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 Dear BOLD Friends,
Noticed how hot childbirth is these days?!! BOLD locations are certainly sizzling! (Check out this E-News for all the exciting details! And click here to find out about upcoming BOLD events).
I'm a strong believer that change is going to come from the consumer - from you and me! - and the more BOLD grassroots communities start raising awareness the quicker childbirth will improve for mothers and babies. Yes we can!
I've had a great few months and the highlight was definitely visiting BOLD Little Rock's premiere performance of my new One Act version of the play at the Arkansas Literary Festival in April. I gave birth to my boys with the BirthWorks midwives in Little Rock (check out the photo above of me after the Little Rock performance hugging the 4 fabulous birthy women who attended my births!). Returning to Little Rock felt like a homecoming. And the new One Act version of the play was received well too! BOLD Little Rock had two more full performances this month. Check out their great PSA below!
On a more serious note, for all you Americans, a great way to be BOLD right now is to get involved with healthcare reform. The Big Push for Midwives is spearheading an exciting effort. Check them out and get involved. It just makes sense to have more low-risk pregnant women under the care of midwives (emotional sense, financial sense..everything!)!
I was very excited to see some important press come out recently on maternity care. The LA Times piece this month - Childbirth: Can the US Improve?
definitely stands out. And the front page New York Times piece on the
challenges of providing maternity care to mothers in Tanzania also made
me pleased at how the media is raising awareness about important
maternity care issues around the globe. Waa-hoo! It's my pleasure to be on this journey with you. Keep being BOLD. Keep gathering and telling your birth stories, standing in your BOLD truth. We are seeing results - and I know there is more to come!
BOLDness to you,
Karen
PS: If you're interested in performing my new shorter One Act version of the play (great to bring to university students!) email me at Karen@Boldaction.org.
PS: The photo at the bottom right of this letter is me, my midwives and my back-up doctor, Dr. Baldwin, who we just happen to meet having dinner at the local Thai restaurant in Little Rock. Now retured, for years he was the only OB in Little Rock to enthusiastically support home birth midwives. Dr. Baldwin ROCKS! |
BOLD Paris
BOLD Organizer, Dali Milovanovic, is rocking Paris with the play again this year. She shares:
"My name is Dali. I live in Paris, France with my 3 boys and I organized "Birth" performances in our community since last year. We translated the script in french and we've had two performances for now. The first, in May 2008 (because Labor Day is on May in Europe) and the last this year on May 9. And it was amazing, even better than last year !
Our next performance is in June. We will rent a little theater on a barge, floating
on the river La Seine that go through Paris. The barge can accommodate about 80
persons."
To visit BOLD Paris'' website click here!
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BOLD Winnipeg
On May 3 BOLD Winnipeg had an outstanding evening performing the play and engaging their audience in a dynamic talkback after the show. As their BOLD Organizer, Lori Tiessen Banman explains:
"The theatre
was full. They had to set up extra
chairs! Once
the show began it was amazing how the energy of the crowd brought the
characters to life. It was exhilarating! We continued with Act 2, and at the end, we were all
around the character Jillian as she gave birth. When she stood up and
said "I did it!" the crowd erupted with
incredible applause. Then each actor
said, "I did it!" and by the end, the crowd was on their feet! "
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BOLD Gainesville
With a passionate cast of 11 BOLD women, on May 18 BOLD Gainesville (Florida) had an amazing experience bringing the message of BOLD and the stories
of BIRTH to a local high school. Loften High School
is home to a program called ACCEPT which focuses on pregnant teens and
teen mothers, supporting them as they continue their education. Loften
is proud to have a very high breastfeeding rate and girls are called
out of class to nurse their babies. Girls from PACE were also
invited to the performance. PACE is a community-based,
gender-responsive prevention, diversion and early intervention program
serving girls, ages 12-17. It is nationally recognized for helping
girls find success in school, with their families and in their
communities by integrating education, counseling, training and advocacy.
BOLD Organizer Heddy Vernon writes:
"We had approximately 130 Loften students and 20 girls from PACE in
our audience. The audience laughed, shouted back at the treatment of some of
the characters, and chanted MY BODY ROCKS throughout the play. They
were engaged and moved. The cast were all moved too by the reactions of the
audience. The air truly felt electric in that room.
After the
performance, we had a local pediatrician and two childbirth
professionals for our talkback panel. Students wrote down questions on
index cards that ranged from 'What do they cut during an episiotomy?'
to 'Can you really give birth in water?'. At one point someone said the
way for a man's body to rock is to be supportive of his partner in
birth and parenting and a number of young men in the audience stood up
and applauded.
It was an
energizing (and exhausting) day that reinforced in all of us the reason
why we are part of this movement."
To visit BOLD Gainesville's website click here!
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BOLD Little Rock
Little Rock's BOLD cast and crew made "hometown" playwright Karen Brody proud with their two performances at the University of Arkansas' Harslip Theater on May 21 and 22nd. Little Rock does ROCK! To check out the PSA they made click here.
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BOLD Red Tents
BOLDness abounds in our BOLD Red Tent initiative! Atlanta ( pictured to the right!), Olympia, Washington, Gainesville and Spain have all held powerful BOLD Red Tents this year. And Olympia and Spain are doing more! After a performance of the play, on May 18 BOLD Gainesville held a private BOLD red tent for the high school and girls from
the ACCEPT and PACE programs (see "BOLD Gainesville" above). Lunch was provided and they were given
the space to process and share their feelings on the play and their own
birth experiences. Want to organize a BOLD Red Tent? Click here for more information!
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Have a BOLD Laugh!
- Watch a mattress commercial in Bercelona!
- Read this hilarious graphic Homebirth story!
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 Plan to Give Birth BOLDly?
Check out:
- Denise Spatafora's new book Better Birth: The Ultimate Guide to Childbirth From Home to Hospitals
- Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein's new book: Your Best Birth: Know All Your Options, Discover the Natural Choices, and Take Back the Birth Experience
- Jill Woodnick's Prenatal Peace and Calm visualization CD
- Choices in Childbirth's "Guide to a Healthy Birth." Click here.
- The Birth Survey. Click here
BOLD Chicago, 2007
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BIRTH - the book?
Want to read Karen Brody's play, Birth? Order a special edition with stories and photos from the BOLD movement. Add it to your Amazon gift purchases click here. |
Final BOLD Thought...
BOLD 2008 Red Tent, Giorna, Spain
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