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Creating a Birth Bundle

Creating a birth bundle is a beautiful ritual to help pregnant parents activate their Gatherer and Hunter/Huntress archetypes, and practice accessing their inner knowing as they prepare to give birth in a culture that emphasizes modern knowing. Sharing the birth bundle is a great activity to close a prenatal appointment (perhaps the last meeting before the birth), birth class, or class series.  

The Birth Bundle is a sweet way to help pregnant parents connect with their partner(s)/community, their baby, and themselves as they prepare to journey into the labyrinth of birth. You can find instructions for parents below.  Mentors often type this up in a pretty font and place it in an envelope, highlighting the sacred intention behind the process.  

Making a Birth Bundle

Making Birth Bundles is a simple but powerful ritual of preparation that  acknowledges and draws upon the three energies that typically come together during this rite of passage: the energy of each parent and the energy of the baby. Making a Birth Bundle also acknowledges and balances another important triad of energies: the body, mind, and spirit.  

Begin by choosing a piece of cloth that is large enough to hold the three special objects you will collect, and to form a “bundle” by tying the corners loosely together. The cloth can be any fabric or color. It can be bought new or be a family heirloom. One mother brought a square of satin cut from her wedding dress;  another used their partner’s favorite riding bandana.  

Why three objects?

Staying with just three objects for this ritual helps you to tune in deeply as you choose to “use this” and “leave out that.” The three objects recognize and celebrate the primal energies that will arise with you in labor.  

• The first symbol speaks to you--the Pregnant Parent--reminding you of your spirituality and your connection to your ancestors and all those who have ever given birth.  

• The second represents the energies the Partner(s) (either physically or  spiritually) is bringing to this transition. Find an object that acknowledges their presence, their journey into parenthood, or your love for one another.  

• Alternatively, the second symbol could represent the energies you will draw from your birth companions; those providing support to you and walking the labyrinth of labor and birth with you, or could represent your community and support systems.  

• The third symbol will remind you that you and your baby are working as one to be born.  

Searching for Symbolic Objects 

The search for symbolic objects activates an internal search for values and resources you will need in the labyrinth of labor. It may not be as easy as it sounds to find symbols that speak to you. Elana Burton, a Jungian psychologist, urges pregnant parents not to rush or to choose a symbol that is familiar or a commercial one, unless of course it completely resonates with them. When you hold the object in your hand, whether it is an ordinary looking rock or your grandmother’s ring, it should speak to you. If it doesn’t, keep looking.

When you’ve collected your special objects, place them on the cloth and tie it to form a bundle. Your Birth Bundle needs to be tied securely enough so it won’t open until it is time to open, but loosely enough so that when it is time, it opens easily (like your cervix!).

Going deeper - Write about the process of discovery

and what  your symbols mean to you.

Ceremonial Sharing of Birth Bundles 

When Birth Bundles are a part of a prenatal meeting or a childbirth class, parents participate in a much loved Opening of the Birth Bundle Ceremony on the final night. If making Birth Bundles is not a part of a childbirth class, the parent’s birth support team can bear witness to the symbols and insights that they gathered for their bundle.

During the Ceremony, parents and friends sit in a close circle on the floor (it just  wouldn’t be the same if they were sitting in folding chairs scattered around the room). Pregnant parents open their Birth Bundle in awareness, one at a time. Parents listen intently to one another, often swept away in laughter and tears, as each person shares the personal meaning or stories behind the cloth and the three objects they selected. One by one, each bundle is witnessed.  

Explore: What are some benefits to opening

our Birth Bundles in Ceremony before labor?  

Opening the Birth Bundle in Labor  

Keep in mind that although a symbolic object may evoke strong feelings in you, the power is within you--not the object. When you see or hold the objects in the haze of Labor, they invoke an instant, unspoken reminder that you are connected to all who have given birth throughout time and space, to your partner(s), to your birth companions and your baby--all of whom, while journeying with you, simultaneously have their own journey too.  

Making it Work for You

Some birthing parents never open their Birth Bundles in labor, but still  appreciate the influence that making it had on their mindset in labor.  

Explore: How did my birth bundle and symbols help me in labor?