This painting is a visual journal entry about my experience of the successful home birth of my second child. I view this physically, mentally and emotionally overwhelming event as being squeezed through a gauntlet into motherhood. An initiatory experience upon which I embrace the nurturing, selfless qualities within myself in order to best support the healthy development of my baby, while at the same time leaving behind certain attitudes and habits of my youth which are in conflict with my role of being present as a mother. This is an ongoing process through time. I am required to run through a mini-gauntlet daily.
Some of the key elements which brought me strength through the labour are shown here: my dear partner (represented by the hand), the midwives and doulas (represented by the flowers), my breath, and the awareness of all the women on the planet through history who have or have had the strength to bring forth new life.
