When I reflect on my journey to and through birth, what stands out to me is how many people showed up to support me. As a birth doula, I got to receive the support I preach about and for that I am so grateful.
The materials for my braid include:
- a string of beads, which loved ones and birthworker colleagues shared with me during pregnancy so that I could create a strand reminding me of the strong women in my life who wished me well.
- a cord from a TENs unit that my doula lent me to use during labor. Little jolts of electricity - or perhaps the ritual of pressing a button - carried me through one contraction at a time, and the number “10” was my consistent count of breaths it took to make it through to the other side of a surge.
- one of many food delivery receipts, as friends from near and far sent meals to nourish us so we could spend as much time in bed as possible
Woven together, they form a symbol of the wraparound support I received during pregnancy, labor and postpartum. I am so grateful to all those who showed up in the ways they could. It only takes small tokens to feel big love.