The Missing Piece in Postpartum Care… New mothers deserve more than a meal train

By June 9, 2026News

Supporting New Mothers with Ritual & Ceremony

Nine years ago, I spent time in Mexico, my intention was to visit friends living in the beautiful city of San Miguel de Allende and to connect with local midwives and doulas. What I found was the missing piece in postpartum care for newborn mothers – “la cerrada” (the closing), or commonly known as Closing the Bones, a ritual for honouring the completion of the cycle of pregnancy and birth.

For twenty-five years I had supported mothers and families through the birthing rite of passage, usually attending the mother two or three times following the birth. During one of these meetings, we would discuss their experience of birth, and I would offer support as a doula, counsellor and energy healer. At the time this felt like a completion, until learning Closing the Bones, where the mother is safely held in a womb like ‘temazcal’ – a steam bath to warm and cleanse the body, bathed with the herbal waters; then wrapped with traditional, woven Mexican shawls as a symbol of closing the pathways – physical, emotional, spiritual – which have opened during pregnancy and birth to receive her child. Every mother deserves to receive this nurturing healing ceremony.

The Womb (pictured):

The circular, dark structure represents the womb of Mother Earth. Emerging from the warmth of the temazcal symbolises a spiritual rebirth and renewal.

This one is a permanent structure at the El Charco del Ingenio (botanical gardens) in San Miguel de Allende, where a local shaman guides the process. For the new mother ritual we use a simple temazcal steam bath, created at home.

*This is a deeply meaningful experience which supports new mothers to integrate their birth experience – meal trains are always a most welcome support from the community too!

You can read about my experience in Mexico with the ritual here.  Remember, it is never too late for a mother to receive the Closing Ritual. I often receive requests from mothers of older children and recently held this for my daughter, who has given birth twice in the past three and a half years.

Anna Watts is a Sacred Birth Educator, Doula Trainer, Counsellor and Spiritual Healer. The Celebration of Birth Doula Academy offers regular Sacred Birth Doula Training and the Sacred Beginnings Postnatal Training for both new and experienced doulas to explore birth as a journey of transformation and healing.

Share