Ancestral Womb and Postpartum Care Program

In partnership with Harvest of All First Nations (HAFN) and Drylands Agroecology Research (DAR)

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The emblem of the Harvest of All First Nations includes hands holding a plant growing from soil, with a mountain and water in the background, and a decorative border with black, yellow, and red stripes.

Healing after birth is a potent and vital part of life. It can bring deep health to the birthing person to be held and honored during this time

A large group of diverse women and children posing for a photo outdoors in front of a yurt and wooden fence, on a cloudy day.
Close-up of a person harvesting herbs in a garden, with focus on their hand reaching into the plants.
A woman with glasses and a red sash around her waist plays a large drum with a drumstick, eyes closed, in a room with wooden floors.

In collaboration with HAFN and DAR, Community Roots Midwife Collective’s Ancestral Womb & Postpartum Care (AWPC) Program—an Indigenous-led partnership—centers Indigenous peoples and people of color to revitalize traditional Indigenous midwifery, wellness ceremonies, and nourishing collective rematriation within Colorado. Through AWPC, we bring Closing of the Bones / Cerrada de Caderas and other culturally responsive, celebratory practices to communities across the Denver/Boulder Front Range, supporting healing after birth, trauma, and pregnancy releases, and guiding youth, community members, and birthing people through the potent postpartum journey with care rooted in ancestral traditions, respect, and ceremony.

AWPC Concilio

AWPC operates through the leadership of an organically formed Concilio, a consensus-based decision-making model of communal governance. Our Concilio is a non-hierarchical “council” that is predominantly Indigenous. There is no one person in a leadership position, rather we invite collective caretaking and power distribution to disrupt colonial structures of hierarchical leadership.

A woman with curly brown hair and a nose ring, smiling, wearing a wide-brimmed orange hat and a necklace, surrounded by orange and green plants, with a sunflower nearby in a bright outdoor setting.
A woman with long dark hair, wearing glasses and a black hoodie, squatting outdoors and holding a clump of soil with roots in her hands.
A smiling woman leaning on the white railing of a porch, wearing a brown embroidered jacket over a white dress, with greenery and cars in the background.
A woman standing outdoors in front of a flowering bush, smiling at the camera. She is wearing glasses, a taupe shirt, a brown and gray scarf, and a rust-colored jacket with a blue skirt.
Smiling woman with long dark hair, wearing a green ribbed turtleneck top, silver necklace, and earrings, leaning against a doorframe indoors.
A woman kneeling outdoors in a garden, surrounded by greenery and orange flowers, holding a flower close to her face, with baskets of flowers nearby.
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A woman dressed in colorful traditional clothing leaning over and smoking from a black pipe inside a yurt.

The Cerrada Ceremony (Closing of the Bones)

An ancestral practice that supports the postpartum body, spirit, and energy field. This ceremony includes:

  • A herbal bath to invite the spirit back into the body

  • Abdominal massage to tend the womb and support healing

  • The Closing of the Bones with Rebozos (traditional woven scarves) to energetically and physically close what was opened during birth

  • Use of fire and sacred instruments to regenerate and rebalance the physical, emotional, and spiritual bodies

In many traditions, Cerradas are offered in a Temazcalli. We currently offer Cerradas in-home or with the support of a cedar sauna, with hopes of building a traditional Temazcalli in the future.

We ask for an offering of $300-$650 to support the cost of the
ceremony. This goes toward covering the expense of herbs, supply costs, and the healers' time+expertise. Financial offerings and additional funding help support those who wish to receive the ceremony yet are unable to pay. We have an application available for every participant to help navigate the financial aspect.

We recognize the lineage of these traditions (Mesoamerican) and center the voices and teachings of those carrying it from their origins.To be in right relation and as an act of reciprocity, we ask that people who do not identify as someone who shares the direct lineage of this tradition do what they can to contribute financially toward this service. We are thankful for all meaningful contributions and acknowledge that it will look different for each person.

Four women gather on a wooden deck outside a yurt, arranging and holding fresh herbs and flowers. One woman in a black tank top and beige pants holds a blue bucket, another in glasses with a red top arranges flowers, a woman in brown with black and white polka pants holds a bouquet, and a woman in purple with colorful embroidery is standing and smiling. Hills and a cloudy sky are in the background.
Quotes from previous clients who received a Closing of Bones

"This ceremony was immensely healing for me after enduring two difficult miscarriages over the course of just four months. I expected to be filled with grief during the ceremony and instead received a clear message that I had grieved enough and I then allowed joy to come through! In the last five days since the ceremony, I have felt an incredible shift in my energy. I feel my body gaining strength and my creative energy returning. During the ceremony in my home, Lo and Christina made me feel deeply safe, secure, held, and connected."

"This ceremony was so powerful for me. My intention going into the ceremony was to bring the chapter of loss and struggle with fertility to a close and to emerge from the ceremony into a new chapter, a new story. The ceremony itself was so perfectly aligned with this. Being cleansed by the plants, having my womb space honored and tended to, being bound and emerging from that chrysalis - it was as if the metaphor that I was holding was being acted out in real life. I have felt the impact rippling on many levels of my being. I am so grateful that this resource exists within our community as I feel that these healing ceremonies work on very deep levels and can't be replaced by anything else. I feel very cared for, put back together with love, and happy to walk a new walk, tell a fresh story, and welcome my little one into my womb. I am filled with gratitude."

"It was a profound journey of accepting and integrating deeply the loss of my pregnancy at 24weeks. It was like a portal experience, where the energy moved both in my womb and on many levels of my being from the rough winter of grief and raw pain to a fresh, peaceful spring-time of renewal. The container created and held by Mariamor and Lo was powerful, intimate and oh so tender. They invited the angels in, and I felt transported from being in one place at the start of the ceremony, to a new place within myself, afterwards."

"The Cerrada is powerful medicine, perfect for healing in the tender postpartum time. Not only was it rare and helpful to have the dedicated space to care for my own wellbeing after birth, but I was nourished by the plants, connected to wisdom and beauty in the songs, and physically supported by the massage, wrapping, and faja. Lo and Felicia offered gentle, loving care, and because of their skill there were times I felt the earth mother herself was holding me. After the ceremony I have felt more connected to my inner self, more able to access the support of the earth, and more attuned to the wisdom of mothers before me. This connection is something every mother needs! Thank you for carrying the knowledge of the Cerrada ceremony and offering it to the community!"

First Moon Ceremony

First Moon is our coming-of-age circle for young people of color, guided by Indigenous adult leaders and held as a sacred, celebratory transition into adolescence. We welcome youth entering or moving through puberty—including those who haven’t begun bleeding—to connect with ancestral knowledge, body literacy, practical skills, and community care. Circles meet monthly with separate cohorts for ages 9–11 and 12–14.

This offering is free of charge to families. Our 2025–26 cohort is currently closed. For more information, please email Josie, First Moon Co-Lead, at josie@midwifecollective.org.

AWPC Garden

Our Medicinal Garden nourishes our relationship with our Earth and the plant beings who generously share their wisdom, teachings, and medicine with us.

The AWPC Medicinal Garden is guided by our Concilio member Christina Lopez and her family is located at her home, the Cavez Homestead, and tended to with the support of our friends at DAR and the AWPC cohort. This land is home to many of the plants that are essential to our Cerrada de Caderas offerings and our teachings year round.

We hope to receive additional funds and support to build a traditional Temazcalli, bring elders to share more of these sacred teachings, and to support the community in receiving. The ceremonies run around $300-$500. This covers the cost of herbs, traditional faja/hip support band, wood, food, and time. We hope to have extra funding to support those that want to receive the offering but are unable to pay out of pocket.