Last summer the Orgasmic Birth movie screened in Bulgaria. We are excited that it will screen again this year on June 20th at 10:30 am at Videlina Club in Varna and on July 1st at 6:30 pm at Estestveni Idei Center in Sofia. We hope you can attend if you are in Bulgaria!
Milena writes in from Bulgaria…. We had public screenings in the capital, Sofia, two bigger cities, Varna and Plovdiv, and three towns, Shumen, Burgas and Veliko Tarnovo, all dedicated to the International Week for Respecting Childbirth. In general my expectations for attendance turned out to be higher than the actual turnout.
The film generated highly positive feedback from the visitors. There was only one time a couple left half way through the film and 4-5 women shared it was a bit too naturalistic for them with the actual birth scenes. Usually at the end of the film there was deep silence, tears in the eyes and both women and men appeared deeply touched.
The discussion went in the direction that experiences similar to what was seen in the film had happened and other doulas and I had witnessed such births. Yet, the major contributing factor for these to happen was preparation in terms of education, mental and physical preparation and very importantly securing the right people to attend the birth. In the smaller towns a big question for parents-to-be was whether to pay extra money to select the birth attendant(s), usually an OB doctor, or to go with the staff on duty.
A major question that participants were asking was Is it possible to achieve this in Bulgaria, especially given the situation in the maternity wards and the fact that qualified caregivers are not allowed to attend births outside hospitals?
“Is it possible to achieve an orgasmic birth in Bulgaria?” Debra responds:
This is an important questions as to have a pleasurable birth where women and their partners/men are respected, provided with evidence based options including birth centers and home birth as sited in the recent NICE guidelinesshould be every person’s human right! I am sad that in so many countries, including Bulgaria and also in my country of the U.S, these options are not always available to all in legal, safe and affordable ways.
We need more midwives as keepers of gentle birth to bring more love, respect, privacy and safety so that all Motherbabies can create a positive, powerful and often pleasurable birth memory. We need physicians who work collaboratively with midwives and understand the international guidelines and themselves advocate for change. Read one physicians struggle and realization The Cross-Atlantic Divide over Treatment Intensity in Childbirth.
Milena writes…. To my regret only two medical people attended the screenings — a doctor specialized in physiotherapy and a student in medicine who intended to become OB/GYN. They support gentle birth; they both have read the Orgasmic Birth book and expressed a wish for more medically trained specialists to see the film. I would like to show the film at the Midwifery Academy organized by the Alliance of Bulgarian Midwives in the fall for a few years now and will probe the idea with the chair lady at our next meeting.
How the audience responded:
I am deeply touched by the film. It brings a lot of power and inspiration. Trust that we can do it so long as we have faith in nature!
Statue of Saint Sophia. “The crown symbolizes the power, the wreath the fame and the owl the wisdom.”
A wonderful film. It was surprising, very interesting and carrying new valuable knowledge. I am happy I was part of this event.
To me this film is wonderful and very real. And although to the friend I brought the realistic birth scenes turned out to be a bit difficult, I highly value this particular quality of the film – its genuineness.
The film reminded me how powerful I felt at my birth. I had forgotten this. I realized I never felt fear and was totally convinced I could do it. I hope more mothers see the film and gain confidence and trust that they can also do it.
Milena “was very happy to meet among the visitors couples and women for whom childbearing was still an idea for the future. Yet, they had come to get educated and gather food for thought. There were four women in Varna who said the birth they had seen in the film was how they had imagined birth and the film solidified their desires for their own births to happen in a similar way. They shared the idea that birth is supposed to be empowering for the woman.
To me another highly positive outcome was the mental transformation with some fathers-to-be, which we witnessed. In Bulgaria still a large number of men stay uninvolved when it comes to birth and in many places hospital conditions do not favor fathers’ attendance. Having seen the film, a couple of fathers shared about their change in attitude, their willingness to support their partners and be beside the mothers during the birth.
At each screening after the end of the film we formed a circle to connect to each other as women and get in touch with our strength and power. Whenever partners attended they happily joined.”
Thank you Milena for sharing about the screening. The tides they are turning but sadly not fast enough for those who are pregnant today. Debra is sending her love and wishes that those whose hearts and minds have been opened by our childbirth education videos, film, books and online content will join together in Bulgaria to help those who are pregnant and not willing to be silenced by what has been, but instead seek a birth full of possibilities that our new understanding of childbirth provides and together work to bring change and more peaceful gentle births.
Leave a Reply