Closing ceremonies vary from person to person and can incorporate many elements. They are also often done with another member of the Birth Free Collective depending on what you want from your closing. They are a way to honour your birth or births, to help your body heal, and to emotionally and spiritually close from the more open state of pregnancy and birth.

They can be incredibly profound and of huge value both soon after birth and months or even years later. They can include family members, be done with your newborn being rocked in the same room, incorporate massage or reiki, drumming, singing, poetry, sharing stories, as well as the tradition of being bound in scarves, often known as rebozos. The practice originates in South America and I, and members of the Birth Free Collective, offer closings with gratitude to the women who have preserved and shared this knowledge.