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.
