Birth symbols

[Aka mommy]

3 months ago i had my first homebirth and i am going to get a tattoo to symbolize this. It was a crucial day in my life that i feel has led me on a new path in my life and i get tattoos for such important events (my #1dd's symbol is a butterfly). My questions is, are there any old native american symbols for birth? Anyone ever heard or seen or gotten themselves tattoos that are about natural and or homebirth? You can read my birth story if you would like to throw ideas at me for symbolizism as i am drawing a blank. i know this doesnt have to do with homebirth, but for me its really important. I feel its my way of documenting the change in me. Im open to all ideas or references that would show symbols and whatnot revolving around this topic. Thanks

[dace101]

Re: Birth Symbols

I'm really not too sure about Native American sumbols for birth (or for any culture really), however I DO know that the totem animal for birth is a hippopotamus. Coincidentally, every time dc sees a picture of one dc yells "MOMMA!" with glee and points ( : still not sure how I feel about that LOL)! I'm really not sure how you feel about tattooing a hippo onto you (and really, you could go with more pretty comical hippos like from the Fantasia movie, or realistic ones, or even have a custom tribal hippo head done or something like that). The totem link is here:
http://www.crystal-cure.com/protection-hippo.html
Perhaps you could tattoo a tree of life with a butterfly on/near it for each daughter (a butterfly is a well-known symbol of birth and change). Each butterfly could be in a different colour to represent each of your daughters unique characteristics (colour meanings can be found by doing a simple google or yahoo search). The actual tree could be your own birth tree (try http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Cafe/8021/trees.htm to find out your birth tree).
A more traditional birth symbol (according to Sheila Kitzinger) which has been used in different cultures around the world for centuries in art and textiles etc can be found at: http://www.everyday-miracles.com/logo.htm . It's quite beautiful, maybe you could have the butterfly concept somehow incorporated into it.
Good luck with whatever you choose. I know a positive birth experience is a life-changing event and I can definately understand your decision to commemorate it by visually adding it to your skin.