Women have exercised tremendous power since the beginnings of humankind. This
statement may seem counterintuitive today, although it was certainly recognized as truth in
earlier times. The power to receive a seed, a sperm cell, combine it with an egg cell and nurture
its developm
ent in darkness until it is ready to emerge is the power of the earth itself, and most cultures have recognized the earth as a female entity. No human being has ever entered into this life except through the body of a woman. Can there be a greater power than this.
To bear a child, to start a human being on the path of life is an act of vision and hope. It is true that it is not always a willing and happy act. Not every child is nurtured in hope and love. Even so the child emerges and is a miracle. The potential is endless, and there is hope in that.
Whether any child lives one minute or 100 years, life has had its chance. The unique value of every human bei
ng does not consist in length of life or in wealth or education or health. Each child is a truly new thing, a combination of heredity and environment that can never be duplicated or predicted. Each life is a gift given by a mother, a Lifebearer. Even if she does not raise the child herself, the gift has been given.
I am writing this blog because I want to celebrate this Lifebearing faculty. I stand in awe
of the power I have witnessed in women. This is the “power to” which comes from personal
sacrifice, not the “power over” which is perhaps the more popular and sought-after capacity. The sacrificial, heroic Life-bearing capacity is absolutely essential to our continuation as a species, yet for some reason it is often denigrated in comparison to the other type of power,
the coercive or administrative.
Lifebearers deserve to be celebrated, honored, sustained. As a midwife, I am privileged
to be a watcher at the gates of life. Mothers are the gates. Their birthright is joy and awe.