Ancestral Womb & Postpartum Care Program (AWPC)
The AWPC Program brings healing treatments as well as reproductive and emotional health education and support to communities in Denver/ Boulder Front Range and Native American Reservations.
CRMC, HAFN and DAR are collaborating in offering an ancestral
“Closing of the bones / Cerrada" ceremony.
This treatment tends to new parents in the postpartum time (even years after giving birth) as well as trauma survivors. The offering includes an herbal bath at home or in a sauna followed by a womb massage and the closing using woven scarves/rebozos, integrating traditional ancestral knowledge throughout.
There is a suggested fee for the treatment as well as available scholarships.
Herbal Bath at Home or in a sauna
womb massage
the closing using woven scarves/rebozos
It is our intention to support people in our community through the Postpartum journey. Healing after birth is a potent and vital part of life. It can bring deep healing to the birthing person to be held during this time and honored. Across cultures and lineages, these postpartum healing traditions consist of deep rest, warming therapies and foods, ceremony, bodywork, and community support. The core of the healing traditions we want to support the community with involves a traditional Closing of the Bones Ceremony (Cerrada/Cerrando las Caderas). With the support of CRMC and DAR, we have been able to begin putting this dream into motion.
The ceremony begins with the birthing person being supported through a Temazcalli, a structure that is heated with fire and creates a sauna. In this Temazcalli the person is bathed with an herbal bath which supports their spirit in returning to their body. Temazcales can help prevent postpartum depression and psychosis because it helps ground the spirit in the body. From the Temazcalli we do the Closing of the Bones. This ceremony tends the physical, mental, psychic, and emotional bodies. We close the hips and channels that have opened during birth. We bring fire and sacred instruments and we start closing the body by wrapping Rebozos from the crown down the body to the feet. This regenerates the energy and allows the parents to rest.
Photo by: Rhianna Truex
Natural Building of Hempcrete and Cedar at Elk Run Farm. At the moment, we are using this scared structure; however, we continue to look for land to build a traditional temazcalli as well.
We also do abdominal massage during this postpartum healing time to tend to our “vientre caidos” or womb prolapse. It is natural that our womb needs to be repositioned and placed to have optimal health after birth. We have begun giving these ceremonies to local people in a cedar sauna and have begun training the next generation of people that want to support the community in these ways. Our traditional Indigenous care teachings have been passed down for generations and we want to continue that thread to the people that want to support this sacred journey. Our first cohort weaves in Indigenous healers, herbalists, midwives, doulas and caregivers, organizing to provide ancestral postpartum care.
We hope to get additional funds and support to build a traditional Temazcalli, bring elders to teach these sacred teachings, and to support the community in receiving these ceremonies. The ceremonies run around $300. This covers the cost of herbs, traditional faja/hip support band, wood, food, and time. We hope to have extra funding to support those that want to receive these ceremonies but are unable to pay out of pocket.
We are open to receiving financial donations, to directly fund these sessions
on an individual or monthly basis.
These offerings can also be offered at home.
If you are interested in learning more about these ceremonies or to learn the craft yourself, you can also reach out to join the next cohort trough The Community Roots Midwife Collective website