Meet the experts in the film

Sarah J Buckley, MD, is a GP/family physician with qualifications in GP obstetrics; author of the internationally-acclaimed book Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering: The Wisdom and Science of Gentle Choices in Pregnancy, Birth, and Parenting; and mother of four children, all born at home. Sarah’s work critiques current practices in pregnancy, birth and parenting from the widest possible perspectives, including medical/scientific, psycho-emotional, anthropological, and spiritual. Her ongoing work on the ecstatic hormones of labor, featured in the film, has been recognized as a powerful argument for normal birth. She lives in Brisbane, Australia. www.sarahjbuckley.com Carrie Contey, PhD, is a leader in the field of prenatal and perinatal psychology. She is a member of the board of directors of the Association of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health. www.earlyparenting.com Maureen Corry, MPH, has 30 years of experience as a researcher, educator, advocate, and policy analyst focusing on maternal and infant health promotion and maternity care quality improvement in the not-for-profit sector. She joined Childbirth Connection (formerly the Maternity Center Association) as executive director in 1995 and has played a leading role in positioning the organization as a powerful advocate for the needs and interest of childbearing families. She is the author of numerous articles and educational resources on maternity care issues and a frequent speaker at conferences. www.childbirthconnection.org Elizabeth Davis, BA, CPM, is a midwife, educator, consultant, international lecturer, and women’s health activist. Elizabeth is co-founder and director of the National Midwifery Institute, Inc., in the San Francisco Bay area. Her books include Heart & Hands: A Midwife’s Guide to Pregnancy and Birth, now in its fourth edition; Women’s Sexual Passages: Finding Pleasure and Intimacy at Every Stage of Life; and The Circle of Life: Thirteen Archetypes for Every Woman. www.elizabethdavis.com Robbie Davis-Floyd, PhD, Senior Research Fellow, Department of Anthropology, University of Texas/Austin, is a medical anthropologist, researcher, and author specializing in the anthropology of reproduction and alternative health care. www.davis-floyd.com Eugene R. Declercq, PhD, presenter, Birth by the Numbers. In a video available on this site and as a DVD extra, Dr. Declercq analyzes the sobering statistics of birth in the United States today. He is a certified childbirth educator and Professor of Maternal and Child Health at Boston University School of Public Health. His research focuses on policy and practice related to childbirth in the US and abroad. Ina May Gaskin, MA, CPM, is a certified professional midwife and founder and director of the Farm Midwifery Center in Summertown, Tennessee. Ina May is the author of Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, among other classic works, and the originator and coordinator of the Safe Motherhood Quilt Project (www.rememberthemothers.net). www.inamay.com, www.thefarm.org/midwives Richard Jennings, CNM, MS, is a certified nurse-midwife. His practice has included home births and births in out-of-hospital and in-hospital birth centers, levels 1, 2, and 3 hospitals, and a regional perinatal center. Richard is Director of Midwifery at NYU/Bellevue, the only birth center in the United States that is located in a public hospital. Richard educates students at several teaching facilities. Ricardo Herbert Jones, MD, is a homebirth and hospital-attending obstetrician/gynecologist and homeopath in Brazil. An international lecturer and author, Ricardo is a pioneer in childbirth, introducing a model of support to laboring women that includes a midwife, doula, and obstetrician for each of his patients. Jacques Moritz, MD, is Director of the Division of Gynecology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, New York City. He was previously a medical news reporter and consultant for television, radio, and print media. Lonnie C. Morris, CNM, ND, is a midwife who founded the Childbirth Center (now the Childbirth and Women’s Wellness Center), the first out-of-hospital birth center in New Jersey and the fourth in the United States, in 1976. She remains the director of the center. Lonnie also pioneered the midwifery–birth center model of care within the hospital setting. www.childbirthcenter.net Christiane Northrup, MD, is a visionary in women’s health and wellness. A board-certified obstetrician–gynecologist, she recognizes that health and healing are women’s birthright and helps empower women to tune into their inner wisdom to transform their health and their lives. Her book Mother–Daughter Wisdom: Creating a Legacy of Physical & Emotional Health explores the mother–daughter bond as the headwater of a woman’s health. Dr. Northrup is the author of two New York Times bestsellers, Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause, and the upcoming The Secret Pleasures of Menopause. www.drnorthrup.com Lawrence D. Rosen, MD, is a board-certified general pediatrician committed to family-centered, holistic child health care. He practices in northern New Jersey and consults at the Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center, serving as medical adviser to the Deirdre Imus Environmental Center. A nationally recognized expert in pediatric integrative medicine, Dr. Rosen is chair of the Integrative Pediatrics Council, a not-for-profit group dedicated to transforming children’s health care, and a founding member of the Provisional Section on Complementary, Holistic and Integrative Medicine of the American Academy of Pediatrics. www.wholechildcenter.org Penny Simkin, PT, is a Seattle-based physical therapist who has specialized in childbirth education since 1968, preparing more than 9,500 women, couples, and siblings for childbirth. She maintains an active practice as a childbirth educator, doula, and birth counselor. The author of many books and articles on childbirth, she is a founder of Doulas of North America, now called DONA International. www.pennysimkin.com Naolí Vinaver, CPM, is a midwife who combines traditional birth knowledge and practices with a profound interest in and respect for the physiology of natural birth. Within her specialty of homebirth, Naolí has attended waterbirths and traditional births since 1990 in her native Mexico. She has had three children born at home. Her last birthing experience was filmed for the video “Birth Day” (www.homebirthvideos.com). www.nacimientonatural.com (Spanish) Marsden Wagner, MD, MS, is a perinatologist, neonatologist, and obstetrician with extensive experience in maternity care around the world as Director of Women’s and Children’s Health, World Health Organization, for 15 years. He is currently working as an independent consultant. He is the author of some 140 scientific papers, 23 book chapters, and 15 books (most recently Born in the USA: How a Broken Maternity System Must Be Fixed to Put Women and Children First), which have been translated into many languages. www.marsdenwagner.com Billee Wolff RN, LCCE, CD, is a registered nurse, Lamaze -certified childbirth educator, doula, and midwifery assistant. She has supported women birthing at childbirth centers, hospitals, and homebirths. Billee is a founding member of Birthnet, an organization of birth professionals serving northern New Jersey and Rockland County, New York. Birthnet provides education to the community about mother-friendly care as well as information about options in pregnancy and childbirth. Billee has worked with a local hospital in providing education to the nurses on the safety and benefits of waterbirth and non-separation of mother and baby. www.birthnet.info   Meet many of the midwives featured in the film as well as others by clicking here.