An Ordinary Miracle: Global Models of Care
An Ordinary Miracle is a film project developed by Debra Pascali-Bonaro, a childbirth educator, doula, international speaker and leadership member of the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services, CIMS.
The goal of the documentary is to empower women and their partners to see all the possibilities that birth holds, the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of the journey into parenthood. Seeing all their options, I hope that women and their families will be better prepared to make informed decision, based on the latest research. While viewing models of maternity care around the world, from traditional practices, professional midwifery and technocratic hospitals, women will see how the country and model available to her influences her choices and ultimately the birth experience she will have. Through a global view into different paradigms of maternity care, we will see through the eyes of each individual woman, the care she receives and how that effects her experience, feeling and ultimately her bonding and ability to nurture her newborn. This sensitive period in both a woman's and a babies life will be shown through a beautiful visual journey, music and creative images recreating what the baby is seeing and feeling during the many different approaches to birth.
Film footage to date includes Mexico where we followed traditional midwives and the development of professional midwifery through Centro para Adolescentes de San Miguel de Allende, CASA school.
In the UK, film footage includes the Albany Midwives, serving low-income women in London, offering a choice of home or hospital births. As well as Janet Balaskas' Active Birth Centre and education classes. We plan to return to the UK to film their Birth Centre Models as well.
Through the generous participation of other film makers we have the use of footage from Born in Brazil, a documentary about medicalized cesarean birth in Brazil and Birthrites, a film that explores the Inuit in northern Quebec, Canada. The Inuit have seen the transition from traditional midwifery, to birth being taken from the community to transport to hospitals hours away and alone, to the return of birth to their community birth centre with additional professional midwifery training. The return of birth to their community has empowered both the men and women. Their words are powerful in how reclaiming this sacred time in their families life, has improved outcomes, lowered domestic violence, drinking and other society ills.
There is much to learn from how different countries view and care for birthing women.
A favorite poem that holds for me the essence of the awareness our film will create.
If we hope to create
a non-violent world
where respect and kindness
replace fear and hatred
We must begin
with how we treat each other
at the beginning of life.
For that is where
our deepest patterns are set.
From these roots
grow fear and alienation
- or love and trust.
© Suzanne Arms
It is time that birth reclaims its place as a highly significant day not only in a woman's life, but with the power to transfer her, her relationship with her baby and her family. A day that if we are to truly look to improve our world we must recognize that how we care for pregnant and birthing woman holds the power to begin a change that will have far reaching and very powerful effects.
It is with great honor that I will be in New Zealand in September 2004 (around the time of the large midwifery conference The Past: Our Gateway To The Future in Wellington, New Zealand). We would like to interview midwives as well as the women and families they serve. Celebrating 100 years of midwifery registration is a wonderful accomplishment. New Zealand is a model for the world to see and learn from. If you are a midwife and would be willing to speak about your work and the NZ midwifery system, as well as allow opportunities to film you, or if you a pregnant woman who is receiving support from a midwife and is due around mid September, please contact me.
World reknown photographer, Sylvia Plachy, is accompanying Debra on her trip to NZ and will be taking stills images for the project.
Other countries we plan to film in the next year are the Netherlands, Japan and the US.
We are currently awaiting film footage from Nigeria.
We have plans for a meeting with HBO to discuss their participation. I feel confident that we will find a major network in the US to air the film. We would like to work with you to show the film in NZ when it is finished as well.
If you would like to donate money to help make this film happen please visit the website which has recently (May 2006) been put together to promote the film Orgasmic Birth.
Thank you for you consideration,
Debra Pascali-Bonaro