Birth Documentary Tonight!

Tonight I'm excited about about the Kodiak Birth Network showing the movie Orgasmic Birth.

This is a birth documentary which was completed in 2008 and follows 11 moms through their labors and births. The film has won many international film awards and has brought natural birthing back into the limelight. From the moment the flyers were put up and e-mails regarding the film was sent out, there have been people from the hospital and the clinics commenting on the title. The title turns some people away, but if someone doesn't come I think it has less to do with the title and more to do with just not wanting to see the film. One look at the trailer on the website and you can see that the movie isn't all about orgasms, rather about how to make birth healthy, safe and empowering for women. There was much debate between the director and her husband about what to title orgasmic birth and they considered "estatic" birth as well.

Check out the trailer at www.orgasmicbirth.com. In the movie there are interviews with Christine Northrup, a well known obstetrician, a gentleman who was the head of the World Health organization, well known midwives and couples featured in the movie.

From the Orgasmic Birth Website:
Joyous, sensuous and revolutionary, Orgasmic Birth brings the ultimate challenge to our cultural myths by inviting viewers to see the emotional, spiritual, and physical heights attainable through birth. Witness the passion as birth is revealed as an integral part of woman's sexuality and a neglected human right. With commentary by Christiane Northrup, MD, and midwives Ina May Gaskin, Elizabeth Davis and other experts in the field . . . and stunning moments of women in the ecstatic release of childbirth.
Orgasmic Birth has had an international impact on the film festival circuit and was screened this year at the prestigious Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival; The Baltimore Women's Film Festival; Usti Film Festival in the Czech Republic; Festival Caminhos in Portugal; and 'Official Selection' The European Independent Film Festival (ÉCU) 2009 in Paris. Orgasmic Birth also won the Audience Choice Award at the 2008 Motherbaby International Film Festival in Bermuda.
Five years in the making, Filmmaker Debra Pascali-Bonaro reveals a revolutionary approach to birth that is statistically safer for both mother and child than the birthing and delivery methods that are standard in many parts of the world today. The viewer becomes an intimate part of the birth stories of 11 women during this 85 minute documentary.
The evocative score for the film was created by John McDowell, composer of the score for the Oscar-winning documentary Born Into Brothels, with additional composition by Sabina Sciubba of the group Brazilian Girls.

The feedback on the movie showing has been good! Yesterday Katie and I were on public radio promoting it and as we left, a KMXT radio board member called the station and told us that they appreciated the work we were doing promoting healthy birth and bringing this movie to Kodiak. Doing events such as these really helps promote the discussion about birth in Kodiak.
Our mainstream popular culture brings so much fear to birth.

Hopefully this movie showing can help spread the word about how transformative birth can be--if a woman has the support necessary and is able to labor how she would like (in the location of her desire, with attendants attune to healthy birthing and is able to move around and be unencumbered in birth).

The movie is at 7PM at the Little School of Dance (1220 E. Rezanof Drive). Admission is free, but donations of $10 are accepted. Money raised goes to The Kodiak Birth Network.