Bonnie Walker of Bend, Ore., first heard of Blessingways when she was invited to a friend's ceremony. She found it such a powerful, moving experience that when she became pregnant with her daughter she decided she wanted one as well. This was especially important to her since she was planning a home birth.

"It's very powerful to realize that all of these women are thinking of you and praying for you while you're in labor," says Walker, founder of WebBabyShower.com. "This gives the expectant mother a lot of spiritual support."

The Blessingway is part of a Navajo tradition encompassing much more than the transition into motherhood. It is a ceremony that hopes for good luck and good wishes for those who are experiencing any transition. The idea is to ensure good luck, good health and blessings.

From the Navajo tradition, the idea gradually made its way into the mainstream via the midwives and natural birth movements of the 1970s, says Yana Cortlund, a co-author of Mother Rising: The Blessingway Journey Into Motherhood (Seeing Stone Press, 2004). It is still primarily doulas and midwives and those who have had Blessingways who continue to spread the word about his special celebration.

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