--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every midwife knows that not until a…" description: "\"Every midwife knows that not until a mother’s womb softens from the pain of labor will a way unfold and the infant find that opening to be born. Oh fri..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/957/rumi-56_awakened_every-midwife-knows-that-not-until-a-mot_3032477.jpg" --- # Every midwife knows that not until a mother’s womb softens… ![“Every midwife knows that not until a mother’s womb softens from the pain of labor will a way unfold and the infant find that opening to be born. Oh friend! There is treasure in your heart, it is heavy with child. Listen. All the awakened ones, like trusted midwives are saying, 'welcome this pain…” quote by Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/957/rumi-56_awakened_every-midwife-knows-that-not-until-a-mot_3032477.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/957/rumi-56_awakened_every-midwife-knows-that-not-until-a-mot_3032477.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/957/rumi-56_awakened_every-midwife-knows-that-not-until-a-mot_3032477.jpg) > “Every midwife knows that not until a mother’s womb softens from the pain of labor will a way unfold and the infant find that opening to be born. Oh friend! There is treasure in your heart, it is heavy with child. Listen. All the awakened ones, like trusted midwives are saying, 'welcome this pain. It opens the dark passage of Grace.” [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Pain of labor softens the womb, allowing birth; heart‑treasure emerges through suffering and grace. **In simple terms:** Pain opens the way to new life and inner treasure. Key Takeaway Embrace hardship as a path to growth. Themes spirituality birth pain Mood mystical encouraging Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - personal crises - creative endeavors - spiritual practice Key Concepts transformation grace inner wealth Questions to Reflect On - How do you discern productive suffering? - What supports help navigate pain? A Different Perspective Not all pain leads to positive outcomes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Awakened](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awakened/) [Born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/born/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [Grace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grace/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Heavy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heavy/) [Infant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/infant/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) [Midwife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/midwife/) [Midwife Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/midwife-knows-4960490/) [Midwives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/midwives/) [Midwives Saying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/midwives-saying-4960488/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Opening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opening/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Pain Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain-labor-4960489/) [Passages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passages/) [Treasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/treasure/) [Trusted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trusted/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Welcome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/welcome/) [Womb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/womb/) ## Related quotes > [I am just one of many many thousands of midwives, who are devoted to saving lives gently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-lim/i-am-just-one-of-many-many-thousands-of-midwives-who-are-devoted-to/) [Robin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-lim/) > [I had amazing midwives when I first became a teen-aged mom, and each of the five times I gave birth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-lim/i-had-amazing-midwives-when-i-first-became-a-teen-aged-mom-and-each/) [Robin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-lim/) > [Poets are the mad midwives to reality. They see not what is, nor what can be, but what must become.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-simmons/poets-are-the-mad-midwives-to-reality-they-see-not-what-is-nor-what/) [Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-simmons/) > [After disasters, reproductive healthcare falls by the wayside. Yet babies continue to be born. When all infrastructure falls apart, when the hospitals and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-lim/after-disasters-reproductive-healthcare-falls-by-the-wayside-yet/) [Robin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-lim/) > [ Women are being told to get midwives \[in UK\] because there's not enough room and there's not enough pain medicine at the hospitals. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/women-are-being-told-to-get-midwives-in-uk-because-there-s-not-enough/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [My wife and I would be very comfortable having a baby at home or using one of the terrific nurse-midwives at the hospital.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-bohjalian/my-wife-and-i-would-be-very-comfortable-having-a-baby-at-home-or/) [Chris Bohjalian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-bohjalian/) > [When you destroy midwives, you also destroy a body of knowledge that is shared by women, that can’t be put together by a bunch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ina-may-gaskin/when-you-destroy-midwives-you-also-destroy-a-body-of-knowledge-that/) [Ina May Gaskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ina-may-gaskin/) > [It's not just the making of babies, but the making of mothers that midwives see as the miracle of birth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-katz-rothman/it-s-not-just-the-making-of-babies-but-the-making-of-mothers-that/) [Barbara Katz Rothman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-katz-rothman/) > [Midwives and doctors play a crucial role preventing unnecessary maternal deaths. They educate women about nutrition, health and family planning. And they step in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liya-kebede/midwives-and-doctors-play-a-crucial-role-preventing-unnecessary/) [Liya Kebede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liya-kebede/) > [There is none dwelling in the house but God. When a man is awakened he melts and perishes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/there-is-none-dwelling-in-the-house-but-god-when-a-man-is-awakened-he/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [If your heart isn't yet illumined Be awake always, be a seeker of the heart, Be at war continually with your carnal soul. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/if-your-heart-isn-t-yet-illumined-be-awake-always-be-a-seeker-of-the/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“We must always remember that we are only midwives—if we want praise for progeny we must give birth to our own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-athill/we-must-always-remember-that-we-are-only-midwives-if-we-want-praise/) [Diana Athill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-athill/) > [I had such a nurturing team of midwives looking after me with my first little girl, and their support gave me so much confidence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-piper/i-had-such-a-nurturing-team-of-midwives-looking-after-me-with-my/) [Katie Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-piper/) > [“Midwives do not fear life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-diamant/midwives-do-not-fear-life/) [Anita Diamant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-diamant/) > [Midwives not only save lives. They are also actors of social change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabella-lovin/midwives-not-only-save-lives-they-are-also-actors-of-social-change/) [Isabella Lovin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabella-lovin/) ## More by Rumi > [The love religion is all that is written here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/the-love-religion-is-all-that-is-written-here/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [And so it is, that both the Devil and the angelic Spirit present us with objects of desire to awaken our power of choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/and-so-it-is-that-both-the-devil-and-the-angelic-spirit-present-us/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [We began as mineral. We emerged into plant life, and into the animal state, and then into being human, and always we have forgotten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/we-began-as-mineral-we-emerged-into-plant-life-and-into-the-animal/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [There is a morning inside you waiting to burst open into light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/there-is-a-morning-inside-you-waiting-to-burst-open-into-light/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Sometimes you hear a voice through the door calling you... This turning toward what you deeply love saves you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/sometimes-you-hear-a-voice-through-the-door-calling-you-this-turning/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“You’ve so distracted me, your absence fans my love. Don’t ask how. Then you come near. “Do not…” I say, and “Do not…,” you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/you-ve-so-distracted-me-your-absence-fans-my-love-don-t-ask-how-then/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [There is something to be said for anyone who sits alone with dignity and silently begs for God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/there-is-something-to-be-said-for-anyone-who-sits-alone-with-dignity/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Tis easy to break an idol, very easy: to regard the self as easy to subdue is folly, folly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/tis-easy-to-break-an-idol-very-easy-to-regard-the-self-as-easy-to/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Today, let us swim wildly, joyously in gratitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/today-let-us-swim-wildly-joyously-in-gratitude/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [I have no name for what circles so perfectly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/i-have-no-name-for-what-circles-so-perfectly/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [What draws friends together does not conform to the laws of nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/what-draws-friends-together-does-not-conform-to-the-laws-of-nature/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [We are born of love. Love is our mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/we-are-born-of-love-love-is-our-mother/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Water, stories, the body, all the things we do, are mediums that hid and show what's hidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/water-stories-the-body-all-the-things-we-do-are-mediums-that-hid-and/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [If your heart isn't yet illumined Be awake always, be a seeker of the heart, Be at war continually with your carnal soul. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/if-your-heart-isn-t-yet-illumined-be-awake-always-be-a-seeker-of-the/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“I came back to You because I could not find the kind and decent things I found in You anywhere else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/i-came-back-to-you-because-i-could-not-find-the-kind-and-decent/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) [Explore all 1,818 Rumi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) ## More Awakened quotes > [An enlightened awareness is within each one of us, right at this moment. This enlightened awareness is truly unborn and marvellously illuminating; and everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bankei-yotaku/an-enlightened-awareness-is-within-each-one-of-us-right-at-this/) [Bankei Yotaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bankei-yotaku/) > [If your heart isn't yet illumined Be awake always, be a seeker of the heart, Be at war continually with your carnal soul. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/if-your-heart-isn-t-yet-illumined-be-awake-always-be-a-seeker-of-the/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [There’s been a problem, a problem eating away at me from the inside out. I’ve become weak, I’ve shown human compassion, and it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kane/there-s-been-a-problem-a-problem-eating-away-at-me-from-the-inside/) [Kane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kane/) > [Although all men are born free, slavery has been the general lot of the human race. Ignorant--they have been cheated; asleep--they have been surprised;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/although-all-men-are-born-free-slavery-has-been-the-general-lot-of/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION is a manual and a call to action for awakened patriots who are too intelligent to believe the leftist media lies and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-palin/righteous-indignation-is-a-manual-and-a-call-to-action-for-awakened/) [Sarah Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-palin/) > [Don Quixote followed nature, and being satisfied with his first sleep, did not solicit more. As for Sancho, he never wanted a second, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/don-quixote-followed-nature-and-being-satisfied-with-his-first-sleep/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [When I write about "realizations," I am describing a state in which a practitioner has wisdom of who she or he is, and has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-targ/when-i-write-about-realizations-i-am-describing-a-state-in-which-a/) [Russell Targ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-targ/) > [To live a present and awakened life, simply be responsive to the moment. It is very simple. If you are hungry, eat. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-jacobson/to-live-a-present-and-awakened-life-simply-be-responsive-to-the/) [Leonard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-jacobson/) > [I believe that it is truly important for everyone to confront in dialogue the historical reality of the Reformation, its consequences and the responses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/i-believe-that-it-is-truly-important-for-everyone-to-confront-in/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [“The truth is: while it may have been rough getting here, I’ve awakened to a dream. The most incredible man in the world came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tessa-dawn/the-truth-is-while-it-may-have-been-rough-getting-here-i-ve-awakened/) [Tessa Dawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tessa-dawn/) > [In our true blissful essence of mind is known that everything is alright forever and forever and forever...listen to the silence inside the illusion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/in-our-true-blissful-essence-of-mind-is-known-that-everything-is/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [At certain times, a silent mind is very important, but 'silent' does not mean closed. The silent mind is an alert, awakened mind; a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thubten-yeshe/at-certain-times-a-silent-mind-is-very-important-but-silent-does-not/) [Thubten Yeshe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thubten-yeshe/) > [In Buddhism, there are three gems: Buddha, the awakened one; Dharma, the way of understanding and loving; and Sangha, the community that lives in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/in-buddhism-there-are-three-gems-buddha-the-awakened-one-dharma-the/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [What portion in the world can the artist have, Who has awakened from the common dream, But dissipation and despair?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/what-portion-in-the-world-can-the-artist-have-who-has-awakened-from/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [The living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/the-living-word-awakened-my-soul-gave-it-light-hope-joy-set-it-free/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) [Browse all 330 Awakened quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awakened/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Every midwife knows that not until a mother’s womb softens from the pain of labor will a way unfold and the infant find that opening to be born. 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