the first or the fourth–is such a momentous event that it’s difficult to let it pass without doing something special to honor the expectant mother.
I recently had the honor to organize just such an event for a very special woman in my life. She was expecting a singleton after twins, and the fact that she was even willing to have another baby after surviving twins was worthy of all of the fanfare and celebration in the world! After thinking it over for awhile, she agreed to let me plan a small party in the theme of a Mother’s Blessing. We scheduled the event to take place at the very end of her pregnancy, so near the end in fact, that I thought the baby might need to be added to the guest list! A Mother’s Blessing is a small, intimate party which derives from a Navajo ceremony called a Blessingway. The women closest to the expectant mother gather together to surround her with love and support as she prepares for the baby’s arrival.
I set out to create an event that was not only fun, but also followed the guiding principals of a Mother’s Blessing. We selected a boutique and creative space in Downtown Duluth as our event space. There we created a bouquet of crepe paper flowers which the guests were able to take home to display in their home.
Following our craft, we shared snacks and beverages and performed two ceremonies. In the first, we asked the expectant mother to share with the group any concerns that she had about the upcoming birth or about being a mom to three children under three. We listened to her (understandably many!) concerns and responded by going around the table and offering her a bead to string on a bracelet and a small blessing for birth and for her experience as a second-time mom. The blessing could be in the form of a poem, a prayer, words of wisdom, or a simple wish. The mother was instructed to wear the bracelet while she was in labor. The beads serve as a physical reminder of the support and strength of the trusted woman in her life so she could call upon this strength during labor and delivery.
In the second ceremony, each guest secured a purple ribbon around their wrist. The guests were instructed to wear them to keep the mother in the forefront of their minds so we could send her our warm thoughts and blessings throughout the upcoming days prior to labor and delivery. When the birthing process began, I promised to notify each guest and so we could cut our strings and say a prayer or a blessing for the safe arrival of the new baby.
This concept of a Mother’s Blessing was something new to me and I really enjoyed learning about this ancient tradition. There are many options for ceremonies one could do as part of a Mother’s Blessing, so it can be customized for the personality of the expectant mother. It was the perfect alternative to a traditional baby shower; I loved gathering women together to surround a dear friend and send her toward labor and delivery feeling supported, confident and very loved.
