Miss Margaret

This film gives a rare look at life in the Deep South through the eyes of one of its last Granny Midwives, Margaret Charles Smith. After her book “Listen To Me Good” was published, Mirs. Smith traveled outside of her native Alabama for the first time. She became a popular and important addition to midwifery conferences, answering questions and telling stories from her rural practice.
Mrs. Smith delivered over 3,500 babies in a life that spanned nearly a century.
She was raised by a former slave in Eutaw, a stronghold of the Ku Klux Klan. Courageous, dedicated, hard working and wise, Margaret Charles Smith never lost a mother.

Birth Day

Midwife Naoli Vinaver joyously gives birth to her third child, Tamaya Okumura Vinaver, in the family’s hot tub. Narrated by Naoli and taped by her father, George Vinaver, we are treated to an exquisite and intimate home birth in the lush mountain countryside of Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.

Five Countries, Six Births, Seven Babies

In Five Countries, Six Births, Seven Babies, we watch 'first stories' unfold in simple, natural settings. Five short chapters show homebirths in France, Costa Rica, Guatemala, the USA and Bermuda including the birth of twins. Three women choose to give birth in water and three choose other locations. All the births are drug free and natural. We see different choices and styles from culture to culture. This video is an essential tool for ever birth practitioner and teacher. Just viewing it increases love and reduces fear.
See for yourself!

Baby Baby Oh Baby

The founders of Attachment Parenting International, Barbara Nicholson and Lysa Parker, write, “BabyBabyOhBaby is an exquisitely produced DVD that speaks louder than words!
The beauty and sacredness of the parent-child relationship is portrayed in a unique and artistic way that mesmerizes the viewer.
Science confirms that of the five senses, touch is by far the most important, as without touch a baby literally cannot survive.
Infant massage as demonstrated in BabyBabyOhBaby teaches parents to touch their babies, read their baby’s cues, both critically important tools that help develop a secure parent-child attachment that will last a lifetime." David Stark has a gift for making beautiful films. So glad he turned his attention to this important subject.

Laboring Under an Illusion

Anthropologist, childbirth educator and humorist Vicki Elson uses over 100 video clips to contrast Hollywood birth with films made by natural childbirth advocates.
Think fiction vs. reality. The result is hilarious, engaging, and enlightening.
Vicki notes that to understand what it's really like to have a baby, we have to debunk the silly and scary images served up by the profit-driven media. In reality, birth is hard work, sometimes simple, sometimes complicated, but always miraculous and unforgettable.

Homebirth Stories

More than any other, this video gives a Dad’s view of homebirth. And the three Dads here think it’s wonderful! Filmmakers Amit Miller and Miri Urman, themselves a homebirth couple introduce us to three young families in Tel Aviv. We see how they make decisions, live and give birth in complete confidence and joy.
This film should be in every library, midwifery bag, Doula bookshelf and hospital.

It's My Body, My Baby, My Birth

In this film, San Francisco homebirth midwife, Maria Iorillo, shares stories and interviews of clients from her very multicultural practice. We hear from seven mothers about their emotional journeys to natural childbirth. Each woman's story is unique, powerful and unforgettable. Safety, pain and fear are all issues every birthing woman has to face. Here, these issues are addressed with honesty.

The Birth of Sabine

The Birth of Sabine shows us the excitement and anticipation of a mom's first pregnancy. The story follows Stephanie and James
from the positive pregnancy test, prenatal visits with their midwife,
a belly cast and the unexpected surprise of her water breaking days before labor begins. Sabine's parents are shown making decisions and using natural methods of induction up until the day they are (gratefully!) in labor.

Birth As We Know It

Elena Tonetti writes, "The quality of our civilization largely depends on the way we procreate. The way we arrive into this world defines our capacity for love, compassion, intimacy. Conscious conception and birth are an integral part of conscious living…Our bodies are designed to reproduce naturally, with grace and ease…When a new human being enters into our world, the veil separating our reality from the Great Unseen becomes very transparent. This gives us an opportunity to experience the ecstatic bliss of ONENESS with all, a state in which separation does not exist, where Love prevails." This beautiful and inspiring video shares some of the same images from Birth Into Being. The most powerful new images come from Amber, who, with her ecstatic birth, plants the seeds for the 'orgasmic birth' movement.

Born in Water

In Spanish the term for birth is "Dar a Luz" or "To Give Light."
A baby coming through the birth canal brings and is welcomed by the light.
The seven waterbirths here show women reclaiming their own power as bearers of this light of life. They bring their children into the world with gentleness, awareness and wisdom.

Duka's Dilemma

In the arid land of Southern Ethiopia, Duka's husband marries a beautiful, young second wife.
In this culture, men are allowed to marry more than one woman but only a very few do so.
This puts Duka in a state of emotional turmoil wondering why he did this. Was she too old? Did her illness turn him away? The new wife is silent and angry. What is to be done with her? Clearly this is a family in crisis, the high points of which are the birth of the new wife's child and a heated dispute between Duka's mother-in-law and her son - Duka's husband. Resolution follows the airing of different points of view. Duka takes the new wife under her wing, teaches her how to be in the community, nurses the new wife's child like her own and demonstrates a presence and maturity of rare quality.

Duka's Dilemma

In the arid land of Southern Ethiopia, Duka's husband marries a beautiful, young second wife.
In this culture, men are allowed to marry more than one woman but only a very few do so.
This puts Duka in a state of emotional turmoil wondering why he did this. Was she too old? Did her illness turn him away? The new wife is silent and angry. What is to be done with her? Clearly this is a family in crisis, the high points of which are the birth of the new wife's child and a heated dispute between Duka's mother-in-law and her son - Duka's husband. Resolution follows the airing of different points of view. Duka takes the new wife under her wing, teaches her how to be in the community, nurses the new wife's child like her own and demonstrates a presence and maturity of rare quality.