Beautiful Sculpture of an Unassisted Birth (Origin Unknown)

Beautiful Sculpture of an Unassisted Birth (Origin Unknown)

In this beautiful sculpture, a lone woman presses herself against a tree as she births her baby, unassisted. With one arm wrapped around the tree for support, she reaches down, catching her baby with the hand of her other arm. Her legs strongly hold the weight of her body as she births in a squatting position, the firmly chiseled muscle of one calf visible beneath her bending knee. As her body is releasing her baby, the mother’s head tilts upwards, eyes closed and lips soft. The composition of the sculpture is perfect, with an energy coursing around and through the woman’s body, which remains firmly rooted by powerful legs that reach down into the ground just like the tree to which she is bound.

Other pregnant women can utilize this image in several ways. The sculpture depicts a woman who is birthing in the squatting position, supported from her back by the tree. In real life, this position is an ideal way in which to birth a baby, utilizing the downward pull of gravity to the mother’s advantage. The statue also shows a woman who births her baby without the aid of any caregiver other than herself. In addition to the growing movement towards a midwifery model of birth in the US, there are many women who have also chosen to birth their babies unassisted. Powerful stories of these women’s successful births can help to remind other pregnant women that birth is a natural process of which they are a part. The primary people involved in birth are mother and child, and firm knowledge of this is empowering for the pregnant woman.

Although I have found the image of this statue on several websites, I have been unable to locate any information about the artwork itself. I am extremely interested in this statue, its whereabouts, and the artist who made it. If anybody knows any of this information, please let me know too!