Prayer for a safe delivery in childbirth

A prayer to Christ for the hour of birth, prayed by a husband and wife. Its author is not known; it has been prayed in English since at least 2007.

Picture: William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Maternal Admiration, 1869

Plain English

O all-merciful Christ our God,look upon us and keep us, Your servants,from fear and from evil spiritsthat hope to destroy the work of Your hands.And when our hour and our time come,grant us deliverance according to Your grace.

Look upon us in Your mercy,and free Your servants from torment.Ease the hardships of our pregnancy,give us the strength and courage to give birth,and make it possible by Your almighty help.For this is Your wondrous creation,the power of Your might,the work of Your grace and mercy.Amen.

Traditional wording, 2007

O all-merciful Christ our God, look upon us and preserve us, Thy servants,from fear and evil spirits, which hope to destroy the work of Thy hands.And when our hour and time will come, grant us deliverance according to Thy grace.

Look upon us in Thy mercy and free Thy servants from torment.Alleviate the hardships of our pregnancyand grant us the strength and fortitude to give birthand enable this with Thine all-powerful help.For this is Thy wondrous creation, the power of Thy omnipotence,the work of Thy grace and mercy. Amen.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the English copy of 2007, the oldest found. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: Author unknown, as posted on a family blog, Charming the Birds from the Trees, 2007.

When it is said

Parents expecting a child pray it at home during the pregnancy, asking ahead of time for help when the birth comes.

In the copies that are passed around, it follows a prayer for the baby’s health in the womb.

The Russian Orthodox diocese of Great Britain and Western Europe published both in 2026, in the mother’s own voice, for mothers to pray during their pregnancy.

Where it comes from

No author known

Who wrote it?

No one knows who wrote this prayer or for which book. The oldest copy found is in English, posted online in October 2007 by a mother whose family tried to pray it every day. Their daughter’s godmother had given them the prayers early in their first pregnancy.

Charming the Birds from the Trees, a family blog, 30 October 2007

A translation in print

The earliest printed copy found is a Romanian translation, at the start of Pământ roditor. The book is the Romanian edition of Fertile Ground, which the Orthodox Christian doula Laura Jansson wrote in English about pregnancy. It was printed in Iași in 2022 with the blessing of the Metropolitan of Moldavia and Bukovina.

Laura S. Jansson, Pământ roditor (Doxologia, 2022), the opening pages

The Scripture in it

A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.

John 16:21 Echoed Jesus speaks of a woman in labour whose time has come, the hour this prayer looks ahead to.

Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding to learn Your commandments.

Psalm 119:73 Echoed The unborn child is the work of God’s hands, as the psalmist was when he prayed “Your hands have made me”.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

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