When the Due Date Is Close
The due date is getting closer. You feel it in your body and in the quiet thoughts that come at night. Alongside the joy, there is a natural sense of trepidation as labor approaches.
Jewish women have been saying tefillos before entering the delivery room for a very long time. A woman about to give birth knows clearly that she is completely in Hashem’s hands. That knowledge is itself a kind of tefillah.
Kapitel 20 of Tehillim, composed by Dovid HaMelech, opens with the words Ya’ancho Hashem b’yoim tzoro, “May Hashem answer you on a day of distress.” It was written for moments when everything hangs in the balance. Kapitel 20 of Tehillim is often used as a prayer for pregnancy and delivery, asking Hashem for help, protection, and a safe outcome.
Before You Say This Kapitel
Before you begin the kapitel, take a moment. You do not need a special place or a special time. Take a moment to speak to Hashem in your own words or with these:
Master of the Universe, the day is approaching and I pray the birth will be easy and safe. You who formed me and the baby in my womb, bring us out in peace. May Hashem answer you on a day of distress. Guard me and the baby, and let me embrace him healthy and whole. God of Meir, answer me.
If giving tzedakah, add:
In the merit of the tzedakah I give in the merit of Rabbi Meir, so may You bring my baby to light. Ribbono Shel Olam, I care for Your children. Please care for me and my baby.
Kapitel 20: The Full Prayer
מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד יְהֹוָה רֹעִי לֹא אֶחְסָר
בִּנְאוֹת דֶּשֶׁא יַרְבִּיצֵנִי עַל מֵי מְנֻחוֹת יְנַהֲלֵנִי
נַפְשִׁי יְשׁוֹבֵב יַנְחֵנִי בְמַעְגְּלֵי צֶדֶק לְמַעַן שְׁמוֹ
גַּם כִּי אֵלֵךְ בְּגֵיא צַלְמָוֶת לֹא אִירָא רָע כִּי אַתָּה עִמָּדִי שִׁבְטְךָ וּמִשְׁעַנְתֶּךָ הֵמָּה יְנַחֲמֻנִי
תַּעֲרֹךְ לְפָנַי שֻׁלְחָן נֶגֶד צֹרְרָי דִּשַּׁנְתָּ בַשֶּׁמֶן רֹאשִׁי כּוֹסִי רְוָיָה
אַךְ טוֹב וָחֶסֶד יִרְדְּפוּנִי כׇּל יְמֵי חַיָּי וְשַׁבְתִּי בְּבֵית יְהֹוָה לְאֹרֶךְ יָמִים
Mizmor l’Dovid. Hashem roi’i, loi echsor.
Bin’ois deshe yarbitzeini, al mei m’nuchos y’nahaleini.
Nafshi y’shoiveiv, yancheini v’maglei tzedek l’ma’an sh’moi.
Gam ki eileich b’gei tzalmoves, loi iro ro, ki Atoh imodi, shivt’cho umish’antecho heimoh y’nachamuni.
Ta’aroich l’fonai shulchon neged tzor’roi, dishanto vashemen roshi, koisi r’voyoh.
Ach toiv vochesed yird’funi kol y’mei chayoi, v’shavti b’veis Hashem l’oirech yomim.
Mizmor l’David. Hashem ro’i, lo echsar.
Bin’ot deshe yarbitzeni, al mei m’nuchot y’nahaleni.
Nafshi y’shovev, yancheni v’ma’gelei tzedek l’ma’an sh’mo.
Gam ki elech b’gei tzalmavet, lo ira ra, ki Ata imadi, shivt’cha u’mish’anteicha hema y’nachamuni.
Ta’aroch l’fanai shulchan neged tzoreray, dishanta va’shemen roshi, kosi r’vaya.
Ach tov va’chesed yird’funi kol y’mei chayai, v’shavti b’veit Hashem l’orech yamim.
A psalm of David. Hashem is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul, He guides me in paths of righteousness for the sake of His name.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of Hashem for the length of days.
Kapitel 20 is ten pesukim long. It moves from the personal cry of a person in distress to the shared voice of Klal Yisrael standing together in tefillah. Dovid wrote it for the moment when you need Hashem most, when the outcome is not in your hands. That is why Jewish women have chosen this kapitel before childbirth for so many generations.
What These Words Mean for You
Ya’ancho Hashem b’yoim tzoro “May Hashem answer you on the day of trouble.”
The kapitel opens with the word ya’ancho. May He answer.
Not only “may Hashem hear you.” The pasuk asks that He answer. A woman going into labor is not asking only for attention. She is asking for Hashem’s help in action. The Gemara in Sotah 11b teaches that the redemption from Mitzrayim came in the merit of the righteous women. For a woman entering labor, that can itself be a profound source of chizuk.
Yishlach ezr’cho mikoidesh “May He send you help from the sanctuary”
The word ezr’cho means your help, your support. Ezr’cho. Your aid. Dovid does not ask that help come from somewhere vague. He asks that it be sent mikoidesh, from the holy place itself.
For you, about to enter the delivery room, this is the tefillah that help will come from the highest place there is. True help comes from Hashem Himself, guiding the doctors and the medical staff.
N’ran’no bishu’osecho “We will shout for joy in your salvation”
The word n’ran’no means we will sing out, cry with joy. After the tension of the opening pesukim, the kapitel turns toward joy. The tefillah before hardship is not complete without the picture of the simchah that follows, and these words in Tehillim hold both.
This is the moment after the birth, when you hear that first cry, when you hold the baby. The tefillah before hardship is not complete without the picture of the simchah that follows, and these words composed b’ruach hakodesh hold both. You are davening right now for safe passage. These words hold the celebration that waits on the other side, a joy reflected in the tefillah for a new baby.
Va’anachnu kamnu vanis’oidod “But we rise and stand upright.”
Dovid contrasts those who collapse with those who rise. A woman in labor knows this feeling from inside her body: the moments when it feels like too much, and then, with Hashem’s help, the strength returns.
A woman in labor knows this feeling from inside her body. The moments when it feels like too much. And then, with Hashem’s help, the strength returns. This pasuk is your tefillah for that second wind, that inner koach that carries you through the hardest part.
How to Say This Tefillah
There is no single right time to say Kapitel 20. Some women say it every day in the final weeks before the due date. Others say it on the way to the hospital, or in the quiet minutes before labor begins. Your husband, your mother, or a close friend can say it on your behalf if you are unable to say it yourself. Hashem hears the tefillah of anyone who cares about you.
You can sit or stand. You can hold a Tehillim or read it from your phone. If you cannot manage the Hebrew, the transliteration or the English carry the same tefillah to Shamayim. Hashem hears every sincere tefillah, even if you are exhausted.
Before you begin, take a moment for kavanah. Ask Hashem to guide you through the birth and bring both you and the baby out in peace.
There is a deep connection between tefillah and tzedakah. The tefillah is your heart reaching up. The tzedakah is your hand reaching out to help another Yid. When you say this kapitel and also give tzedakah in the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, both rise together. Your davening and your chesed, joined as one. After the kapitel, you may add: Elokah d’Meir aneni!
Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness
The Gemara (Avodah Zarah 18b) tells how Bruria asked Rabbi Meir to rescue her sister, who had been condemned by the Romans to a house of shame. There seemed to be no way out. Rabbi Meir approached the guard with a bribe, teaching him to say “Elokah d’Meir aneni!” — “God of Meir, answer me!” — if he was ever in danger. When the guard asked for proof, Rabbi Meir threw a clod of earth at nearby man-eating dogs. They lunged to devour him, and he called out the words — the dogs turned away. The guard was convinced and released her, later using these powerful words to miraculously save his life. When we daven with these words, we are asking Hashem to answer our prayer in the merit of this great tzaddik and the miracles he merited.
This is exactly what a woman davens for before childbirth. To pass through the narrow place safely. To come out the other side holding her child. Giving tzedakah in the zechus of Rabbi Meir is asking Hashem to answer your tefillah in the combined merit of this great tzaddik and your own act of chesed.
Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities, founded 1799, supports talmidei chachamim and families in need in Eretz Yisrael. The talmidei chachamim at the kever of Rabbi Meir in Tiberias daven by name for those who reach out to them. Giving tzedakah for the poor of Eretz Yisrael in the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness is something Jewish women have done before childbirth for generations, and the stories of yeshuos are countless.
Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness
Frequently Asked Questions About Prayer for Safe Childbirth
A Blessing for Your Delivery
As the day approaches, your heart yearns for Hashem’s protection.
May Hashem answer you on the day of your delivery. May He send you help from the highest place and sustain you with strength you did not know you had. May the birth be easy and safe, for you and for your baby. May you hold your child in your arms, healthy and whole, and may that moment fill your heart the way only a mother’s heart can be filled. And may the One who formed this neshamah in your womb watch over both of you, today and always.
You can submit a prayer request to the scholars at the kever of Rabbi Meir in Tiberias at no cost. They will daven for you and your baby by name through Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities. And if you would like to give tzedakah in Rabbi Meir’s zechus as well, your kindness will rise together with your prayer.
