Our daughter was born on November 9, 2012 at home (pictured above). She was born at home into the loving and safe environment of family (me and my husband), our midwife who is also a naturopathic doctor, and the midwife’s awesome assistant and doula. Choosing to have a home birth was one of the best decisions of my life, and we look forward to welcoming baby #2 into the world with a home birth too!
I LOVE telling our birth story to those who are interested, but most people think I’m crazy. At the core, I wanted to highlight the awesome power that wahine before us, and that will come after, possess–which I refer to for the purposes of this blog post as, “women powahhh!” While I came to believe and learn about woman powahhh through our daughter’s birth, I have often tapped back into this same core of mana for everything in life–getting through law school, continuing to grow and learn to become a mother and wife, and the list is growing!
The woman has the powah! Coming from the perspective that the woman possesses the strength, wisdom, and know-how to birth a baby, this manaʻo resonates and is consistent with not only Hawaiian manaʻo and mythology (especially with regards to birthing), but also other knowledge about birthing shared by midwives with generations of experience in assisting with births…even before hospitals existed!
No matter if one decides to give birth in the hospital, at home, in the back of a valley, or Kahoʻolawe, praising and supporting our wahine as one who harnesses this special power is truly important.
I am so thankful to be supported, and surrounded myself, by other mana wāhine who remind me that women have the powahhh! Let’s continue to support our wahine (hapai), especially in such a magical and precious time in bringing the next generation (babies or other forms of birthing knowledge) into this world.
Comments
Love what you’ve shared totally kakoo you and woman powaaah! Mahalo nui.
YES! I love this post. Thank you for coming from such an all-embracing and loving place. Make me proud to be a wahine!!!
Wow Sharde, i remember when you were just a little one come into this world. I hold Women’s Circles, work with healing, oli, twach oli and still do my kapa and ulana and hulu and i know it is good and that as a lahui we are healing when I can see that you too are a mana wahine of the next generation. I. Have many friends who are midwives, traditional, mofern, Hawaiian and not. We are still the feminine continuum that is the essence of our being and life. kapu ka ha loa, ku ma ka pe’a. Kanu ia Haloa, ulu ha ha loa, ‘O ka lau o Haloa, i ke ao la puka.
Mahalo for your mana’o. It brings hope.