Plan to Change Birth in America and Beyond
BOBB has done an amazing job of getting more publicity about the subject of birth.
I've noticed that midwives, doulas, childbirth educators and the like are feeling renewed
energy because of the impact of the movie.
I really think the next step is to come up with a national (or even international) plan to change
birth. With so many incredibly interesting people with so much passion on this site and in the birth world, I think we could easily come up with a plan to create change much faster.
How is change created?
One major way is the media.
How can we change the media? It really isn't difficult.
We create a group of women who love to write articles and give them the knowledge they
need to successfully submit their articles to the pregnancy and women's magazines (plus some others). We give them training and create a support group so that they can learn from each other and feel some accountability and encouragement to continue.
There are dozens of other things that we could or should be doing to make a big impact but I'm going to let that go for now because I really want to open up the discussion.
Please help with your positive ideas of what could be done. Or examples of things that have happened in your community that have been really effective.
Thanks,
Sheri Menelli
Director of The Birthing Business Institute
760-522-2829
www.birthingbusiness.com
I've noticed that midwives, doulas, childbirth educators and the like are feeling renewed
energy because of the impact of the movie.
I really think the next step is to come up with a national (or even international) plan to change
birth. With so many incredibly interesting people with so much passion on this site and in the birth world, I think we could easily come up with a plan to create change much faster.
How is change created?
One major way is the media.
How can we change the media? It really isn't difficult.
We create a group of women who love to write articles and give them the knowledge they
need to successfully submit their articles to the pregnancy and women's magazines (plus some others). We give them training and create a support group so that they can learn from each other and feel some accountability and encouragement to continue.
There are dozens of other things that we could or should be doing to make a big impact but I'm going to let that go for now because I really want to open up the discussion.
Please help with your positive ideas of what could be done. Or examples of things that have happened in your community that have been really effective.
Thanks,
Sheri Menelli
Director of The Birthing Business Institute
760-522-2829
www.birthingbusiness.com
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tracy Donegan on -
Hi Sheri, yes we need to encourage women who have great births whether it's home/hospital/ to talk about them over and over again.......I think some women are afraid of making other mums feel bad about their decisions if another mum didn't have such a great experience.
I was interviewed on our equivalent of Good Morning America today about birth options....wish we'd had more time. Here's the link - I hope it will help more Irish mums think about their options.
http://www.tv3.ie/ireland_am.php?video=11575&locID=1.65.74
Tracy
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Permalink Reply by Abby Epstein on -
Hi Sheri:
I wanted to let you know that we are in the process of raising funds for the "BOBB Educational Version" which will be ready for 2010 release. This 30-min version of BOBB will come with a complete study guide targeted for use in college courses for women's studies, sociology, anthropology, public health, nursing, etc... It may also be appropriate for some high schools.
We will be producing the educational version with the help of some educators and the Choices in Childbirth organization. When it's ready, we will definitely need help with promotion and distribution so this is a way anyone can help change birth. We think getting this message out to young women is the key.
Ricki and I are also involved in some TV projects which would showcase more information on natural birth, so more on those to come as they shape up.
Abby
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Permalink Reply by Sheri Menelli on -
Abbey,
Let us all know how much you need for the BOBB Educational Version. You never know who is lurking who has access to funds. Also break it down, I've found that people like to give money for particular projects within the project. I saw the educational proposal last week - Amy sent it to me. A friend of mine, Kim Wildner, told Amy about a lead on some money (Jack Doubleday). Hopefully that will work out.
You might also want to get together with The Natural Birth Project in San Diego. They are doing some amazing work and they are all fans of BOB - in fact they want you all to come down to San Diego for some book signings and movie screenings.
I'll definitely write this into the marketing birth document that I'm creating. I think colleges and high schools are going to be so important to changing birth.
By the way, did you see Jane Fonda's article a few weeks ago in the Huffington Post about doulas in Atlanta, GA? Do you Amy or Ricki know her personally?
Glad you are involved in some TV projects.
Now, if we could just change the way Hollywood writes about birth on TV, screenplays, etc I think we could get a whole lot of traction happening fast!
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Permalink Reply by Sheri Menelli on
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I just got back from a really great meeting tonight. The group- started by two moms in San Diego - is called the Natural Birth Project. They are local now but plan to go national.
We have two groups who are going to be doing the Red Tent Events and at least one doing the BOLD play.
Have a friend who is launching a national website that is amazing. She has been working on this for 6 months and even has real investors. Take a look at naturalbabypros.com You can submit your own listing of your birthing business for free. It is not only national but this site has been optimized for search engines so it will really help your business rank high.
Spoke to 3 people in the last week who are all starting birth centers in Southern California. (yes, different birth centers).
It is non-stop. Change is in the air.
Now, back to the marketing plan for birth. Any other ideas before I start writing it?
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Permalink Reply by Susan B. on -
I have a few suggestions that might be possible, but would probably be difficult to pull off. It would, however, create a lot of chatter to try.
1) Team up with Planned Parenthood, and create a birth education package for those who need the information. This may be controversial, but would definitely be considered part of planning to parent.
2) A birth education package could also be constructed for schools who are able to teach something other than abstinence only sex-ed. Private parents could also order the information if it is unavailable through their school's curriculum. It's not enough to just discuss birth control, kids (and parents) need to be prepared for what happens during birth, and understand the pro's and con's of the different types of carers and interventions available.
3) Birth education could be a part of the general health curriculum in public schools across the nation, outside of sex-ed. This should also include the different models of care provided by different attendants, and and unbiased look at the risks and benefits of interventions. This would take a massive amount of parents lobbying their state and national boards.
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