Orgasmic Birth on 20/20

We'll be watching Orgasmic Birth at our February support meeting. The film was featured on last Friday's 20/20 episode. Watch the segment here. It's a great preview for the movie!

Orgasmic Birth!!!

WOW—what an amazing night! It was an honor to work with the other groups in presenting Orgasmic Birth. Gail Tully from Spinning Babies, Emme Corbeil—midwife, Susan Lane—activist and doula, Donna Corbo—childbirth educator, and Monica Matos—founder of Ten Moons Rising. And there were many more, so I don’t mean to leave you off. But it was an amazing evening that left me energized and excited for the possibilities of birth. I left believing in my body’s ability to not only birth a baby (this is due to a successful VBAC), but to even enjoy it, to love it, to feel ecstasy from it—and why not? Isn’t that what it is all about? Making love, joyfully birthing our love and then raising them with unconditional love for the rest of their lives? Yes, it all comes together so perfectly.

So this is the beginning of organized birth/mama/baby/dad events in the Twin Cities. We are next going to work on a website, and a march in March, and a fundraising walk next summer and much much more. I will keep you all posted as things materialize. In the mean time, if you would like to order Orgasmic Birth, I have purchased 50 copies. Please email me at heathdeath@gmail.com if you would like one. They are $40.

Everyone needs to see this film!

See you soon,
Heather

Newsflash! Orgasmic Birth will be featured on ABC's 20/20 on October 24th, barring any preempting news stories. Plan to tune in!

Orgasmic Birth Tomorrow- Don't miss out!!!

ICAN of the Twin Cities is proudly co-sponsoring ORGASMIC BIRTH Thursday, September 25 - 7:00pm Riverview Theater, Minneapolis, MN (3CEUs/Contact Hours) BUY TICKETS HERE ********************************************************************* IMPORTANT NOTE: The theater has an event letting out immediately prior to ours. Advance online ticket purchases are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. ********************************************************************* The film will be introduced by Orgasmic Birth's producer, Debra Pascali-Bonaro.

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES TO HEAR DEBRA SPEAK: Pleasure in Birth: Is it Possible? Thursday, September 25, 1:30-3:00 pm Woodwinds Health Campus, 1925 Woodwinds Dr., Woodbury, MN 1.5 CEUs/contact hours Directions, with map, provided when you buy a ticket. Price: $19 BUY "PLEASURE IN BIRTH" TICKETS NOW Becoming a Birth Activist (Lecture & Brunch) Friday, September 26, 9:00am - 1:00 pm Corondolet Center, 1890 Randolf Ave., St. Paul, MN 4 CEUs/contact hours Directions, with map, provided when you buy a ticket. Price: $50 (includes brunch) BUY "BECOMING A BIRTH ACTIVIST" TICKETS NOW Also: MN State DONA Gathering/Annual Meeting Wabun Park, Minneapolis Thursday, September 25, 3:00 - 6:00pm (1 contact hour for DONA certified doulas) TICKET SPECIALS TRIPLE TREAT - Register for all 3 events for $69. COUPLE SPECIAL (expectant or not) - Two for $30. CEU INFORMATION Up to 9 CEUS available for only $85! Visit www.MinnesotaOrgasmicBirth.com for full details. Receive a certificate of attendance for no extra fee.

About The Organizers

Spinning Babies: Easier Childbirth with Fetal Positioning Contact: Gail Tully Gail@SpinningBabies.com 952-888-6929 www.SpinningBabies.com The mom's job is to dilate, the baby's job is to rotate. Spinning Babies is an educational website devoted to making birth easier with fetal positioning. When a woman's womb is symmetrical, her baby will settle into the ideal position to fit more easily through the pelvis. Come visit Spinning Babies. Ten Moons Rising: Giving Birth to a More Peaceful World Contact: Monica Matos, Founder Monica@TenMoonsRising.org www.TenMoonsRising.org Ten Moons Rising Holistic Family Education is a non-profit organization whose mission is to raise awareness about the profound impact that our earliest experiences - in the womb and at birth - have on one's self-image, perceptions of the world, health, behavior and relationship patterns. The way a baby is born determines whether these foundational patterns are created from traumatic experiences (which can be healed) or gentle, loving ones. The way a mother gives birth impacts her confidence, fulfillment and overall sense of well-being. Birth matters! The Childbirth Collective: A Minnesota Nonprofit Serving Birthing Families Contact: Teri Pier, CD(DONA), CE birthsteps@earthlink.net 651-245-6256 www.ChildbirthCollective.org The Childbirth Collective is a nonprofit organization with chapters in the Twin Cities, Duluth, St. Croix River Valley, Winona/LaCrosse, and Fargo/Moorhead. The goal of "The Collective," through resources such as free weekly Parent Topic Nights, is to enhance the childbearing year for parents by promoting quality doula support, advocating evidence-based care, and providing accessible education based on the wellness model of maternity care. We are a collective of birth professionals inclusive of Doulas, Childbirth Educators, Midwives, Lactation Consultants, Psychological Counselors, Massage Therapists, and others within the birthing community, providing services to support families, and each other. ICAN of The Twin Cities Contact: Sarah Shannon Please check out our NEW website: www.icantwincities.org A local chapter of the International Cesarean Awareness Network ICAN of the Twin Cities is a local chapter of the International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN). Free monthly meetings for support and education are held the second Monday of the month in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area of Minnesota. In addition, we have a library of birth-related books, articles and cesarean/VBAC related research, provide individual telephone or e-mail support, do presentations to any group interested in cesarean prevention or VBAC, attend birth-related events, and generate media coverage for group activities and cesarean issues in the news. MN DONA Contact: Susan Lane, DONA State Representative www.dona.org MN DONA is the informal name to designate Minnesota members of DONA International. DONA international is the largest doula training and certifying organization in the world. Minnesota has largest state membership, per capita, of any state in the US. Minnesota comprises 5% of all DONA membership-- 268 members. Our state has more doula-attended births per capita than any other state! Join through the www.dona.org website. When you join DONA you will automatically be joining MN DONA without any additional efforts. Announcement! Our Dona state gathering will be held in conjunction with local Orgasmic Birth events. Watch for location in the next e-newsletter!

REVIEWS OF ORGASMIC BIRTH

Orgasmic Birth is a phenomenal film, with a scientifically-validated message: that birth is an intimate and innately ecstatic event, as evidenced by the laboring woman's release of ecstatic hormones... It is the perfect antidote to 21st century birth fright. Astonishing, thrilling, and transformative. Dr .Sarah J Buckley,GP/ family physician, Queensland, Australia www.sarahjbuckley.com I had the great honor of attending the initial screening with families featured in the film. What an incredible experience and what a most moving and provocative film. It should be mandatory viewing for all families and practitioners involved in the birth process. Dr. Larry Rosen, Pediatrician, Oradell, NJ What a wonderful, empowering, hopeful film! My hope is that women, men, nurses, doctors, and pretty much everybody take the time to see this film. This could be life changing. Thank you so much! Jennifer Steele, Doula, Portland OR I loved the film. It's the best feature-length film about birth I have ever seen - and I have seen them all. Carol Gray, Midwife, Portland OR Orgasmic Birth is the perfect blend of evidence-based information and documentary film making. This blend helps the viewer to understand more thoroughly the normalcy of birth and why, 90% of the time, birth is an uncomplicated event. As a nurse with over 30 years of experience, I can say that every birth consumer and professional should see this documentary film and will come away with renewed faith and trust in the process! Connie Livingston RN, BS, LCCE, CD(DONA) President, Perinatal Education Associates, Inc. www.birthsource.com Orgasmic Birth shows what is possible when healthy women feel loved, confident, secure, uninhibited, and cared for during pregnancy and birth. The moving beautiful images leave no room for fear or loneliness, and show birth as the deeply sexual experience that it can be. Thank you, Debra Pascali-Bonaro and your team, for your vision and courage in portraying the ecstatic, sexual, orgasmic potential that exists in birth! Penny Simkin, Doula, childbirth educator, and birth counselor; Seattle WA Finally, the truth about birth - some ecstasy, some agony, but beyond doubt a celebration! Women must know that birth is indeed the ultimate expression of their female power, in all its possibilities. Birds fly, fish swim, women do birth. Elizabeth Noble, PT, Author, Founder of Women¹s Health Section of the American Physical Therapy Association

discussion with a coworker

I know, it never goes well, but a coworker shared his birth "horror" stories with me yesterday. First was induced at 38 weeks due to bag breaking. All went "well" (it didn't end in c-section,, anyway). Second one she was on bedrest at 32 weeks due to preterm labor, delivered at 37 weeks. He said to me, "if we could have a guarantee of a drama-free labor next time we would have another." I said there are no guarantees but get a midwife and have a homebirth and you will probably be OK. Of course he thought I was kidding and laughed a laugh that sounded like an animal in the throws of death.



I walked away with a big adrenaline rush thinking about how for so many women who don't end in c-section--well, it is pure luck. I was the "unlucky one." I couldn't do the induction, nor could baby Earl. But what if I had? That would have been my view of birth--just like my coworker. I am so thankful I found ICAN. I am so thankful for midwives. I am so thankful that birth CAN and SHOULD be wonderful, not a disaster waiting to happen. The beautiful, wonderful, powerful, intense and amazing thing that labor and birth is--well, this is more in line and makes sense for how wondrous life is. It never made sense to me that it should be so awful when it began with something so wonderful (hopefully) and then produces something so wonderful! Think about it! It is all about love and sharing. The disconnect between making a baby and having the baby in arms by the obstetrical model should have everyone suspicious. It just doesn't make sense. The Orgasmic Birth possibility seems less crazy all the time.....

A better way

I was talking with a woman the other day who had her cesarean two months ago. Although her first birth had been normal, vaginal, this one ended in a cesarean. As we talked, I could hear in her voice and see in her eyes that she was trying to be ok with it. The baby was malpositioned. You do what you have to do. In the end, you have a healthy baby.

I saw myself five years ago.

Now, this woman may end up feeling ok about her cesarean in the long run. Everyone has their own journey and process. It wasn't until two years after my cesarean that I realized I wasn't "getting over it" the way I was supposed to be. It wasn't until even later that I came to believe that I'd been bamboozled by a medical system that, despite its best intentions, tends to cause more problems in normal, healthy births than it solves. I came to feel that it wasn't me that was to blame, or my gigantic baby boy (10 lbs, 14 oz), or even the doctor who performed my surgery. Rather, it was a culture surrounding birth combined with my own ignorance about it, that landed me on that operating table.

That's why I'm excited about Orgasmic Birth, a new documentary film about what birth can really be, if women are allowed to give birth the way our bodies intend us to do. The tagline for the film is, "What if women were taught to enjoy birth rather than to endure it?" Yeah, what if?!?

ICAN Twin Cities is teaming up with several other wonderful birth organizations in the area to bring Orgasmic Birth to the Riverview Theater on September 25th. The producer, Debra Pascali-Bonaro, will also be in town to introduce the film, answer questions, and speak at two other events. You can find out more information here.

I'm glad I found ICAN three years ago. The first time I shared my cesarean story there was the beginning of my healing process - to have other women see it in my eyes and hear it in my voice that I wasn't ok with it and didn't have to be. There is a better way.