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Pregnancy rituals emphasize the nine-month journey, the life altering transition. Vancouver Island workshops include making belly casts and learning the art of henna tattoo. Katherine Dedyna CANWEST NEWS SERVICE Nine months pregnant with her first child and loving it, Beth McKean takes an out-in-front approach to her prodigious belly. It is henna tattooed and she proudly displays its evolution in a two-piece swimsuit while she keeps in shape at the Oak Bay Rec Centre in Victoria. “I think that it’s a totally beautiful and natural thing – pregnancy and childbirth – and it should be celebrated,” said the 28-year-old landscaper. “The conversations that come up are just fantastic – you get lots of smiles.” And the older people don’t seem offended in the least, she finds, even by the temporary tattoo. In fact, she finds the reverse is true. “I think it’s very important that women concentrate more on the positive aspect [of the pregnancy] because otherwise we get so caught in the fear factor,” said McKean. She’s also keeping a diary of her feelings and the baby’s development to personalize the emotional journey she’s taking. “It needs to be acknowledged that this is a rite of passage – this is my final step in becoming a woman.” Western women often limit the ceremonial side of pregnancy to regular medical or midwifery checkups; how-to books for healthy births and shopping trips for maternity clothes. That’s all fine as far as it goes. But certified childbirth educator and doula [birth coach], Florance Simpson Doesn’t think it’s enough. She’s on a mission to make much of pregnant women as they navigate the most life-altering transition of them all. At 47, with three daughters and a son ranging from 25 to 8, Simpson is now leading a series of workshops on rituals that celebrate pregnancy. The workshops include: making belly casts suitable for hanging; creating birth goddesses out of clay; learning the ancient art of henna tattoo; and how to make medicine bags for baby treasures. |
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