{"data":[{"id":12,"attributes":{"title":"Rites of Passage:","slug":"thebirthkeeper","body":"**Alise:**\n\nFor the past few years I’ve been following the journey of Lisa, a birthkeeper authentically sharing her experience of motherhood and supporting women. Her approach reminded me of a brief experience I had with “the wise woman tradition” in healing – the one that besides many other things acknowledges certain bodily experiences of women as \"rites of passage\" that require attention and support. In conversation for “Cycle Stories” Lisa shared her perspective on guidance in rites of passage and birthkeeping outside the medical system.\n\n\n_This text reflects Lisa’s personal experience as a birthkeeper and is meant to offer her perspective and invite further research. The words “girls” and “women” are used here in relation to menstruation and birth, however it is important for us to note and acknowledge women who do not share these specific bodily experiences. We honour all identities and all birth choices, speaking of birth and fertility in both literal and creative ways._\n\n**I. BEING WITH THE WOMAN**\n\n**Lisa:**\n\nMy path as a birthkeeper started fourteen years ago now, when my beloved cousin gave birth to her first child. Back then I was studying literature and had little knowledge on pregnancy and birth, but I remember finding myself instantly drawn to what was happening to my dear woman.\n\nI rushed to the hospital as soon as she texted me that I could visit. And I remember how strange it felt that everyone was so focused on the baby, whilst to me, the most important thing was to find out about my cousin's state. I was more eager to see her, to find out how she looked and felt in her new role rather than anything else. \n\nMany questions, concerns but also genuine curiosity arose in me after that experience. Besides questioning the whole system and the conditions I have witnessed, I have been asking what was my own true role at that sacred event, and who exactly defined that role for me? Why was I not present when my cousin possibly needed me most, and why instead she was surrounded by strangers occasionally checking on her and later her newborn? Was there anything better for me to do rather than showing up during the vulnerable time of her rest and recovery, that felt somewhat “late” on my side?\n\n![bk1.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/bk1_b720ecfe96.jpg)\n_Photo by Poļina Sirojegina_\n\nIt took some time before my interests shifted and I changed my occupation, but I believe that the origins and the roots of my birth keeping journey are... in sisterhood, factually and figuratively.\n\nIn the past four years I've been actively practicing and giving my service to women as a birthkeeper and postpartum doula. I am not a hospital-trained midwife and I am not working within the medical system, but rather independently, and my today’s service is impacted by origins and historical traditions of midwifery. The sphere of my service includes pregnancy, birth and postpartum support, as well as support and guidance through women’s Rites of passage. Besides everything mentioned above I am a mother, craftswoman, Ayurveda practitioner, herbalist. \n\n**II. RITES OF PASSAGE**\n\nWhat are rites of passage? They can also be described as “portals”. I would say these are times of our lives when we go through powerful transformations and update our behavioural patterns, our perceptions of society and sense of self. Every human, regardless of their gender, is passing through a myriad of such portals. Talking about most crucial and transformative bodily rites of passage usually marking the lifespans of many women, they would be the following: the first menstruation, birth (not necessarily in terms of giving birth to the babies, but also other demanding and personal processes of creation), and menopause. \n\nThese remind us of the cyclical nature of all: everything goes through life, growth, decline and death. And while further studying the subject, we can make an obvious parallel and find inspiring connections between the natural cycles, the lunar cycle, human life phases and rites of passage themselves.\n\n![birth keeper 1.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/birth_keeper_1_f354edba04.jpg)\n_Photo by Poļina Sirojegina_\n\n**Menarche**\n\nThe first significant bodily rite of passage for a woman is called Menarc or Menarche, the first bleed, which occurs during puberty. This time can be described as the Spring time of life, our Maiden season matching the season of the waxing moon. This is the time when we develop rapidly, burst with energy, feel driven by a great many grandiose plans, and move with ease. \n\nThe beginning of menstruating years initiates a girl into a young woman, and what happens around her during this time teaches of the way the culture and society values her: where is her place, how strong is her voice and what is of her freedom. All of this defines the ways she further treats herself. This is the significant time when every word received from the outside becomes a spell, carrying more power than ever. Power to support, bless, nurture – or power to disrupt, evaluate, judge, curse. Because of that, it can be useful to think of the common messages we all are receiving as young girls about the way our bodies work: from the media, medical and school systems, friends and family. \n\n![Copy of gatves noir 1.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/Copy_of_gatves_noir_1_01788aa207.jpg)\n![003345210005 copy.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/003345210005_copy_cc18feff63.jpg)\n_Photos by Poļina Sirojegina_\n\nMost of us can recall menstrual product commercials, exposing the bright blue liquid used instead of the natural blood, or images of a carefree, fresh and rather energetic woman, claiming to live her life just “as usual” thanks to a certain pad, and as if she doesn’t really have an open bleeding wound in between her legs… \n\nI believe such images and ideas behind them have a powerful and undeniable impact on every girl, our Menarc experiences, connection to the cycle and our understanding of self. \n\n**Mother years**\n\nThe following rite of passage brings us to becoming a Mother – we are stepping into our Summer phase metaphorically unfolding under the bright and round full moon. \n\n\n>_\"It is important to mention here again that Mothering has many forms – and as women we all live through the Mother season, regardless of whether we birth children, art projects, businesses or anything else. This is the phase of creating life and multiplying it, which usually lasts throughout our 25-50’s\"._\n\nIt is also important to recognize that each following rite of passage is directly connected to and affected by the previous one/s. During birth giving our past initiation into menarch gets revealed and played out. And consequently the way we birth our babies, projects, crafts is suggesting the way we later mother them. \n\n![cover2.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/cover2_de7d48e397.jpg)\n_Mothering Myths : An ABC of Art Birth and Care, Valiz Amsterdam_\n\n**Menopause**\n\nIn my belief, menopause is a megnificent rite of passage, bringing us in the season of our Autumn, and the woman living through it can be referred to as Maga, Sovereign woman, Queen or Matriarch. We connect it to the waning moon, and assume it to happen around our 50s and last till early 70s.\n\n>_\"Observing modern collective beliefs and attitudes we might notice that menopause is frequently considered or even treated as a disease, and carries a lot of stigma, taboo and deepest misunderstanding of what menopause actually is\"._\n\nIn reality it is another most natural process which has to be trusted. We all know autumn as the season of harvest and compost, of reflection and shedding what doesn’t serve us any longer: Maga season is the season of awakened clarity metaphorically happening under the waning moon. This is the season of truth showing through layers and previous years of serving others, accommodating the others and putting their priorities before ours.\n\nThere is a mesmerizing fact I once learned from Jane Hardwicke-Collings’ teachings: besides humans there are only four other known existing creatures who are also going through menopause. Interestingly enough, all of them are the dwelling underwater – these are narwhals, orcas, pilot whales and beluga whales. When the scientists tried to understand the nature of this discovery, they found out that these ocean creatures are actually drastically updating their role in the pod once they reach their menopause. They become the leader, the ones holding experience and knowledge, ensuring that the children and grandchildren of the pod are thriving under their guidance and protection. \n\n![003491560008.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/003491560008_327546e113.jpg)\n![003491560009.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/003491560009_aef74f8ad7.jpg)\n_Photos by Poļina Sirojegina_\n\nMaga’s social and cultural role is in giving back to the world what she has learned and in offering her wisdom teachings to the others. What exactly she has to offer and to teach is obviously rooted in her previous experiences as well as her idea of self. I am convinced that the way patriarchal culture treats women throughout their lifetime is directly reflected in our modern maga’s teachings or sometimes in the lack of these. Menopause, like any other rite of passage, requires lots of preparation, understanding of our hormones and the shifted needs of the body. And once again, this cannot not be discovered alone or especially under the belief that menopause is something to fear or delay at any possible cost. \n\nObviously this would be different for everyone, but if a woman is gifted with a long life, later she would step into what can be perceived as the Winter phase or the final dark moon phase of a Crone woman which happens around 70-75 year.\n…\n\nI believe that living in a culture that holds a strong menstrual taboo is the primary cause of many wounds modern women have today. For a proper conversation on women's health and giving birth, we have to start looking at a woman's life holistically, taking into account our experiences with rites of passage and the context of things we learned about our bodies and minds growing up. \n\n![birth keeper.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/birth_keeper_0ce6ee9fb8.jpg)\n_20th Century Women, dir. Greta Gerwig, 2016_\n\nEvery rite of passage suggests to us either a healing or a rewounding opportunity. By this I mean that either we recognize and break free from the pattern that keeps on showing up in our daily life and significantly plays out during our following rites of passage, or we keep on carrying this pattern throughout our lifetime, multiplying painful experiences. I am encouraging women to do the inner work: each of us needs to mine her story for the gold that is in it.\n\nMy heart carries so much of hope and optimism witnessing modern global consciousness awakening, and finding out that more and more of women are seeking truth from certain communities, ancient wisdom keepers, childbirth educators and activists, social anthropologists and other bright women who are doing the magnificent job of restoring the forgotten knowledge. They are reclaiming global sisterhood, offering Blood mysteries teachings, hosting red tents and women circles supporting and educating others on the path of remembering. \n\n![bk11.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/bk11_8607ba1da9.jpg)\n_Photo by Poļina Sirojegina_\n\nI would strongly encourage every one to search for wise women and kindred sisters present around: for they always are, although it takes our spirit and intention of calling them in to get connected in person. And then, of course, there are many alternative resources such as books, virtual realm’s articles, online courses and podcasts. Many of these are created by dearest teachers of mine: I am honoured to name them here. Incredible Jane Hardwicke-Collings, a modern day women’s mysteries teacher and the founder of the School of Shamanic Womancraft; medicine woman Sister Morningstar, the indigenous midwifery wisdom keeper gracefully walking upon this Earth; and then my absolute inspirations Dr. Rachel Reed and Dr. Sara Wickham, and also Jeannine Parvati Baker, Joan Donley and Sheila Kitzinger whose legacy have significantly shaped my work and vision.\n\n**III. THE BIRTHKEEPING**\n\n![bk.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/bk_be5290ddc4.jpg)\n_A 5th-century Gupta terracotta plaque of the goddess Lajja Gauri from Uttar Pradesh, India_\n\nNowadays there are different interpretations of such terms as ‘midwife’, ‘birthkeeper’, or ‘doula’ present across countries and societies. So it might be important not only to consider the status of one’s birth provider, but also to be able to define their actual field of responsibilities.\n\nGenerally a midwife (which literally means ‘with woman’ in Old English) would be someone who is focusing on women’s physiology. The most common idea of a midwife nowadays is a registered / licensed midwife who has undergone medical training and education, and usually can be found working within the medical system. However there are also midwives who are working outside of the system, who do not necessarily graduate from any schools and who do not carry a license, or chose to give up on it because of disagreeing with certain policies of their countries. It can be considered illegal to call oneself a midwife and assist home births – this varies depending on a country, so one has to be informed and careful about such details. \n\nA doula (from the Greek word δούλη [doulē], meaning ‘a servant woman’) is there mainly to provide a non-medical support which addresses the emotional and the spiritual journey. Besides birth doulas there are also postpartum and death doulas who carry no less significant missions and who deserve being mentioned. A doula present at birth is, indeed, serving – bringing tea and nourishment, giving massages and compresses, and holding the emotional space for a woman and for her family members. \n\n![bk6.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/bk6_cbc5042a62.jpg)\n_Photo by Poļina Sirojegina_\n\nAnd then there is a birthkeeper, also known as a birth companion – usually it is a woman working outside of the system. She carries experience and a good knowledge of physiology, biology and philosophy of birth; some of the birthkeepers have their own equipment such as dopplers or a Pinard stethoscope, etc. And yet in my personal tradition and interpretation the birthkeeper is mainly there to hold the sacred space, to make sure the woman is seen, and to support decision-making by giving adequate information and encouraging empowered choices.\n\n>_\"Ideally, birthkeepers have a heartfelt understanding of trauma and fear: not only when it applies to women they serve, but actually to their own selves and to what they are bringing to the birth space. This is a nuance I hold to my heart dear as I am convinced that the birth space is no fitting space for dogma, ego and for unprocessed traumatic events. The majority of the birthkeepers believe in traditional wisdom, the mystery of birth and reclaiming rites of passage\"._\n\nI see birth as the most intimate and humbling journey full of nuances, and when it unfolds physiologically it gradually brings the mother to the deepest darkest self: because this is exactly where she collects her baby. Then she returns to this world reborn, empowered and with the most profound experience of surrender. \n\nI believe it does a great disservice to consider that the hospital or whichever system, or whoever from obstetrician, midwife, doula or partner is going to “save” a woman from birth or do the job for her. The presence and assistance of the others can be crucial, indeed, but their roles are always in something else and never in birthing.\n\n![bk8.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/bk8_8a6d239457.jpg)\n_Photo by Poļina Sirojegina_\n\nIf we are growing up disconnected from our own bodies, conditioned to think that bodies are to be medicated, numbed and ignored, hoping for our periods to pass as fast as possible instead of connecting to the nature of bleeding, this is most likely to be the pattern we will bring further in life. If we didn’t learn to be open to the messages our bodies were giving us while menstruating, then probably it would be very difficult to recognize and work with the messages that our body is sending us while it is giving birth. \n\nIn my personal experience, the hospital system and its services are largely overused in a context of maternity care. We do need hospitals, but the very understanding of physiological birth and the methods practiced in such institutions have to evolve or should I rather say be reconsidered through unlearning.\n\n**UNLEARNING**\n\nWhile traditional midwifery is woman-centered, modern medical midwifery is still rather focused on the “delivery” of a baby – by all effective and efficient means. I find it deeply disconnected from the nature of the event and ceasing to recognise the holistic aspects of birth. The medical system is repeatedly managing women's bodies to ensure they function within certain timelines, boundaries and generalized rules, rather than seen individually. \n\n![chamomile.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/chamomile_d639eea298.jpg)\n_Chamomile, archival scan_\n\nWhile medical birth practitioners forced to believe that they have to “perform” certain skills on a mother as well as a newborn to justify their presence, authority and the perverted role of an “expert”: all of this is done instead of releasing their emotional investment in woman’s decisions and recognizing who actually holds the power in the room. \n\nFor some mothers and newborns, it can feel like being mistreated, robbed of their triumph and the sacred rites of passage, and eventually traumatized. (Recent [research](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38071102/) suggests that 1 in 3 births are experienced as traumatic, while about 4% of women and 1% of their partners develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)). To understand the root of the mess we have created, it is crucial to look back at the history, or rather herstory. \n\nIn short, centuries of colonisation, the development of agriculture and the spreading of Abrahamic religions all contributed to the erosion of matricentric societies (the ones centered on the mother and the raising of the children). Back then and onwards throughout the Middle Ages pregnancy, childbirth and mothering were seen as nothing but normal life events, and did not require any medical practitioners. The role of a male partner was significant, empowering and sacred in its own way, but still mainly occurring outside of the birthspace.\n\nThe following rapid development of science shifted the power in childbirth to the privileged male researchers, who soon after took great control of the childbirth territory and redefined the traditional female practice. In older days women were building their knowledge and understanding of childbirth through oral culture – but as the male practitioners took their authority in the midwifery field, women, having no similar rights for public education, were excluded, and traditional midwifery began to fade.\n\n![cover1.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/cover1_d1187ad8ff.jpg)\n_Cover of \"All about opium\", edited by Hartmann Henry Sultzberger and published in 1884_\n\nCurrently hospital birth is still the most common choice and practice of the Western world – but it is important to mention that in many ways modern obstetric medicine continues to develop its knowledge of childbirth based on the seventeenth-century concept of the body as a machine. It is no secret that the majority of worldwide hospital birth providers have never seen a physiological birth and at times have a very little notion of what it actually is.\n\nBirth is and forever will be the most natural event of life, designed to be physiological, undisturbed, empowering and profoundly transformative. But in order to have this birth experience, a woman needs to feel Safe. Safe about her environment, each teeny tiny detail of it; about each single person present around, and about her own self. And for the latest it is crucial to _gnōthi seauton_ – \"know thyself\". \n\n![bk9.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/bk9_1c20b4f478.jpg)\n![bk10.jpg](https://bi.cyclestories.co/uploads/bk10_0f2b53faed.jpg)\n_Photos by Poļina Sirojegina_\n\nAs Jeannine Parvati Baker used to say, each woman needs to become her own midwife. Which doesn’t minimize the importance of the others consciously serving at the birth altar, but rather brings us all together in a sense of understanding and reclaiming sovereignty of birth.\n\nWe can start shifting prevailing birth narratives by connecting to the cycles, doing the work of remembering, looking for information about our red threads and finding both answers and reliance in these. If we manage to trace it all back and make peace with it, if needed, we can find that there is so much more than what the patriarchal culture is wanting us to believe in. Once we decolonize ourselves from the patriarchy and dismantle the misogyny, the current wounded sisterhood where we compete and compare and criticise will naturally heal. May it be our way back to harmony and to our sovereign magnificent power: within the space of birth, and outside of it.\n...\n\n_I am supporting women and their families both in person and virtually, and warmly welcome inquiries on private and professional matters._\n\n_One can find me either by my name on social platforms, or reach directly by email which is lisasagale@gmail.com_\n\n_Thank you kindly!_\n\n_Lisa_\n\n","color":"#346c34","subtitle":"Birthkeeper's story","createdAt":"2025-12-05T12:00:10.350Z","updatedAt":"2025-12-16T09:26:29.711Z","publishedAt":"2025-12-10T16:31:25.643Z","author":"Lisa Saga, Alise Īlena","meta_description":"Traditional birthkeeper on how to treat menarche, motherhood and menopause as rites of passage.","rank":0,"additional_components":[],"image":{"data":{"id":169,"attributes":{"name":"Lisa Saga.jpg","alternativeText":null,"caption":null,"width":1179,"height":943,"formats":{"large":{"ext":".jpg","url":"/uploads/large_Lisa_Saga_9f46174a9a.jpg","hash":"large_Lisa_Saga_9f46174a9a","mime":"image/jpeg","name":"large_Lisa Saga.jpg","path":null,"size":73.71,"width":1000,"height":800,"sizeInBytes":73714},"small":{"ext":".jpg","url":"/uploads/small_Lisa_Saga_9f46174a9a.jpg","hash":"small_Lisa_Saga_9f46174a9a","mime":"image/jpeg","name":"small_Lisa Saga.jpg","path":null,"size":27.74,"width":500,"height":400,"sizeInBytes":27737},"medium":{"ext":".jpg","url":"/uploads/medium_Lisa_Saga_9f46174a9a.jpg","hash":"medium_Lisa_Saga_9f46174a9a","mime":"image/jpeg","name":"medium_Lisa Saga.jpg","path":null,"size":49.33,"width":750,"height":600,"sizeInBytes":49330},"thumbnail":{"ext":".jpg","url":"/uploads/thumbnail_Lisa_Saga_9f46174a9a.jpg","hash":"thumbnail_Lisa_Saga_9f46174a9a","mime":"image/jpeg","name":"thumbnail_Lisa Saga.jpg","path":null,"size":6.88,"width":195,"height":156,"sizeInBytes":6879}},"hash":"Lisa_Saga_9f46174a9a","ext":".jpg","mime":"image/jpeg","size":86.47,"url":"/uploads/Lisa_Saga_9f46174a9a.jpg","previewUrl":null,"provider":"local","provider_metadata":null,"createdAt":"2025-12-09T20:17:14.068Z","updatedAt":"2025-12-09T20:17:14.068Z"}}}}}],"meta":{"pagination":{"page":1,"pageSize":25,"pageCount":1,"total":1}}}

Rites of Passage: Birthkeeper's story