Birth Choices

Although I am pregnant with my third babe, I am finding that I am very invested in the preparations for labor and delivery this time around - maybe even more so than with my first. Having experienced two very different labors I now know that nothing is predetermined as far as length, intensity, and details of labor and birth. At my midwifes suggestion, I am currently reading "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth" by Ina May Gaskin. I will give a full review of it when I finish it, but what I will say now is that I am absolutely LOVING it! The pure wisdom and simplicity contained in this book are exactly what I needed [and apparently what baby girl needed, as she kicks as I read almost without fail.] 
This text was required reading for my midwife - the first text that was covered in school - and now I completely understand why. Because I am loving the reading so much, I hopped at the chance to take in a documentary on the author and her cohorts that will be playing in about a week. If you are interested in learning more about midwifery and its pure form as practiced by Ina May Gaskin, Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and the Farm Midwives is a documentary not to be missed. Here is the review by Healthy Birth Choices:

The feature-length documentary BIRTH STORY: Ina May Gaskin and The Farm Midwives tells the story of counterculture heroine Ina May Gaskin and her spirited friends, who began delivering each other’s babies in 1970, on a caravan of hippie school buses, headed to a patch of rural Tennessee land. With Ina May as their leader, the women taught themselves midwifery from the ground up, and, with their families, founded an entirely communal, agricultural society called The Farm. They grew their own food, built their own houses, published their own books, and, as word of their social experiment spread, created a model of care for women and babies that changed a generation’s approach to childbirth.

Forty years ago Ina May led the charge away from isolated hospital birthing rooms, where husbands were not allowed and mandatory forceps deliveries were the norm. Today, as nearly one third of all US babies are born via C-section, she fights to preserve her community’s hard-won knowledge. With incredible access to the midwives’ archival video collection, the film not only captures the unique sisterhood at The Farm Clinic–from its heyday into the present–but shows childbirth the way most people have never seen it–unadorned, unabashed, and awe-inspiring.

(Running Time: 95 mins)

The documentary is showing in a small theater with limited seating. With only 32 tickets left [at last glance] tickets will sell out before the scheduled viewing on January 21 [showing time is 7:30pm] and so if you're interested in joining in the learning and fun, follow the link above and grab your ticket ASAP.