Curating and creating birth media, because.... The future landscape of birth will be shaped by what we envision today.
Birth POV produces birth media shorts for our youtube channel plus provides its point-of-view on birth in the media via our facebook and twitter feeds and here on our blog. Media can include TV, documentaries, movies, short videos, etc... Birth POV hopes to soon embark on a documentary journey that explores issues related to childbirth as well as spend some time researching birth in the media for a written piece. Birth POV hopes produce teaching videos related to physiologic birth that we will use as part of our doula teachings. Our aim is to generate discussion around birth and help create a more joyful and pleasurable approach to birth.
Our most-viewed short (see in playlist below) has brought levity to the serious matter of "Failure to progress". Does it seem obvious? Yes, privacy helps us relax. Request "minimal staff presence" in your labor and delivery room. Failure to Progress is used by educators and instructors globally, was invited to the Terre des Femmes Film Festival.
BirthPOV videos are used in childbirth education programs around the world including Pain to Power Online Childbirth Education and by Julie Bonapace, M.Ed. Author of the Bonapace Method who shares, "I always reference and show your work in my birth shops. It’s so inspiring."
Enjoy our playlist and blog below and be sure to follow one of our feeds to join the conversation about birth in the media.
Our most-viewed short (see in playlist below) has brought levity to the serious matter of "Failure to progress". Does it seem obvious? Yes, privacy helps us relax. Request "minimal staff presence" in your labor and delivery room. Failure to Progress is used by educators and instructors globally, was invited to the Terre des Femmes Film Festival.
BirthPOV videos are used in childbirth education programs around the world including Pain to Power Online Childbirth Education and by Julie Bonapace, M.Ed. Author of the Bonapace Method who shares, "I always reference and show your work in my birth shops. It’s so inspiring."
Enjoy our playlist and blog below and be sure to follow one of our feeds to join the conversation about birth in the media.
Birth POV Media Shorts Playlist:
Failure to Progress was explained well on Ceridwen's Babble.com blog where it was written: "Ha! This video is a great illustration of why labor sometimes stalls in the hospital. “Failure to progress” is an oft-cited reason for c-sections and/or the use of medication (pitocin) to get labor going. With the rates of interventions during labor so high, you’ve got to wonder why labors are stalling all the time. There are many reasons why failure to progress could happen, but one of them has to do with somet hing so simple: privacy. It’s common for contractions to slow down when you get to the hospital and suddenly there are people checking you, fluorescent lights and clipboards. It’s funny watching this because I actually tell my childbirth education students: If your labor is slowing down in triage (the check-in process in the hospital) get into your room, shut the door, turn down the lights and block everyone out for a while to let the labor get it’s groove back. Or just go into the bathroom by yourself and labor on the toilet for an hour. Seriously, women sometimes go in for a pee and don’t want to come out. It’s partly the squat/open seat but it’s also the privacy and association with letting pelvic muscles go. Unless your baby is crowning (head coming out) there’s no reason not to sit on the toilet in labor to help things get going. I heard recently of a women who chanted during each contraction, “shut the door, shut the door.” I love this! We want privacy. Not because we’re all modest. But because birth and peeing and orgasm prefer safe, intimate settings. Oxytocin, the main hormone of labor, is also released in the dark, when you feel safe, when you fall in love, during breastfeeding and orgasm. It doesn’t flow easily when there’s lots of stress. So again, shut the door, shut the door, shut the door. Midwife and author, Ina May Gaskin is famous for talking about the Sphincter Law: We seize up our pelvic muscles when we are tense, scared and/or feeling *watched* or judged. Here’s a really short and clever video illustrating how this works."
On the Blog:
More Audience Response:
“I am Doula and work in Cameroun. I think is an excellent didactique tool both for medical staff and pregnant women.” – SophieYvan
“That’s hilarious — reminiscent of Janet Isaacs Ashford’s 1988 parody, “Natural Love,” on trying to have an orgasm while hooked up to beeping monitors etc…Great work!” – Vicki Elson, Creator of “Laboring Under An Illusion: Mass Media vs. The Real Thing”
“Midwife and author, Ina May Gaskin is famous for talking about the Sphincter Law: We seize up our pelvic muscles when we are tense, scared and/or feeling watched or judged. Here’s a really short and clever video illustrating how this works.” – Ceridwen, Babble.com
"I absolutely love the concept of PRIVACY, by simply relating it to having a bowel movement outside of the eye view of strangers standing by waiting for something to happen. As a BM happens on its own with relaxation, so does BIRTH. Labor is NOT a spectator sport, it takes TEAM effort to accomplish the task at hand. We have lots of enlightening to do." - Kelly Johnson
“Funny, poignant, MUST watch video.” – Full Spectrum Doula Network
"I love this! Reminds me so clearly of what it feels like in the L&D ward sometimes. And the silence is so striking. No one has to say a word – you just know that they’re waiting. Fabulous!" - Jess Larsen
“I’ve tried to explain this comparison so many times, and this just shows it so clearly and succinctly! Well done, will need to bookmark this one!” – Meggan Gregory in response to Ina May Gaskin & Orgasmic Birth FB post
"The skit below is a good portrayal of how birthing in a hospital can sometimes feel. It’s hilarious and truthful as the sphincter and the cervix are muscles that work the same way. You need to be the queen of your domain, feel comfortable and know you’re safe whether you’re giving birth or simply taking a crap;)." – The Birthing Site on Failure to Progress? August 2011
