Ruth Ehrhardt's Blog

It is nearly two weeks since our dear Michel passed away, and the loss of this incredible human still sits heavy in my heart.

The news of Michel’s passing reached me just days after I returned home from a pilgrimage to my own birth land, Switzerland — the place of my earliest years, where I had not been back since my 20th birthday, 25 years ago. I spent time in the home I lived in as a baby, with my god family, in the mountains. The places, smells, and sounds stirred long-forgotten memories — a quiet homecoming of sorts. I stood beneath the trees that were planted when I was a baby and now tower over me, holding their own stories of time passed.

Visiting my eldest daughter, who is now living and working very close to where I once lived, was also profoundly connecting. Sharing a landscape familiar to us both, but for our own reasons, felt very special.

While there, I had the honour of attending the birth of a beautiful little girl high up in the mountains overlooking a magical lake. Samara and I have been friends and colleagues for over a decade, but this was our first birth together. Joined by Ale, a new midwife friend, we formed a circle of elephants around this birth — weaving a silent, steady web of safety around the birthing mother and her family.

Now, back home, I find myself in an integration phase — holding both the tenderness of Michel’s passing and the enormity of my journey. Here in South Africa, spring is beginning to show herself: longer, warmer days and African daisies greeting the sun each morning.

I am holding my heart gently as I continue to sit with it all. The enormity of Michel’s legacy sits with me, and many ideas bubble to the surface about how I — and we — can stay true to his work. Yet I also feel the need to honour the fact that he himself is still transitioning, and that he and his family require our quiet holding and respect. Transitions must be honoured with reverence.

As I shared in my previous newsletter, Michel repeated one message again and again: every mother and baby require our silence to find one another. “Do not wake the mother!” he would say. In this moment, I feel the same is true for Michel. May we offer him that silence as he crosses over.

If you feel called to walk more deeply with these themes of birth, life, and transition, here are some upcoming offerings:

Birth First Aid — a global, home birth–friendly learning space for birthkeepers.True Midwifery Study Spiral — with our next session on Supporting IVF Pregnancy and Birth led by Vera Dubrovine, 25 September 2025. Silent Birthkeeper (2026/2027) — add your name to the waiting list to be the first to know when bookings open.

The post Weaving Birth, Life and Death… appeared first on True Midwifery.

In all honesty, I have no words to express the loss of my friend, mentor, teacher Michel Odent.

At this time I feel I just want to sit in silence to honour his passing…in the same way he encouraged us to do for mother and baby as they transition.

I will miss his wisdom, his humility, his endless curiosity, his ability to think outside the box, his constantly challenging us…

His sense of humour…

May those of us left behind remember and stay true to his work and legacy. May we continue to bring peace to Earth by healing birth on this planet.

Go well Michel.

Hamba Kahle….*

“Hamba kahle” is an isiZulu and isiXhosa phrase meaning “Go well“. It is used as a farewell, often said to someone who is leaving, and it can also be a respectful way to say goodbye to a person who has died. 

The post Remembering my friend Michel… appeared first on True Midwifery.

I’ve been travelling and mostly unplugged these past weeks, but I keep dipping back into the True Midwifery online community to feel its pulse. And every time, I’m reminded how rare it is to find a space that runs on love, trust, and discernment.

It’s not that we all agree. Far from it. We come from different trainings, traditions, and ways of working. But there’s a deep respect for one another’s paths — and in the birth world, that’s something precious.

Lately, our upcoming Study Spiral has stirred up some big feelings for me around the topic of modern-day witch hunts. And I keep coming back to this: so often, they are about women not trusting each other. Turning on each other to feel safe, or to keep our footing in a system that doesn’t truly support us.

In birth work, it’s the same old pattern — patriarchy’s favourite trick: divide and rule.

The Splintering of Our Roles

One way this shows up is in the way we’ve created countless “safe” titles so we can be allowed to serve mothers and babies. Birthkeeper. Doula. Traditional Birth Attendant.

Once, all of these roles were simply what it meant to be a midwife — a person who stood beside the mother and baby through the threshold of birth. Now, we’ve been split and split and split again. With every division, we’re more restricted, more regulated, more over-specialised… and less able to offer the full, holistic care mothers and babies actually need.

A Lesson from the Anamaboya

I was reminded of this when I sat with the Anamaboya — the traditional Shona midwives in Zimbabwe. I shared with them the different titles we see nowadays, and they looked at me with quiet confusion, as if I’d just asked for a different word for love, or for water.

“What do you call yourselves?” I asked.

“Anamaboya,” they said simply. Midwife. Grandmother.

Their qualification? Being called to the work by God. A dream.
Their gift? Deep humility. Trust in birth. A willingness to learn. The knowledge that their true work is to love the mother.

Who Decides?

Not long ago, an empirical midwife I met offered me a definition I’ve been holding close:

A midwife is a midwife when recognised as such by her community.

It’s such a simple sentence, and yet it pulls at so many threads — identity, authority, recognition, belonging.

For me, this is not about deciding on one definition. It’s about opening the conversation and letting the questions breathe:

Who gets to decide what a midwife is?How does language include… and exclude?And how might our own divisions be keeping us from serving mothers and babies as fully as we could?

I’d love to explore these questions together in our upcoming Study Spiral.

With love,
Ruth

Join this month’s Spiral → true-midwifery1.teachable.com/p/true-midwifery-study-spirals

Last Spot in the Birth First Aid Course (starting 2 Sept) → true-midwifery1.teachable.com/p/birth-first-aid

The post What Does It Mean to Be a Midwife Today? appeared first on True Midwifery.

Yesterday was my birthday—my 45th trip around the sun—and I find myself reflecting on presence and surrender.

A few weeks ago, I took a bad tumble and hurt my foot. All my plans for hiking and walking with my family during the school holidays went out the window. Instead, I found myself mostly on the couch—delegating, surrendering. At first, I was frustrated. There’s only so much scrolling and streaming one can do (and there is a LOT of boring content out there!). Eventually, I had to shift.

I surrounded myself with my guitar, art supplies, and writing materials. I learned new songs, made some jewellery, sketched still lifes, and wrote—a lot. Sometimes, when we can’t “do,” we’re given a chance to receive. And in that stillness, long-dormant creativity can rise again.

I was finally back on my feet last week, and I relished the return of my walks. It’s winter here, and after the rains, everything is so green. The Aloes and Coral trees are in bloom—the fiery reds and oranges popping against the fresh green backdrop.

Then yesterday—on my birthday—I surrendered again, this time to the flu that’s been making its way through my household.

Apparently, the lessons of surrender aren’t quite over yet. So I write to you from bed, reflecting on all that this next chapter of life is asking me to let go of… and receive.

Upcoming Offerings

Study Spiral with Robyn Sheldon
Connect with the soul of the unborn child in this sacred, interactive circle.
Thursday 31 July | 11:00–14:00 SAST
Book your spot here

Early Bird Ends 31 July – Two Signature Courses:
Birth First Aid for Mother & Baby (starts 2 Sept)
For midwives, doulas, and birthkeepers—practical, respectful responses to real-life birth situations.
Enroll here

Basic Needs of Babies (starts 30 Sept)
A Montessori-informed exploration of newborn care for parents and professionals alike.
Join the course

Self Sufficiency in Childbirth
A 4-week journey for couples preparing for conscious, autonomous birth.
16, 23, 30 October & 6 November | 18:30–21:00 SAST
Reserve your place

The post My Birthday and Surrender appeared first on True Midwifery.

Reflections on a Weekend with Michel and Liliana

Meeting online can feel disconnected and disjointed—but over the last five years of holding online spaces through True Midwifery, I have come to know that it is possible to create a beautiful and safe container virtually. That when intention is pure and messages come from the heart, they always find their way to the hearts of others.

This past weekend, we were honoured to sit with Michel Odent and Liliana Lammers. Two humble, living legends who have committed their lives to sharing the deep, often forgotten truths of birth. They speak of birth through the lens of physiology and true human nature—reminding us again and again just how simple birth is… and how easy it is to get it wrong.

Or in Liliana’s own words:

“It’s easy to make a birth difficult.”

What they share is profound and deeply moving. That birth is powerful, for both mother and baby. And that when we simply leave them be—not abandoning them, but protecting them (as Michel so often says, “The key word is protection!”)—then what is ignited is love, connection, and a deep sense of safety and belonging.

For the baby, this is the beginning of being received by the world.

For the mother, her Mama Bear is born. Her inner knowing awakens—what it means to mother this child.

Michel and Liliana are torchbearers, both living and teaching this truth. They walk their talk. They show us, again and again, that this is the reality—the physiology of labour. And they keep sharing it, tirelessly, because we need to hear it. Again. And again.

Coming back to the simple.

I am grateful.

And I want to honour and remind us that here in the True Midwifery space—through every course, circle, and interaction—we begin from this place:

The basic needs of mother and baby. Always.

Stay Connected

Explore what’s unfolding in the True Midwifery space:

  Join the upcoming Study Spiral with Robyn Sheldon ›   Book your place for Birth First Aid ›   Enroll in The Basic Needs of Babies course ›

Come as you are. Be part of the conversation.
TrueMidwifery.com

The post Coming Back to the Simple appeared first on True Midwifery.

Fifteen years ago, as a student midwife and doula, I was beginning to question my place in the world of birth work.

Though the language of “trusting birth” was everywhere, the practices I witnessed told a different story. Coaching, managing, intervening—whether subtle or overt—seemed baked into even the most “natural” birth environments. I felt uneasy, isolated, and uncertain.

At that time, I found myself drawn again to the writings of Michel Odent. His words gave shape to something I instinctively felt but couldn’t yet articulate: that birth, as an involuntary process, cannot be helped—only protected. I searched to see if he had written anything about doulas and discovered something unexpected: a doula course in London, taught by Michel and a woman named Liliana Lammers. It was happening just days before I was due to attend a birth in Edinburgh. I changed my travel plans.

Those three days became a turning point in my life. I remember the feeling of finding my teachers—my mentors. Sitting in circle with Michel and Liliana, I experienced a kind of cellular realignment. Their presence, their stories, their science, their reverence for undisturbed birth helped clarify and confirm everything I had been feeling. It was like being handed a compass.

That experience birthed something else too: my book, The Basic Needs of a Woman in Labour, was a direct attempt to capture and share the essence of what I received from them.

Over the years, I’ve had the honour of reconnecting with them—teaching alongside Michel, attending their online courses, and most recently, sitting with them in person again in Amsterdam. But now, with Michel having just turned 95, and his public teaching naturally becoming more rare, each opportunity to sit at their feet feels even more precious.

This weekend, I’ll be supporting the upcoming Paramana Doula Course, and I’m filled with both reverence and joy. It’s open to anyone who wishes to protect and honour the physiological process of birth—from doulas to midwives to anyone called to this path.

Whether you are just beginning or coming full circle, I warmly invite you to join us.

Paramana Doula Course
With Michel Odent and Liliana Lammers
12–14 July 2025 | Online
Recordings available for all participants

True Midwifery community members receive a 10% discount.
To book: moonfeather7@gmail.com | +44 7443 656855

And as a gift to honour this return, my book The Basic Needs of a Woman in Labour will be available as a free Kindle download during the course dates (12–14 July):
https://mybook.to/basicneedsENG

With love and trust in the birth process,
Ruth

The post Returning to the Source: Sitting Again with my Mentors in Birth appeared first on True Midwifery.

In our fast-paced world, the arrival of a newborn offers an invitation to pause, reconnect, and reflect on what these smallest humans truly need from us.

Maria Montessori spoke of the spiritual embryo, a phase of human development that is as significant as the physical growth within the womb. She believed that after birth, the newborn still requires a special, nurturing environment — animated, loving, warm, and rich with nourishment — where everything is done to accommodate, and nothing to hamper their development.

This is the heart of The Basic Needs of Babies course and workshop.

Designed for parents-to-be, new parents, grandparents, educators, health professionals, midwives, doulas, and birth attendants, this online course is a space to explore how we can gently and practically meet the fundamental needs of newborns.

Whenever we gather to run this course, I am deeply moved by how it becomes a true time of deepening. Together, we slow down and become more present — for ourselves, for one another, and most importantly, for the babies arriving in our world.

Course topics include:
– Understanding the spiritual embryo and our responsibility in nurturing the newborn’s inner world
– Creating a sense of belonging and authentic connection for newborns and families
– Learning from pioneers such as Maria Montessori, Adele Costa Gnocchi, Frédérick Leboyer, Michel Odent, and Nils Bergman
– Exploring the basic needs of mothers in labour and the newborn child
– Becoming fluent in the language of newborns through behaviour and subtle cues
– The neuroscience of connection and secure attachment

This is a time to pause, to listen, and to remember what the youngest humans need to feel safe, seen, and welcomed into the world.

The Basic Needs of Babies Course runs from 30 September 2025 to 21 April 2026, with an early bird discount available until 31 July 2025.

Click here to book your place

The post The Basic Needs of Babies – a Time to Slow Down appeared first on True Midwifery.

After a meaningful trip to Spain, I’ve just arrived home—blessed with a stretch of warm weather that gently welcomed me back. The heat of early Spanish summer is still lingering in my body, but the cooler air has helped soften the transition.

My time in Málaga was precious. The Birth First Aid course we held there was small, intimate, and deeply connecting. I felt that we weren’t just learning skills, but weaving threads of something much larger—something that may blossom into future collaborations and community roots.

Before heading home, I took my first-ever swim in the Mediterranean. As I floated in that salt-laced water, I imagined it absorbing into my skin like a protective layer of amniotic fluid from Mother Earth—a sacred cloak for the journey home.

Breech as a Variation of Normal: A Study Spiral

The first birth my mother ever attended was a breech birth. It was the experience that sparked her path as a local birthkeeper and wise woman for the women in our community.

Years later, when I was 28 weeks pregnant with my second daughter, I was told at a routine hospital check-up that she was breech—and that I would need a caesarean. I was shocked.
“What?” I exclaimed. I’d never heard of this variation of normal being met with such rigidity and invasive intervention.

With time, support, and gentle encouragement—using inversions and homeopathics—my daughter turned head-down at 36 weeks. She was born sunny-side up at the Southern Spring Equinox, a radiant and powerful entrance.

These experiences will guide our next Study Spiral on 26 June, where we’ll explore breech birth as a variation of normal. I’m honoured to be joined by wise woman Joy Horner, whose presence is sure to ground and inspire us.

 Learn more or book your place here

The Self Sufficiency in Childbirth Course – Begins 3 July

This 4-week online course was born in response to a deep call from our community:
A longing for a space where pregnant couples can truly connect, explore, and prepare for autonomous, soulful birth.

This isn’t just another antenatal class. It’s a guided journey of self-inquiry, awareness, and connection—where your inner knowing is honoured, and your questions are held with care.

We’ll explore topics such as:

What self sufficiency in childbirth means to youAligning as a couple during this transformative timeProtecting your birth space and making empowered choicesEngaging with systems (when needed) with clarity and strengthSharing stories, learning birth basics, and weaving community

Limited to 6 couples
Live Zoom sessions on Thursdays: 3, 10, 17 & 24 July
Recordings available for a month afterwards
€240 / $250 USD / £205 / R2500 per couple

 Book your place here
Questions? Write to us at truemidwife@gmail.com

Birth First Aid: Blossoming with Every Circle

After hosting two Birth First Aid workshops in Europe, I feel newly inspired by this ever-evolving offering. What I love most is how each person brings something of their own—how each session feels like a living organism, shifting and growing with every new group.

As we prepare for the next online series, I feel excitement and curiosity for who will gather this time—and what wisdom will unfold.

 Join the next course

Thank you for being part of this ever-growing circle. Whether you’re walking beside us already, or feeling the pull to join, you’re held with warmth and reverence.

With love,
Ruth
True Midwifery

The post Returning Home with Salt in My Hair and New Seeds Planted appeared first on True Midwifery.

For just over two weeks now, I’ve been walking a path of travel, connection, and learning—first to the Czech Republic, then to southern Spain. It’s been a journey full of beauty, remembering, and meeting birth workers who hold this work close to their hearts.

In the Czech Republic, I taught the Birth First Aid Course at Umeni Babictví (The Art of Midwifery) school. The days were full and deeply connecting, and we closed our time together with a collaborative song circle with Katcha—a soulful evening of women honouring birth through voice, presence, and warmth.

I then travelled to Da a Luz Oasis, a community and traditional midwifery school I last visited over a decade ago. It felt like coming home. I reconnected with old friends and finally met some of the beautiful souls I’ve come to know through our online circles. The nearby river’s cool waters, the sunlit days—it’s been a blessing.

Today I am travelling to Malaga, preparing for another Birth First Aid course (yes, there’s still space if you’re nearby and feeling called!). And soon I’ll return home to Cape Town, to winter’s invitation: to hibernate, be close to my family, and create from stillness.

And here’s what’s coming next…

Study Spiral: Breech Births with Joy Horner

26 June 2025 | 11:00–14:00 SAST
A deep and rich learning space with UK birthkeeper and former midwife Joy Horner. Through stories and images, Joy shares decades of experience supporting breech births in a world that often says, “You can’t.” This is for anyone wanting to understand the real skill, strength, and stories behind physiological breech birth.

More info & booking here »

Self Sufficiency in Childbirth

For Pregnant Couples | July 2025 | Thursdays via Zoom
A 4-part online course for couples who want to birth with inner clarity, shared vision, and practical wisdom. We’ll create a space of connection, courage, and care—together.

Full details & booking form »

Online Birth First Aid Course (September 2025 – January 2026)

Join us from wherever you are for this beloved course on supporting birth safely and wisely.

From helping babies breathe to handling bleeding and breech births, we weave skill, story, and stillness into this global circle of learners.

Register or learn more »

Wherever you are on your journey, I hope to meet you in one of these spaces—or somewhere down the road.

With love and respect,
Ruth
True Midwifery

The post Walking With Birth: Notes from the Road & What’s Next appeared first on True Midwifery.

Written reflections for Mother’s Day — 11 May 2025

Yesterday was Mother’s Day — and with this commemoration of Mothers and Motherhood, I want to feel into the power of the lullaby: what it means for motherhood, and what it truly is.

The power of the lullaby.

There are a few threads I want to explore:

Discovering the power of the lullaby as a motherDiscovering its power in labourAnd witnessing how it settles the nervous system — not just for the baby, but for everyone

When I say “lullaby,” I don’t just mean Hush, Little Baby or Rock-a-bye Baby — though those songs have their place. It’s more than that.

Having had four children, I found myself — again and again — in the darkness and stillness of the night, alone with my baby. In those moments, I had to draw on an inner strength, very similar to how I had to tap into that inner strength in labour. There are times when every mother reaches that place — where it feels like you almost can’t go on, yet there you are: rocking, walking, lying with, or feeding your baby. Deep presence is called for. I believe that the essence of the lullaby was born from those moments.

It’s the rhythm, the repetition — that rocking motion, both sonic and physical — that makes a lullaby so powerful. Many are passed down through generations and across cultures. They’re usually very simple. Like the Zulu lullaby Tula Baba. Just Tula Baba, Tula Baba… over and over again. It’s not about the complexity. It’s about the transmission.

The lullaby is drawn from the place where you feel you have nothing left to give. It’s from that well that so much of motherhood is sourced. And it is a deep, incredible power to be able to tap into that.

In labour, I found something similar. Each of my births taught me something different, but in all of them, my voice became a tool. A resource. With my fourth birth, it wasn’t just a tool — it became a channel. When a surge came and I fully opened to it, a sound emerged that was high, pure, and clean. I wasn’t using my voice just to express; I was letting something move through me. It became a channelling of life force.

I’ve sung my whole life. It’s always been a way of expressing myself. But singing after birth — after having resourced myself through voice in labour and then using that same voice to connect with my children — something changed. I no longer feel like I’m singing from myself. I feel like I’m singing through myself. That I’m resourcing from the infinite.

That’s what labour teaches. What motherhood teaches. That we can only go so far within ourselves. There comes a point where we must draw from beyond — from life force, God, Great Spirit…

Now, when I sing, I don’t feel like I’m the one doing it.

My voice is the instrument, my body the tool, but what’s moving through is life itself.

That is the power of the lullaby.

The post The Power of the Lullaby appeared first on True Midwifery.