What is a Birthkeeper?
The Birthkeeper
A birthkeeper holds space for the unfolding of birth as a natural, physiological, and spiritual experience. Birthkeepers draw from ancient wisdom, intuition, and practical skills to provide holistic pregnancy and birth support that nurtures the whole person ; mind, body, and spirit, and offer a ‘wise woman’ presence during labour and birth.
Birthkeeper vs. Doula - What’s the Difference?
While there are overlaps between birthkeepers and doulas, the key difference lies in philosophy and approach. Doulas on he whole, offer emotional and physical support to all birthing women and people. They support clients to make informed choices within the medical and midwifery system, navigating it, wherever the client chooses to birth. Birthkeepers, on the other hand, prioritise the reclamation of physiological birth as an instinctive process. They often work with those choosing alternative paths such as wild pregnancy, home birth or freebirth; those tuning into instinct and intuition. Check out my other blog too on the difference between a midwife, a doula and a birthkeeper.
The Wise Woman Tradition
The birthkeeper within the Holistic Doula School, embodies the wise woman tradition, an ancient way of supporting well-being that places the individual as the expert in their experience, and experiences as opportunities for transformation. Birthkeepers guide clients to embrace pregnancy as an opportunity for transformation, empowerment, and connection with their inner wisdom. They are the experts in themselves and for their babies.
Every birthkeeper has their own gifts to offer and this may include:
Emotional Support: Encouraging self-trust, intuition, and processing fears or past experiences.
Honouring ceremony and ritual: From mother blessings to birth altars, honouring the self, releasing what needs to be let go.
Nourishment and Well-being: Sharing guidance on holistic nutrition, movement, and folk wisdom and remedies
Practical Tools: Offering insights on baby’s position, supporting clients to rediscover their instinct around physiological pregnancy and birth
Who Do Birthkeepers Serve?
Birthkeepers might use this as their name interchangeably with doula and can support all choices. But often they might focus on clients seeking a deeper, more personal approach to pregnancy particularly those choosing to navigate birth outside conventional medical systems. They are ideal for individuals exploring:
Wild pregnancy or minimal medical intervention
Home birth or freebirth
Deepening their spiritual connection during pregnancy
Creating meaningful rituals and ceremonies for birth preparation
Reclaiming Birth
The rise of the birthkeeper reflects a growing desire to reclaim birth as a sacred, instinctual process. By blending practical knowledge with the intuitive practices of the wise woman tradition, birthkeepers are supporting families to know they are their own expert, to trust their inner wisdom and embrace pregnancy and birth as a truly individual and transformative journey.
If you’re feeling called to explore this path either as someone seeking support or as a future birthkeeper yourself know that this work is deeply rooted in connection, courage, and honouring the ancient wisdom within us all.
It is a remembering.
