ABSTRACT
Relationality refers to how a person's sense of who they are in the world is continually being shaped by their connections with other people. An integral aspect of all of life experience is that it occurs within a context of being attentive and responsive to other people. During any relational interaction, a two-way back and forth action occurs that prompts subtle changes within each person and in their sense of connection with each other. When a childbearing woman's relational experiences are empowering, she is more likely to have spiritual experiences and be aware of intrinsic power. Being in a spiritual experience during labour reveals the possibility of using intrinsic power to actively, effort-fully and responsively participate in the birth process. Spiritual experiences are different from ordinary lived experience. Awareness changes during spiritual experiences making them a type of non-ordinary conscious state. 'Being in the moment' expresses the idea of existing in the here and now.
