birth story: Ina May Gaskin & the Farm Midwives

 "Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin & the Farm Midwives" Official Trailer from Birth Story on Vimeo."You can't help but love someone who is working that hard, and putting out great pure effort to have a baby." -Pamela HuntWhat a wonderful movie to be hitting the scene! Just as Ina May and others are out talking about home birth, normal birth in hospitals, and birth rights, this movie reminds all those who read Spiritual Midwifery eons ago (or those of us who regularly reach out to it for strength) that the work that was done in the 1970s continues, and the work is not yet over. Births on The Farm are like nowhere else, and I would venture a guess that the midwives there would be the first to tell you how confusing it is that powerful, beautiful, and women-driven births don't happen everywhere. Orgasmic birth, home birth, Farm birth, Farm-trained midwives and doulas, and love for women in labor does not have to be exclusive to those women who know about it, who can pay for it, or who can advocate on their own behalf and demand it. Love like that cannot come by demand: it comes by nature of the people involved, and one moment on The Farm brings out that natural feeling in anyone involved in the process.Love on The Farm is pervasive. There's love for the land, for other people, for good food, and kindness, and for the midwives. It's a beautiful way of life. I felt so fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in the Advanced Midwifery Workshop last summer, and every moment was worth it. With three of my classmates, we participated in trainings and discussions along with midwives from the UK, South Africa, Brazil, and rural America. It was such a beautiful experience, one that moves me to tears when I think about the moments of it: hands-on training of breech vaginal birth, twin birth, suturing and repair, breast casting, water therapy, and just the feeling of all those midwives in one room. I channel the energy from those days whenever I feel my midwife center faltering, and thank the midwife world for those Farm Midwives. Spread the word far and wide about this movie, and at the same time, spread the news that birth is beautiful.