The Waves of Labor and Birth

Reader Contribution by Lisa Marie Morgan
Published on February 18, 2014
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I recently spent a weekend at the Oregon coast. If you have ever been there yourself, you know that you do not go to the Oregon coast for sunshine and warm sand. You go for the magnificent views including striking rock formations and rhythmic waves. Each time I am at the Oregon coast, I a

m reminded of how similar those rolling waves are to the contractions experienced by women in labor.

By design waves naturally rise from the vast ocean behind them, hug the edges of the shore and quietly retreat. Then, they do this once more and once more. At times, the white foam of the waves reaches the shore quickly and rhythmically, at other times slowly and idiosyncratically. And while waves aren’t always symmetrical, they are constant. I have yet been to the coast and wondered what happened to the waves. It is in their consistency that there is assurance. As the waves roll by no man’s command, their rhythm reflects the order of the universe, the closing of one day and the beginning of another.

Like the ocean waves they mimic, the contractions of childbirth also build slowly and crescendo through a mother’s body until they crash and rescind back into a relaxed uterus, giving momma a few moments to rest. As the next contraction flows in and through and over the mother, her baby wiggles it’s way through the birth canal, closer to the open, cervical shore. If momma senses fear or feels a lack of control, the contractions may follow the asymmetry of the waves, slowing and even stopping before completing the predestined cycle. However, when momma feels loved, supported and relaxed, the contractions will continue and fall into their prehistoric rhythm. Left to nature’s intricate design and timing, these contractions will mirror the waves in closing the day of life in the womb and awaken mother and baby to a new life full of joy and beauty.  

It is awe inspiring to see the many synergies in nature. As we breathe in and out, the world breathes in and out with us. As we grunt and groan through the pains of labor, the earth shifts and quakes and brings forth new life with us. As the earth tilts on its axis causing the ocean’s waves to roll in and out, so will the mother tilt her pelvis and let the power of birth roll through her body until her precious child is born.

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