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Childbirth videos for workshops

Each time I present an Active Birth workshop, I like to show a number of videos, to illustrate the points I am making and to push the boundaries of the participants’s experience. I always show “Giving Birth - Challenges and Choices” because it such a powerful film that would be very suitable for early pregnancy programs, when parents are beginning to consider their options and choices regarding birthplace and caregivers. It is very thought provoking, challenging ideas of safety of epidurals, hospitals and medications whilst showing what is possible with normal birth.

I always show the Brazilian “Birth in the Squatting Position” as it is the best film for demonstrating the mechanics of upright birth. It is a classic, made 25 years ago, and sadly no longer available to buy. I treasure my copy, which I must have seen 600 - 700 times by now!

For variety, I add videos on water births, home births and midwife led births, and these I vary according to the interests and needs of the specific group that I am working with. During this trip I have been using the Russian water birth video “Birth Into Being” to demonstrate how easy and uncomplicated water birth can be. So many rules and regulations are developing around water birth that we are losing sight of how simple underwater birth is for the mother, baby and the midwife. When you see these babies swimming out into the warm salt water of the Black Sea, you have to question the rigidity of some hospital protocols! I often show the “Water Babies” video from Belgium as an alternative because it shows breech babies and twins arriving under water. Shivers of alarm usually spread around the group when they see the breech coming through, but then it is clearly not a problem for these parents or their caregivers(in this case, an obstetrician).

I will be adding the new video “Inner Strength” to my workshop collection next time I am in the UK. This new film is wonderful, showing us how strong women can be when labouring naturally, in the peace and quiet of a birth centre, with caring support from a midwife and partner. I think it is the best new video in a long time.

Posted by andrea at March 10, 2004 12:26 AM

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