You Are Still Open
The Sacred Portal of Postpartum
“A woman after birth is still between the ancestors and the living. You do not disturb her. You care for her. You feed her spirit so that she can return to us completely.”
— Yoruba oral tradition, as remembered by midwives of West Africa
After birth, a mother is open.
Open in body, in heart, in spirit.
This is not simply metaphor. It is memory—carried through womb-lines, oral herstories, ancestral practices, and now, confirmed by modern science.
Across the globe, from Mali to Marseille, from the Sahel to the Pyrenees, traditional birthkeepers have always known: childbirth does not end with delivery. It opens a threshold—a portal—through which the baby enters the world, and the mother herself is transformed. And that portal? It does not close overnight.
A Physiology of Openness
Postpartum, the mother’s body remains literally open:
The cervix, which opened to allow life through, takes weeks to close.
The uterus contracts slowly, leaving the inner lining raw and healing.
Organs and tissues must shift, re-nestle, return to their pre-pregnancy form.
The hormonal landscape rapidly changes: estrogen plummets, oxytocin surges, and the nervous system remains heightened, porous.
Neuroscience shows the mother’s brain undergoes major structural changes during this time—enhancing emotional sensitivity and bonding, but also increasing susceptibility to overwhelm, trauma, and depletion.
Herstories from Africa
In West African midwifery traditions, postpartum is treated as a liminal, sacred state. Among the Yoruba, Bambara, and Ewe peoples, mothers are cared for in ritual seclusion for 30–40 days. They are massaged with warm oils, steamed over herbs, sung to, fed soft nourishing foods, and held in deep rest.
“When she gives birth, her spirit becomes loose. It must be called back with heat, water, and song.”
— Bambara midwife, Mali (documented by Michelle Jackson, 2007)
In these traditions, the mother is not weak—she is sacred. Still hovering between worlds. Still carrying the trace of the ancestors she called upon in birth. She must be wrapped, held, and slowly, lovingly brought back.
Forgotten Wisdom from France & Europe
Before industrialized birth, European sages-femmes also honored the postpartum as a holy window. In regions like Brittany, Alsace, and Auvergne, mothers were not allowed outside for 40 days. This time, known as les relevailles, was a ritual return to community—only after the woman had been cared for, rested, and “closed.”
“Les relevailles étaient sacrées. On ne touche pas à une femme qui n’est pas encore refermée.”
(“The postpartum period was sacred. One must not disturb a woman who is not yet closed.”)
— Oral tradition, Alsace
There were binding practices—wrapping the abdomen in cloth (le serrage) to help the womb return and the energy “re-enter” the body. Women were offered vin chaud, broths, and warming herbs to rebuild blood and spirit.
Even today, echoes of this wisdom remain in Dutch kraamzorg—a uniquely preserved tradition of in-home postpartum care, where the mother is visited daily for up to 8–10 days to rest, recover, and be supported.
A Window into Modern Science
Perinatal researchers, doulas, and trauma therapists now echo what the grandmothers have always known.
“The postpartum time is a time when a woman is open, in every sense of the word—emotionally, physically, spiritually, energetically. She is most susceptible to external influences, and simultaneously, most available to healing and transformation.”
— Rachelle Garcia Seliga, INNATE Postpartum Care
The nervous system is still in labor. The mind is integrating birth. The spirit may still be “floating,” adjusting to the profound identity shift of becoming a mother. When this is not honoured, the mother may be left feeling fragmented, anxious, unseen.
What It Means to “Close the Portal”
To close the portal is to help the mother return—gently, slowly, fully.
In the Land of Mothers, I honour this. I offer:
Rituals of containment and closing (inspired by “Closing the Bones,” le serrage)
Gentle, warming food and herbal care
Sacred rest as a birthright
Storytelling and presence to help mothers process, integrate, and be witnessed
A space to say: You are still open—and you are not alone
This is Not the End of Birth. This is the Becoming.
The postpartum portal is a doorway. And the mother, too, is being born.
How we hold her during this time shapes her entire return. Into her body. Into her voice. Into her new self.
So let us remember the wisdom of those who came before:
Call back her spirit.
Wrap her in warmth.
Let her rest.
Let her be seen.
Let her be held.
“This is the time to wrap her, feed her, warm her, and sing her back into her bones.”
— Rachelle Garcia Seliga
