Closing Ceremony/ Closing the Bones

The closing ceremony [in the UK it is often referred to as Closing the Bones] is a lovely nurturing and healing ceremony that is traditionally given by midwives or doulas to honour the new mother's journey and to thank her and appreciate the hard work she has done throughout her pregnancy, labour & birth and looking after her baby. It can be given anytime after the mother has stopped bleeding post birth, as this signifies the end of the pregnancy and birthing process.

 

I think it's a really lovely way of appreciating a woman's physical and emotional work from conception throughout pregnancy, labour and birth. I learnt how to perform the ceremony from a traditional South American  midwife, Angelina Martinez-Miranda [where the rebozo/ woven scarves come from] As pregnancy and birth both physically and emotionally open the body up in many ways, the closing ceremony honours the woman's hard work and journey into motherhood and works on closing and settling the body and mind..The rhythmic movements created with the rebozos relaxes the mother and stimulates the flow of blood and lymph, this promotes healing on a cellular level. Massaging the pelvic and abdominal area stimulates the surrounding muscles to take a firm tone and to settle back into a normal position. I usually work with another another massage practitioner or another doula but the 2nd person could be your midwife/doula/friend/sister etc

 

The whole ceremony takes approximately 2.5 hours and includes sharing cacao, the massage, a herbal bath and rebozo rocking and wrapping.

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More information about Sue's training and experience here