The Value of Calm Birth, by Jen LeFebre
/Jen is a newly certified Calm Birth teacher whose story really hit home with us: she used Calm Birth for the birth of her child, long before she became a birth professional.
Jen LeFebre is from Michigan and now lives with her family in Vermont. Along with teaching Calm Birth classes, she also teaches Spanish and creates embroidered fiber art. She is Reiki certified and is an apprentice of shamanic healing practices.
With Jen’s personal and professional experience, coupled with her innate wisdom and kindness, we know that she’s going to be an amazing Calm Birth teacher. If you’re pregnant in the Castleton, Vermont area, she’d be a great teacher for you! You can reach out to her at avenocturnastudio@gmail.com
I first learned the Calm Birth method with a book and CD that I came across in the pregnancy and childbirth section of the local library in Holland, MI in 2006. I was pregnant for the first time, I had just split with the father at about six months pregnant, and I was beginning to think more concretely about the birth experience and what I wanted it to look like. I was fortunate to have a friend who had had a successful homebirth and who pointed me towards Mothering magazine and Spiritual Midwifery. It all sounded exactly right. I wanted an unmedicated childbirth, but I was on Medicaid and that would not cover a homebirth in Michigan. Therefore, I needed a birth plan and I needed to advocate for myself. I also needed a method that could help me birth in a conscious and grounded way. When I started reading Calm Birth and listening to the meditations, this all fell into place. I can only imagine how much more powerful the experience would have been if I were learning the practices from a teacher and meditating with other expectant parents, but even without that element the practice had innumerable benefits for me.
My own birth experience was very positive and empowering, despite being in a hospital and attended by professionals who expected me to birth in what they consider to be a traditional way with drugs and interventions. I owe this to Calm Birth. The meditations enable us to heal, connect, prepare, breathe, and draw on our reserves of persistence and strength. I was able to accept my situation and release fears while I was pregnant. I felt emboldened to declare how I wanted my birthing environment to be and who would be present. I was able to be calm and breathe and rest between contractions. My baby emerged healthy, alert, and ready to nurse.
I soon discovered, both while pregnant and after giving birth, that it appears that many people do not have this experience. While I recognize how fortunate I am, it actually feels almost isolating and vulnerable to admit that I did not suffer horribly during a tormenting and extremely long birth experience. I feel like I have to almost apologize that I was lucky, that I have wide hips, anything to make the other woman feel better. But really, I worked very hard to educate myself and to proactively prepare to birth in a way that I felt was best for my son. I have long felt called to share this knowledge and experience and to begin to help people heal before giving birth, to seek empowerment and wellness and to use the experience as the powerful rite of passage that it can be, that we need it to be. Healing birth can heal generations. This is the value of Calm Birth.
I have learned the effects that meditation has on the physical body, and these are amazing statistics and benefits. But I think that the power of calming oneself, returning to the breath, and connecting with the conscious spirit who has taken residence is where the true value lies. Of course, this will all help the physical body to function in a healthier way. Childbirth is a significant opportunity for a powerful spiritual experience. The more we treat it as such, rather than as a medical event, the more we can heal. We are all connected, so every way that we choose to heal ourselves helps to heal the whole.
