Traditional prayer
Prayer Before Childbirth
O Lord God, Creator of all things, strong and awe-inspiring, just and merciful, who alone art good and kind;
who didst deliver Israel from every evil, making our fathers dear to Thee, and didst sanctify them by the hand of Thy Spirit;
who, by the working of the Holy Spirit, didst prepare the body and soul of the glorious Virgin Mary to become a worthy dwelling for Thy Son;
who didst fill John the Baptist with the Holy Spirit and make him leap for joy in his mother’s womb:
accept the sacrifice of a contrite heart, and the fervent desire of Thy handmaid N., who humbly prays for the safekeeping of the child Thou hast given her to conceive.
Guard Thine own portion, and defend it from every deceit and injury of the cruel enemy,
that, with the hand of Thy mercy as its midwife, her child may come happily into the light, be kept for holy rebirth in Baptism, serve Thee always in all things, and be found worthy to attain eternal life.
Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Latin
Oremus.
Domine Deus, omnium Creator, fortis et terribilis, justus et misericors, qui solus bonus et pius es;
qui de omni malo liberasti Israel, faciens tibi patres nostros dilectos, et sanctificasti eos manu Spiritus tui;
qui gloriosae Virginis Mariae corpus et animam, ut dignum Filii tui habitaculum effici mereretur, Spiritu Sancto cooperante praeparasti;
qui Joannem Baptistam Spiritu Sancto replesti, et in utero matris exsultare fecisti:
accipe sacrificium cordis contriti, ac fervens desiderium famulae tuae N., humiliter supplicantis pro conservatione prolis, quam ei dedisti concipere:
custodi partem tuam, et ab omni dolo et injuria duri hostis defende;
ut obstetricante manu misericordiae tuae foetus ejus ad lucem prospere veniat, ac sanctae generationi servetur, tibique in omnibus jugiter deserviat, et vitam consequi mereatur aeternam.
Per eumdem Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum.
Amen.
About this prayer
The Rituale Romanum, the Church’s book of sacraments and blessings, contains a blessing for a woman with child in the dangers of childbirth: Benedictio mulieris praegnantis in periculis partus. The priest begins with verses from the Psalms (“Salvam fac ancillam tuam,” save thy handmaid), says two prayers over her, sprinkles her with holy water while Psalm 66 is said, and ends with a prayer that God’s holy angels dwell in her home and guard her and her child in peace, and a blessing of mother and child. This is the second of the two opening prayers. We give its Latin from a public-domain edition and our own English translation; the translation is ours, not an official one. One phrase needs a word: the Latin asks that the child be kept sanctae generationi, literally “for a holy generation”; the 1964 English edition of the Roman Ritual reads it as rebirth in Baptism, and we follow that reading.
Its opening borrows the words of an older prayer in Scripture, Nehemias’s prayer in 2 Machabees: “O Lord God, Creator of all things, dreadful and strong, just and merciful... who deliverest Israel from all evil, who didst choose the fathers and didst sanctify them: Receive the sacrifice for all thy people Israel, and preserve thy own portion” (2 Machabees 1:24–26, Douay-Rheims). Then it names two pregnancies God has already blessed. He prepared the Virgin’s body and soul to be a worthy dwelling for His Son. And when Mary greeted Elizabeth, “the infant leaped in her womb” (Luke 1:41, Douay-Rheims). The God who did that is asked to be the midwife of this birth.
It is a blessing a priest gives, so ask your parish priest to bless you before your due date. In the meantime the words are yours to pray: say your own name at “N.,” or let your husband, your mother or a friend pray it over you by name.
This is a prayer, not medical advice. Keep every appointment and follow your doctor or midwife. St. Anne, the Virgin’s mother, is invoked by tradition as patroness of women in labour (Catholic Encyclopedia, “St. Anne”).
When to pray it
- In the last weeks before your due date.
- When labour begins, and between contractions if you can.
- If the pregnancy or delivery becomes difficult or frightening.
- Prayed over you by your husband, by name, on the night before you go to the hospital.
- If you feel unwell in pregnancy or after the birth, call your doctor or midwife first; in an emergency, call 911.