/24-7PressRelease/ - Medford, NJ, September 06, 2008 - BOLD, the global movement to create childbirth choices
that work for mothers, brings together artists, community groups and childbirth leaders for BOLD
Performance events to bring the issue of childbirth choices for mothers center stage in
Philadelphia. Performances of playwright/BOLD founder Karen Brody's play "Birth" will be taking
place in Philadelphia on September 20th and 21st at The Rotunda located at 4014 Walnut Street.
"Birth" is a critically-acclaimed documentary-style play that tells the birth stories of eight women,
painting an alarming picture of how low-risk, educated mothers are giving birth today. Hailed
"The Vagina Monologues for birth" by women's health expert Dr. Christiane Northrup, over 100
performances of the play "Birth" are happening in cities across America during September, the
month of Labor Day, to raise awareness and money for childbirth choices that work for mothers.
Proceeds from performances of Birth in Philadelphia will go to Birth Works International, a
nonprofit organization of childbirth educators and doulas who embody the philosophy of
developing a woman's self confidence, trust, and faith in her ability to give birth and promote safe
and loving birth experiences through education, introspection and confident action.
"Through BOLD we have seen how art can influence change. The time is now to be bold and
make childbirth choices work for mothers, to create a movement that supports birth choices and
helps women access the powerful experience available to them when giving birth," stated BOLD
founder Karen Brody.
A recent resolution sponsored by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and
adopted by the American Medical Association has made it clear that now is the time to be BOLD.
The resolution suggests home birth and "lay" midwives are not safe options for giving birth
despite clear medical evidence to the contrary. BOLD challenges this assertion and believes
resolutions like this significantly jeopardize the right every woman has to make the birth choice
that works for her.
The largest, most respected study of home births from the British Journal of Medicine found that
among 5,000 low-risk pregnancies, babies were delivered just as safely at home with a certified
professional midwife as in a hospital. http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/330/7505/1416?ehom
"This is a critical moment in childbirth today, one where we have found the institutions who are
supposed to keep us healthy and safe have instead ignored the medical evidence," stated
Brody. "The evidence clearly states a hospital is not the only setting in which women can give
birth safely. It's critical this information is known by women, now more than ever. Keeping safe,
low intervention childbirth options from mothers is essentially robbing women of the opportunity
to obtain a powerful birth experience."
Since BOLD's founding in 2006, education about the issue of choices in childbirth - through
watching the play "Birth" and the post-show talkback - has been at the heart of BOLD's efforts. In
Philadelphia our BOLD talkback panel after the performance includes Karen Brody BOLD
founder and playwright of "Birth", Kathleen Furin MSW, CCE , Kay Hoover, M Ed IBCLC , Doris
Jeanette PsyD, Carrie Kimball midwfe, Nikki Lee RN BSN MS IBCLC RLC CCE CST(cert.
appl.), James Nicholson MD MSCE, Liz O'Shea CD CCE CPM, and Ruth Wilf, CNM PhD.
Tickets for "Birth" can be purchased online at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/37336 or
by calling 1-888-TO-BIRTH.
A paperback edition of the play, including a foreword by Dr. Christiane Northrup and emails and
stories from BOLD locations, became available in August 2008.
BOLD is a global arts-based movement to create childbirth choices that work for mothers. To
learn more about BOLD visit our website: http://www.boldaction.org
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- arts, birth, bold, brody, community, international, karen, philadelphia, play, theater, works
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