Baby Shower Rituals

[bklynmum]

Hi there,

My friend is about to give birth to her second son. She didn't have a shower for her first and I want her to feel special around the birth of this baby.

She doesn't want a traditional shower with gifts, she would rather have some kind of ritual or rite and I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions of rituals that can be performed at a baby shower?

Look forward to hearing.

B

[bhdavison]

You could have more of a traditional blessing way for her. I am sure there is a wealth of information among these boards, and you can create exactly what you would like for her to experience to feel loved and supported for her next labor and delivery.

Blessing ways that I have hosted, have included rituals of welcoming everyone and honoring the mother to be by washing her feet in a bowl of water and rose petals (every one taking turns), and sharing stories or poetry or prose with the mother. I also have had people bring a bead or something like that, and while gifting it to the mother explaining why they have brought that particular item for her upcoming birth, etc. The mother than has something to have with her during labor infused with support and power from her family and friends.

Good luck!
Brooke

[1jooj]

A good friend of mine did her belly in henna ahead of time for her shower...I think a "henna party" would be fun...doing the mama's belly and perhaps a small design on the guests.

Not really rooted in any particular tradition, I just think it sounds fun!

[symbiosis]

I gave a blessing way shower for a friend. Since we were all of different religious beliefs, I asked that each of us take out of it what we want KWIM?

Anyway, I bought light pink ribbon (since some say pregnant have a pink aura about them) and we sat in a circle with the mom-to-be in the middle. We wrapped the ribbon around our wrists until everyone was connected with the ribbon.

Then, we cut a section of the ribbon off, enough to tie around our wrist. As we cut the ribbon we gave our mother line ex. I am Ann, mother of...., daughter of...., granddaughter of.... We then spoke of one trait our own mothers had that we wish the unborn child to be blessed with.

We tied the ribbons around our wrists with the intention of keeping them on our wrists until the mom-to-be has her baby.

That way, when she looks at her wrist she'll be reminded of the circle of friends she has supporting and loving her...and...when we look at our wrists, we will be reminded to say a prayer, positive thought, etc. for her and her baby.

It was a very moving and empowering experience.

Just an idea...good luck!

[baesyl]

Our BW ceremony

Recently did this for a friend and we did the bring beads and make a necklace deal and also did belly rubs with cool oil and each person came by and rubbed and said something. We had people bring drums and rattles and noisy things for this time. a word of advice- bring beads with LARGE openings or this part can take ALL day. We also blessed a candle for the mommy to use during labor and used cammomile tea ( with lemon and honey to signify calming with some sweet and sour like life) and snickerdoodles for cakes and ale.

My other advice is to find SHADE!

B
mom to Erin 2-8-00
Morgan 4-5-02

Wish my friends were this cool! :}

PS We also talked about everyone bringing a candle to bless and then taking it home with them to use during labor

[scribblerkate]

Hey, I was at the shower hosted by symbiosis and wanted to emphasize what a great ritual that was. We were all so so moved, and some of us did not know each other very well (or, like me, are shy in groups). I highly recommend it.

The candle blessing, for mom-to-be or for all, also sounds great.

Another idea based on what symbiosis did would be a basket of pampering gifts. I know you said mom doesn't want gifts, but you could collect small items aimed simply at making the mom-to-be feel pampered, relaxed, and wonderful.

[boobybooby]

I didn't see this at a baby shower but at a wedding and I thought it was really cool. Assign someone to take a polaroid photo of each guest at the shower. Then attach each photo to a blank page that fits in a photo binder. Give each page with the appropriate photo attached to each guest and have them write something on the page sometime during the shower. They could write about their wishes for her labor and birth, or something about their friendship with her. At the end you put all the pages in the binder and present it to her. It would probably make a wonderful tool for her in labor to look at, or just for later memory preservation, especially for baby when he/she is old enough to read and understand.