Welcome
The Birthkeeper of Bethlehem:
A Midwife's Tale by Bridget Supple
Salome is the Midwife there when Mary gives birth to Jesus.
This is her story.
Why is it we don’t know her name?
Why was she written out of history?
Why doesn’t her story feature in the nativity that you’ve heard every year?
The same month that The Birthkeeper of Bethlehem was published, it was revealed the tomb of the midwife there when Mary gave birth to Jesus had been found. Her name was Salome and she was a revered woman in early Christianity.
Learn the story of the midwife there at the beginning and at the end. Discover her wisdom, ancient crafts, herbs and friendships that formed in ancient Bethlehem. Reclaim a knowledge you will recognise in your bones. Ancient wisdom, ancient knowledge, women supporting women.
In The Birthkeeper of Bethlehem, we uncover the hidden world of biblical women including the very human experience of Mary, a young mother giving birth for the first time far from home.
Midwifery is the most ancient of professions – protecting both mother and baby through the journey of birth, using skills handed down from generation to generation to keep birthing women and their children safe in what historically could be a dangerous time.
This story of wisdom, skills and women will stay with you long after you have read it.
Praise for The Birthkeeper of Bethlehem
Alexandra Derwen, author and lead facilitator of the Sacred Circle end of life doula preparation
I love this book! It lulled me gently into a world my bones remember; then left me weeping cool tears that washed clear my soul. The reading of the book was a ceremony in itself; a love story to the skilled hands and open hearts that have always welcomed the first breath and witnessed the last breath; for as long as humans have lived in community there have been the midwives.
Thank you, Bridget, for this gift of a book; I have read it three times each in one go and the impact has been no less for me with each reading.
Robin Lim, grandmother, midwife, founder of Yayasan Bumi Sehat
Bridget’s writing casts the birth spell magically over me... (her) word-medicine reminds me that we are all woven together, threads of many faiths, cultures, and traditions, mountains and oceans between us, yet we are but one swaddling cloth of humanity.
Bridget, thank you, for reminding me to take a heartbeat, gaze more often at the stars, walk home from birth in the rain, astonished by this blessed way of life, ancient and newborn.
Gail Tully, creator of Spinning Babies®
Enter the inner thoughts and longings of a passionate midwife... midwifery values and wisdom, customs and innovations gently enrich the storyline.
If you want to know what it feels like to be a midwife in the home setting, read this book.
