Schedule

9:00 - 9:20 am (Harris Theater)
Welcomeand Opening Remarks — Listen Online
Jessica Clements
Download opening remarks.

9:30 - 10:25 am (Harris Theater)
Alternative Birth Locations: Sites of Controversy — Listen Online
Lynn Griesemer, and Sara Moore — moderated by Jessica Clements
This panel examines aspects of birth centers, homebirth, and unassisted homebirth, including: the evolution of alternative birth locations, public awareness of and attitudes toward these locations, and reasons why women choose to birth outside a hospital setting. The following papers will be presented, followed by discussion:

9:30 - 10:20 am (Mason Hall, Meese Conference Room)
Women's Agency in Childbirth — Listen Online
Amy Polk and Karen Brody — moderated by Sheryl Rivett
Panelists discuss the realization of personal power in birth experience.The following papers will be presented, followed by discussion:

  • From Clueless Consumer to Birth Evangelist: How I Became a Birth Activist — Polk describes her journey to becoming a birth activist, in light of her personal experiences and her family's feminist background. Download the session handout for "From Clueless Consumer to Birth Evangelist."
  • “My Body Rocks!” The essential ingredient to changing childbirth today? — Brody argues for the power of feminine modes of thinking during pregnancy and childbirth, and introduces steps toward embracing femininity.

9:30 - 10:20 am (Mason Hall, D3)
Providing Birth Care
Alice Bailes and Clare Loprinzi
This panel examines the experience of birth care providers. Panelists will share lessons learned and personal observations over the course of their careers, looking at cultural and generational differences in approaches to birth. The following papers will be presented, followed by discussion:

  • Providing Homebirth Services — Bailes describes a midwifery services' struggle to negotiated with health insurers, physicians, legislators and malpractice insurance companies to carve out a place where families can get the birth services they want. She describes the shift in labor and birth expectations over the life of the practice, as women who were born with these midwives give birth themselves.
  • Comparison of Birth Outcomes as a Non-Medical Event — Loprinzi observes differences in birth outcomes by birth practice, based on her experience working and teaching internationally as a traditional midwife.

10:30 - 11:20 am (Harris Theater)
Childbirth Options: History and Culture — Listen Online
Wendy Kline, D'Anne Graham, and Aravinda Pillalamarri — moderated by Henci Goer
Panelists look at the historical roots of options in childbirth, and how culture impacts the choices women make in childbirth. The following papers will be presented, followed by discussion:

  • Choices in Childbirth: A Modern Midwife’s Tale — Following the experiences of a childbirth-educator who became a direct-entry midwife, and then a CNM, Kline describes the history of the relationship between feminism and the childbirth movement, focusing on the increase in tensions during the 70s/80s.
  • Birth Her/Story: The Past as Prologue — Graham considers the cultural and legal background of midwifery in great detail through the history of Virginia, including its British and African roots. She considers how this history relates to and informs current debates, including midwifery, bodily autonomy, intervention, and the feminist perspective.
  • Changing Choices in Childbirth in Rural India: Stories from Srikakulam District, Andhra Pradesh, India — Pillalamarri examines the shift in Indian birth culture in recent years, as representative of cultures giving up their traditions in an effort to climb the social ladder. She looks at underlying social/religious/family factors in the shift, and sees the change in comparison to a contrary subculture shift in industrialized nations.

10:30 - 11:20 am (Mason Hall, Meese Conference Room)
Birth
Karen Brody
Birth is a play based on over one hundred interviews Karen Brody conducted with mothers across America who gave birth between 2000-2004. This one-act adaptation tells the true stories of 6 women painting a portrait of how low-risk, educated women are giving birth in America today. (audience-led reading)

10:30 - 11:20 am (Mason Hall, D3)
Are Reproductive Rights Human Rights? — coming soon: Listen Online
Shel Lyons (J.D., President of the Mothers' Rights Network)
This workshop centers around the UN's Millennium Development Goals for maternal mortality. Lyons will lead the group in examining how these goals apply to countries like the U.S. as well as developing countries, how the poor-rich divide impacts maternal and perinatal outcomes, and the ethical implications of policy decisions regarding birth and human rights. Workshop participants will gain skills to discuss perinatal outcomes in terms of human rights. Download the Human Rights Workshop materials.

11:30 am - 12:30 pm (Harris Theater)
Birth Models That Work — Listen Online
Robbie Davis-Floyd
Much social science and midwifery literature heavily critiques the obstetrical treatment of birth. Taking a more positive and constructive approach, this presentation describes "birth models that work"—a phrase that is intended to include models of both education and practice. The talk first presents the common characteristics of "birth models that work" and then proceeds to identify and describe a number of such optimal birth models from countries as diverse as Canada, the U.S., the UK, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Brazil, the Phillippines, and Samoa.

12:30 - 1 pm
Break for Lunch
Brown bag session start at 1pm.

1:10 - 1:55 pm (Harris Theater)
The Birth Movement as a Social Justice Issue
Shafia Monroe
What is the role of diversity in the midwifery movement? How do social determinants in the US affect maternal morbidity and infant mortality? Monroe investigates the birth movement as a social justice issue.

1:00 - 1:50 pm (Mason Hall, Meese Conference Room)
Art and Maternity — Listen Online
Rachel Epp Buller
Bring your lunch for this brown-bag session! Buller looks at recent projects to incorporate art into maternity hospitals, and how these affect cultural awareness of birth issues. Download the session handout for "Art and Maternity."

1:00 - 1:50 pm (Mason Hall, D3)
Birth, Fertility, and Female Identities — coming soon: Listen Online
Jessica Powers
Bring your lunch for this brown-bag session! Powers leads an interactive workshop on the value of birth stories. Read about "The Importance of Birth Stories."a

2:00 - 2:50 pm (Harris Theater)
Legal Issues Concerning Birth as a Reproductive Right — Listen Online
Tabaré Depaep and Lisa Pratt — moderated by Laura Possessky
This panel explores the legal and ethical issues surrounding childbirth as a reproductive right. What are the implications for women's rights, when women are forced to undergo unwanted obstetrical interventions? How well do current laws protect pregnant women, especially across racial and class lines? The following papers will be presented, followed by discussion:

  • Informed Consent & Refusal in Maternity Care — Depaep explores informed consent and refusal, legal precedent in maternity care, and the benefits to both providers and women when women make informed decisions about their care.
  • Birth on the Black Market: Illuminating the Impact of Prohibitive Policies on Vaginal Birth after Cesarean (VBAC) — Pratt gives a brief history of VBAC issues, set against stories of individual women's struggles, and the implications for women's rights.
  • Freedom from Health Disparities: The Civil Right to Survive Childbirth — Pratt presents the legal issues surrounding birth rights, with attention to class and racial disparities in treatment. She examines current laws intended to protect pregnant women, discusses how they fall short, and proposes a new civil rights statute to codify the rights of child bearing women.

2:00 - 2:50 pm (Mason Hall, Meese Conference Room)
Doctor's Orders: The Emotional and Psychological Impact of Maternity Care
Laura Citrin, Elizabeth Roca, and Juliana van Olphen Fehr — moderated by Cathy Myers
Panelists discuss maternity care from research and personal experience. The following papers will be presented, followed by discussion:

  • Bed Rest: The Emotional Consequences of Inactivity for Pregnant Women and Their Babies — Citrin presents her research based on interviews with women who have recently completed bedrest. She looks at the underlying medical and cultural reasons for bedrest, and the impact on women in various aspects of their lives.
  • Unexpected Positive Effects of Perinatal Disappointment — An author presents the story of her experience with an increasingly interventive medical process, as she went through preterm labor and birth, and how it impacted her sense of self throughout the experience and after.
  • The Caring Relationship in Maternity Care as the Basis for a Creating a Maternity Care System that is Responsive to Women — Fehr analyzes a survey of women who birthed with midwives. Based on her findings, she suggests changes to the maternity system in terms of front-line caregivers, settings for care, and the content and philosophy of care. Through lecture and discussion, participants will discover strategies for changing the fragmented health care system into a holistic model that uses the caring relationship as a vehicle for empowerment. Recommendations for practice, policy, education, and future inquiries will be presented, welcomed, and explored.

2:00 - 2:50 pm (Mason Hall, D3)
Midwifery Pearls: Evidence for Clinical Practice
Whitney Pinger
This presentation provides a deep understanding of what the current routine practices employed in birth are, why they are done, and what alternatives the midwifery model of care offers.

3:00 - 3:50 pm (Harris Theater)
Cruelty in the Maternity Wards: Fifty Years Later
Henci Goer
Goer investigates issues of abuse of women in the hospital environment, how it happens, and why it continues so many years after it was originally made a public issue. Download the session handout for "Cruelty in the Maternity Wards."

3:00 - 3:50 pm (Mason Hall, D3)
Educational Modules for Physical Postpartum Health Associated with Vaginal Deliveries — Listen Online
Ta’Kindra Westbrook
Westbrook considers the incidence of postpartum complications and the adequacy of current postpartum care, and presents a plan to increase awareness of postpartum issues through public education. Download the session handout for "Eductaional Modules for Physical Postpartum Health."

4:00 - 5:30 pm (Harris Theater)
Birth Practices and Reproductive Rights in Childbirth — coming soon: Watch Online
Debra Pascali-Bonaro, Co-Chair of the Board of Directors, IMBCI; Robbie Davis-Floyd, PhD, Cultural Anthropologist; Juliana van Olphen Fehr, CNM, MSN, PhD, and Fellow with the American College of Nurse-Midwives; Barbara Stratton, leader of the national VBACtivism movement; Lisa Pratt, chapter president of Law Students for Reproductive Justice, student board member of the Medicine and Law Committee for the American Bar Association’s Trial, Insurance, and Practice Section; Marjorie Brahms Signer, President, Virginia NOW; Shel Lyons, Chair of the Legal Committee for The Birth Survey and legal advisor to the Coalition for the Improvement of Maternity Services, and founder of The Mothers' Rights Network; Shafia Monroe, President of the International Center for Traditional Childbearing — moderated by Jessica Clements

What are the current positions of major women’s advocacy organizations on birth practices and childbirth as a reproductive right? In this roundtable, we'll talk about the issues that pregnant, birth, and postpartum women face today, how public policy and medical practices impact women, what’s being done to improve women’s experiences, and how we can be more effective in improving access to quality care for women.

5:30 - 5:45 pm (Harris Theater)
Dance of the Sacred Feminine — coming soon: Watch Online
Triple Goddess Tribal Belly Dance
Using music, movements and costuming inspired by folkloric Middle Eastern and American Tribal Style dance, we will celebrate the various stages of women’s lives: from birth to death and everything in between. Download the session handout for "Dance of the Sacred Feminine."

5:45 pm - 6:15 pm
Break for Dinner

6:15 - 7:20 pm (Harris Theater)
Screening of Laboring Under An Illusion: Mass Media Childbirth vs. The Real Thing — Listen Online (discussion only)
Vicki Elson — moderated by Jessica Haney
In this 50-minute documentary, anthropologist Vicki Elson contrasts 100 video clips in order to explore: How does mass media culture influence U.S. mothers and their care providers? How can people make informed choices free from Hollywood cliches?

7:30 - 8:00 pm (Harris Theater)
Sexuality of Childbirth — Listen Online
Debra Pascali-Bonaro
Pascali-Bonaro discusses birth as part of a woman’s sexual life, examining the impact of environment and birth practices, and the intersection between pain and pleasure.

8:00 - 9:45 pm (Harris Theater)
Screening of Orgasmic Birth
Debra Pascali-Bonaro
This 85-minute documentary examines the intimate nature of birth and the powerful role it plays in women’s lives when they are permitted to experience it fully. Undisturbed birth is revealed as an integral part of women’s sexuality and a widely neglected human right. Couples share their birth experiences, discussing their fears and how they found the support, nurturing, and ultimately the power and strength within themselves to labor and birth their babies in a beautiful, loving, and ecstatic way.

9:45 - 10:30 pm (Harris Theater)
Reactions to Orgasmic Birth — Listen Online
Erika Rosenberg
Rosenberg analyzes responses to the film Orgasmic Birth in terms of primary themes: nature v. culture, dis/embodiment, and maternal (a)sexuality. Through these themes, she illuminates what is at stake when it comes to orgasmic birth for those who experience it (usually unexpectedly), those who oppose it, and those who are open to it.

9:00 am - 9:00 pm
Birth, an MFA Thesis Show
Jessica Clements
This exhibit showcases the unseeable moments of childbirth, through a series of paintings investigating labor, childbirth, and postpartum.