Soul Midwifery (Part 1)

 Original painting by Antonia Rolls

I was first introduced to the concept of Soul Midwifery while attending “A Graceful Death” art exhibition in May.  The project/exhibition and story behind it, as well as it’s talented creator, Antonia Rolls, would be a fascinating blog topic in and of itself, but today I focus on how I came to be a Soul Midwife.

In addition to the beautiful art exhibition there was a series of presentations and discussion groups set up around the topic of death and dying. There were prominent guest speakers, i.e. doctors, hospice and palliative care nurses, pastors and chaplains who all work with the sick and dying; as well as very involved lay people from the community, who do the same.

Everyone I talked, over the course of the 5 day event was as passionate about the needs and rights of the dying, as I was. ( I must always remember, especially when I get cynical about the world, there are some very talented, caring, loving, giving people out there!) During the course of the week, I was handed a Business Card that identified it’s owner as a “Soul Midwife,” and I was immediately intrigued.

Not wanting to admit my ignorance, I showed the card to a friend (a hospice nurse (a beautiful soul) I had met earlier in the week) and asked, “Do you know what a Soul Midwife is?” Much to my delight he said, “Yes. I’m a Soul Midwife.” He went on to briefly explain the concept of Soul Midwifery and told me about a woman in Bridport (North Chideock actually!) named Felicity Warner, who conceived and developed this concept and ran courses teaching others how to practice Soul Midwifery.

I have previously gone on record, stating that I do not believe in coincidences and believe instead that things happen for a reason. I know, it’s very hippy dippy, but none the less…  I love Bridport!  Nick and I have talked about moving to Bridport and we just happen to have a friend who lives there, in a big ol house, all by himself!

After doing some research, I decided this was exactly what I had been looking for… perhaps for many years.

Felicity defines a Soul Midwife as;  “A non-medical, holistic companion who guides and supports the dying, in order to facilitate a gentle and tranquil death.”  How beautiful is that?  Can you imagine having the privilege and the honor of providing (even a smallest amount of) comfort, peace and calmness to someone who is dying…  I had only to remember 6 years ago, sitting with my brother and just being with him as he went from this world to the next… and what a tremendous, overwhelming sense of love and gratitude I felt to be able to experience and be witness to that sacred journey.

I reached out to Felicity and inquired about the Soul Midwife Practitioner 1 course. She was lovely and gracious and happy to have me in her course, unfortunately the June class was already filled and I’d have to wait until August. “Damn! I have to wait!”  (I think I’ve written previously about my “patience” or lack thereof, right?)  However, a week or so later I saw a Post on Facebook that said, someone had to drop out of the June course and there was now an unexpected opening!  It was mine, I was in!  (Just as well too, because in August I was moving from Brighton to London to Dover and back, and didn’t know which was up!)

So on Thursday, June 19th, I boarded a train and set off on my trip to the tiny little Dorset town of North Chideock…  A bit more than 3 months later, I’ve realized it wasn’t just a long weekend trip to Dorset…. it was, in fact, the beginning of a life long journey!