Has anyone had a Blessing Way?

Tomorrow night I am having a Blessing Way for a friend who is due to birth her twins soon. I have had a Blessing Way for each of my babies and I like to do it for my woman friends and women whose births I attend.

A Blessing Way is traditional to NOrth American Indians who mark the transition a woman makes when she births her baby. It's a more spiritual take on a "Baby Shower".
This time is seen as a time of recieving for the mother. A time when she is nurtured and honoured by her community of women. The Blessing Way ceremony acknowledges the commitment and energy involved in being a mother and gives her a time where all the energy is available for her to recieve.

Tomrorrow evening we will all share a meal that all of the woman friends have contributed to. There is always much laughter, love and warmth at a blessingway! Each of the women tomorrow night will bring threee beads. One each to represent the babies and one for the birthing Mama. These will be strung into a necklace that the birthing mother can wear for the remainder of her pregnancy and through her labour journey. The beads will represent our love and support for her and her babies. When we give the beads we will give with them our blessings, our positive thoughts and hopes for her labour and birth. Most of the women will have some special words for the Mama. Some women like to bring something that is personally special or significant to give to the birthing woman. I will bring the candle that burned on the night I birthed my last child...

Finally we will all wind some red string around our left wrists until we are joined in a circle. Each woman will cut the string around their neighbours wrist. The red string will remain on our wrists as a reminder each time we look at it of our birthing friend and the connection we all have. Each time we see it we will send out our love and positivity to send her on her journey.

At the end of the night each woman will take home a candle. When our friend enters labour I will begin the phone tree and we will all burn our candles and await the birth...