Jewish birth and pregnancy information... and inspiration


Perspectives on Jewish birth and pregnancy, including personal experiences, health information, and birth-related customs, are on this page, categorized under the headings below. Natural Jewish Parenting's writers draw from their own well of knowledge and life experience and from the depths of our Jewish sources on both the physical and spiritual aspects of childbirth.

Birth is miraculous in a very revealed and open way even for women who don't consider themselves "religious." A mother-to-be watches her belly grow and says to herself, "This is a miracle." She feels the baby kick: "A miracle." She is transformed into a mother the moment she sees the face of her newborn girl or boy and she knows that it's nothing less than a miracle.

There is simply no other way to make sense of the newness, the wondrousness, the sheer awesomeness of a brand-new person in the world. Where did this human being come from? Genetics and biology can only go so far in explaining the mystery of pregnancy and birth; the rest belongs to the realm of the miraculous.

Timeless customs surrounding Jewish birth help new parents express their gratitude and their wonder at being partners with G-d in creating a child. During pregnancy, Jewish women can deepen their consciousness of the spiritual side of their experience through prayers and practices handed down through generations -- and contemporary Jewish women are drawing from tradition to develop their own ways of marking the profound transformation to motherhood.

In the pages of Natural Jewish Parenting, everything about Jewish pregnancy and birth is fair game for our writers, from physical health issues to the deepest spiritual insights (sometimes both in the same article!).



The links below will take you to articles about Jewish birth and pregnancy from Natural Jewish Parenting magazine. Some articles are reprinted in full; others are excerpts. (If an article title is plain text and does not link to another page, then it is currently available only in print copies of NJP. Back issues are available at the NJP Shop. Click here to order back issues. NJP Shop will open in a new window.)

Over time, I will be making more articles available online. New articles will be added here after each new issue is published, and exclusive web-only content will also be added.



The new issue of Natural Jewish Parenting (#14) has a special 24-page section all about "Better Birth—Jewish Style." Sample articles and excerpts from this and other issues are coming soon!