The Women Behind The Upcoming Silent Birthkeeper
As we prepare for the next journey of The Silent Birthkeeper — beginning February 2026 — I’d like to take a moment to honour and introduce the three women who will be holding and guiding this circle: myself, Lana Petersen, and Samara Hawthorn. Each of us comes to this work through our own lived experience, ancestry, and path of learning. Together, we share a devotion to birth, to silence, and to the remembrance of what it means to walk gently with life. RUTH EHRHARDT Traditional Birth Attendant, Midwife, Educator, Author, and Founder of True Midwifery My journey as a birthkeeper has been shaped by my lineage, by the women who came before me, and by the births of my own four homeborn children. I am a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM), Traditional Birth Attendant, and author of The Basic Needs of a Woman in Labour, a small book rooted in the understanding that when we protect the hormonal flow of birth, we protect humanity itself. For me, The Silent Birthkeeper is a space of remembering — a weaving of story, science, and soul. It continues to remind me that birth, in its simplicity, holds the power to transform. LANA PETERSEN Traditional Birth Attendant, Doula, and Founder of Lalilu Doula Services Lana and I have journeyed alongside one another for many years — through births, gatherings, and shared work within the birth community of South Africa. With over two decades of experience, she brings a grounded and compassionate presence to the families she supports. Lana’s work centres around physiological birth, self-responsibility, and trust in the innate intelligence of women and their bodies. She co-founded Home Birth South Africa in 2010, creating a vital community space for connection, education, and support. Her way of holding space is gentle yet firm — rooted in respect and a deep faith in the power of birth as initiation. SAMARA HAWTHORN Grandmother, Elder, and Founder of WellMama CIC Samara joins us from the UK, bringing nearly three decades of experience in traditional birthkeeping, herbalism, and rites of passage. As the founder of WellMama CIC, she has guided hundreds of mothers, families, and birthworkers through the seasons of womanhood, always grounded in ancestral remembrance and reciprocity with the land. Her work weaves together earth-based living, midwifery skills, and ceremonial practice — reminding us that tending to birth is part of tending to life itself. Together The three of us come together in this work through friendship, respect, and a shared love for women, babies, and birth. Our collaboration is not about teaching from the top, but about listening — to one another, to the women who gather, and to the silence that guides us all. It is a privilege to journey alongside one another and with the women who continue to answer the call of The Silent Birthkeeper. The Silent Birthkeeper 2026 begins 5 February 2026 – 11 February 2027.Only a few spaces remain for this intimate one-year immersion. Join The Silent Birthkeeper 2026...
Read MoreThe Silent Birthkeeper – The Art of Honouring Silence in Birth
“It will take a long time to rediscover the importance of silence and to accept that the dominant quality of a midwife should be her capacity to keep her mouth shut.”— Michel Odent, The Functions of the Orgasms (2009) I laughed out loud when I re-read these words from Michel recently. It felt as though he was shouting from beyond the grave — reminding us again of the impossible simplicity of creating the optimal environment for birth. He is, of course, speaking about the basic needs of the labouring woman, and how to create the ideal conditions for oxytocin to flow freely. Silence, a key component, connects to the understanding that when in labour, stimulating a woman’s neocortex (her thinking brain) will only “wake her” from the primal mammalian state needed for the rich cocktail of hormones to flow — allowing pure physiology to unfold. “You cannot manage an involuntary process, the point is not to disturb it.” Why do I call this an impossible simplicity? Because we humans love to talk. Even if we understand in theory that birth unfolds best in silence, it is difficult in practice. Whether to ask practical questions like: “How long since your waters broke?”“When did labour start?”“How far apart are the contractions?” Or to offer words of comfort like: “You’re doing so well.”“You can do this.” Each of these requires the mother to leave her primal state and re-engage her thinking brain. An important practice of true midwifery is therefore to learn to say little to nothing in the birthing space — unless it is truly required. The Basic Needs of a Woman in Labour To feel safeTo switch off the neocortex (thinking brain)SilenceDarknessNot feeling observedWarmthLow levels of adrenaline When these needs are honoured, the result can be the foetus ejection reflex — the natural, undisturbed unfolding of birth. Michel reminds us: “From a practical perspective we are now in a position to present authentic midwifery as the art of creating the conditions for a foetus ejection reflex.” Why The Silent Birthkeeper? The Silent Birthkeeper is a one-year journey into True Midwifery. It is for those who feel the quiet calling in their bones — who know there is more to birthwork than protocols and procedures, and who long to sit at the edges of birth, holding space with reverence, humility, and trust. Over 12 months, we will walk together through presence, knowledge, and practice — exploring the basic needs, the art of listening, self-care and community care, storytelling, ceremony, and the foundations of midwifery. This is not a course, but a year-long initiation — a space to soften, listen, and remember. Join the Circle The Silent Birthkeeper runs from 5 February 2026 – 11 February 2027.Bookings are now open, with early bird pricing until the end of November. Learn more and book your place...
Read MoreWhat Does It Mean to Be a Midwife Today?
I’ve been travelling and mostly unplugged these past weeks, but I keep dipping back into the True Midwifery online community to feel its pulse. And every time, I’m reminded how rare it is to find a space that runs on love, trust, and discernment. It’s not that we all agree. Far from it. We come from different trainings, traditions, and ways of working. But there’s a deep respect for one another’s paths — and in the birth world, that’s something precious. Lately, our upcoming Study Spiral has stirred up some big feelings for me around the topic of modern-day witch hunts. And I keep coming back to this: so often, they are about women not trusting each other. Turning on each other to feel safe, or to keep our footing in a system that doesn’t truly support us. In birth work, it’s the same old pattern — patriarchy’s favourite trick: divide and rule. The Splintering of Our Roles One way this shows up is in the way we’ve created countless “safe” titles so we can be allowed to serve mothers and babies. Birthkeeper. Doula. Traditional Birth Attendant. Once, all of these roles were simply what it meant to be a midwife — a person who stood beside the mother and baby through the threshold of birth. Now, we’ve been split and split and split again. With every division, we’re more restricted, more regulated, more over-specialised… and less able to offer the full, holistic care mothers and babies actually need. A Lesson from the Anamaboya I was reminded of this when I sat with the Anamaboya — the traditional Shona midwives in Zimbabwe. I shared with them the different titles we see nowadays, and they looked at me with quiet confusion, as if I’d just asked for a different word for love, or for water. “What do you call yourselves?” I asked. “Anamaboya,” they said simply. Midwife. Grandmother. Their qualification? Being called to the work by God. A dream.Their gift? Deep humility. Trust in birth. A willingness to learn. The knowledge that their true work is to love the mother. Who Decides? Not long ago, an empirical midwife I met offered me a definition I’ve been holding close: A midwife is a midwife when recognised as such by her community. It’s such a simple sentence, and yet it pulls at so many threads — identity, authority, recognition, belonging. For me, this is not about deciding on one definition. It’s about opening the conversation and letting the questions breathe: Who gets to decide what a midwife is?How does language include… and exclude?And how might our own divisions be keeping us from serving mothers and babies as fully as we could? I’d love to explore these questions together in our upcoming Study Spiral. With love,Ruth Join this month’s Spiral → true-midwifery1.teachable.com/p/true-midwifery-study-spirals Last Spot in the Birth First Aid Course (starting 2...
Read MoreMy Birthday and Surrender
Yesterday was my birthday—my 45th trip around the sun—and I find myself reflecting on presence and surrender. A few weeks ago, I took a bad tumble and hurt my foot. All my plans for hiking and walking with my family during the school holidays went out the window. Instead, I found myself mostly on the couch—delegating, surrendering. At first, I was frustrated. There’s only so much scrolling and streaming one can do (and there is a LOT of boring content out there!). Eventually, I had to shift. I surrounded myself with my guitar, art supplies, and writing materials. I learned new songs, made some jewellery, sketched still lifes, and wrote—a lot. Sometimes, when we can’t “do,” we’re given a chance to receive. And in that stillness, long-dormant creativity can rise again. I was finally back on my feet last week, and I relished the return of my walks. It’s winter here, and after the rains, everything is so green. The Aloes and Coral trees are in bloom—the fiery reds and oranges popping against the fresh green backdrop. Then yesterday—on my birthday—I surrendered again, this time to the flu that’s been making its way through my household. Apparently, the lessons of surrender aren’t quite over yet. So I write to you from bed, reflecting on all that this next chapter of life is asking me to let go of… and receive. Upcoming Offerings Study Spiral with Robyn SheldonConnect with the soul of the unborn child in this sacred, interactive circle.Thursday 31 July | 11:00–14:00 SASTBook your spot here Early Bird Ends 31 July – Two Signature Courses:Birth First Aid for Mother & Baby (starts 2 Sept)For midwives, doulas, and birthkeepers—practical, respectful responses to real-life birth situations.Enroll here Basic Needs of Babies (starts 30 Sept)A Montessori-informed exploration of newborn care for parents and professionals alike.Join the course Self Sufficiency in ChildbirthA 4-week journey for couples preparing for conscious, autonomous birth.16, 23, 30 October & 6 November | 18:30–21:00 SASTReserve your...
Read MoreReturning to the Source: Sitting Again with my Mentors in Birth
Fifteen years ago, as a student midwife and doula, I was beginning to question my place in the world of birth work. Though the language of “trusting birth” was everywhere, the practices I witnessed told a different story. Coaching, managing, intervening—whether subtle or overt—seemed baked into even the most “natural” birth environments. I felt uneasy, isolated, and uncertain. At that time, I found myself drawn again to the writings of Michel Odent. His words gave shape to something I instinctively felt but couldn’t yet articulate: that birth, as an involuntary process, cannot be helped—only protected. I searched to see if he had written anything about doulas and discovered something unexpected: a doula course in London, taught by Michel and a woman named Liliana Lammers. It was happening just days before I was due to attend a birth in Edinburgh. I changed my travel plans. Those three days became a turning point in my life. I remember the feeling of finding my teachers—my mentors. Sitting in circle with Michel and Liliana, I experienced a kind of cellular realignment. Their presence, their stories, their science, their reverence for undisturbed birth helped clarify and confirm everything I had been feeling. It was like being handed a compass. That experience birthed something else too: my book, The Basic Needs of a Woman in Labour, was a direct attempt to capture and share the essence of what I received from them. Over the years, I’ve had the honour of reconnecting with them—teaching alongside Michel, attending their online courses, and most recently, sitting with them in person again in Amsterdam. But now, with Michel having just turned 95, and his public teaching naturally becoming more rare, each opportunity to sit at their feet feels even more precious. This weekend, I’ll be supporting the upcoming Paramana Doula Course, and I’m filled with both reverence and joy. It’s open to anyone who wishes to protect and honour the physiological process of birth—from doulas to midwives to anyone called to this path. Whether you are just beginning or coming full circle, I warmly invite you to join us. Paramana Doula CourseWith Michel Odent and Liliana Lammers12–14 July 2025 | OnlineRecordings available for all participants True Midwifery community members receive a 10% discount.To book: moonfeather7@gmail.com | +44 7443 656855 And as a gift to honour this return, my book The Basic Needs of a Woman in Labour will be available as a free Kindle download during the course dates (12–14 July):https://mybook.to/basicneedsENG With love and trust in the birth...
Read MoreThe Basic Needs of Babies – a Time to Slow Down
In our fast-paced world, the arrival of a newborn offers an invitation to pause, reconnect, and reflect on what these smallest humans truly need from us. Maria Montessori spoke of the spiritual embryo, a phase of human development that is as significant as the physical growth within the womb. She believed that after birth, the newborn still requires a special, nurturing environment — animated, loving, warm, and rich with nourishment — where everything is done to accommodate, and nothing to hamper their development. This is the heart of The Basic Needs of Babies course and workshop. Designed for parents-to-be, new parents, grandparents, educators, health professionals, midwives, doulas, and birth attendants, this online course is a space to explore how we can gently and practically meet the fundamental needs of newborns. Whenever we gather to run this course, I am deeply moved by how it becomes a true time of deepening. Together, we slow down and become more present — for ourselves, for one another, and most importantly, for the babies arriving in our world. Course topics include:– Understanding the spiritual embryo and our responsibility in nurturing the newborn’s inner world– Creating a sense of belonging and authentic connection for newborns and families– Learning from pioneers such as Maria Montessori, Adele Costa Gnocchi, Frédérick Leboyer, Michel Odent, and Nils Bergman– Exploring the basic needs of mothers in labour and the newborn child– Becoming fluent in the language of newborns through behaviour and subtle cues– The neuroscience of connection and secure attachment This is a time to pause, to listen, and to remember what the youngest humans need to feel safe, seen, and welcomed into the world. The Basic Needs of Babies Course runs from 30 September 2025 to 21 April 2026, with an early bird discount available until 31 July 2025. Click here to book your...
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