Levana (from Latin levare, "to lift"[1]) is an ancient Roman goddess involved in rituals pertaining to childbirth.
Augustine says that dea Levana is invoked when the child is lifted de terra, from the earth or ground.
[4] More likely, Levana was the goddess who oversaw the lifting of the child by the midwife immediately after birth.
Kneeling or squatting was a more common position for childbirth in antiquity,[5] and the newborn probably came to rest on the ground before the umbilical cord was cut.
[7] In the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, Levana is the name of the current queen of Luna (a human colony on the moon).