Reflections on a human experience that’s at once routine and exceptional; both very costly and very good.
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Life & Faith has covered many stories relating to birth over the years – incredible stories of courage and heartbreak, difficult decisions, life and death – but we’ve never done an episode on birth itself: what’s amazing about this process, what’s so hard about it, what makes it so meaningful for so many people.
This year Simon Smart is celebrating a once-every-four-years occasion (yes, he was born on 29 February!) and Natasha Moore is due to head off on maternity leave soon, so Justine Toh joins them for a conversation about birthdays – that is, birth ... days. And midwife Jodie McIver, author of Bringing Forth Life: God’s Purposes in Pregnancy and Birth, offers some insights on the journey to becoming a parent, including how surprisingly frequently pregnancy and birth – in story and as metaphor – feature in the Bible.
“I think the fact that God chooses birth to help us understand deep spiritual realities about his character and work in the world really gives honour to women’s bodies, and to these human experiences as well, as we kind of share in the cost of bringing forth life in our own little way.”
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EXPLORE
Jodie McIver, Bringing Forth Life: God’s Purposes in Pregnancy and Birth
A few other Life & Faith episodes related to birth, touching on disability, loss, infertility, and fostering:
Speak Up, Show Up
Intensive Care
When Life Doesn’t Go to Plan
Home Extension
Nothing but neurons
What love looks like
Pandethics
Home Extension
The Freedom Paradox
Choosing My Religion
The Cost of Compassion
An Evangelical Election
Divided States of America
The (Olympic) Spirit is in the House
Building Blocks of Change
Hope for humankind
Do Mention the War
The Muslim Jesus
Care in a time of Covid
The Pleasures of Pessimism
Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity
The ‘original sin’ of America - and Australia
A “GOOD” DEATH
Introvert,Extrovert
Create your
podcast in
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It is Free
The Hello Heaven Podcast
Devoted To Prayer
Cast The Word
Let Me Be Frank | Bishop Frank Caggiano’s Podcast | Diocese of Bridgeport, CT
The Bible Recap
BardsFM