I have the INCREDIBLE pleasure, pride, & priveledge to announce that the full version of this short film directed by Feminist Filmaker extroadinaire @Bea Moyes and co-produced by my good self, is now on the inter-airways for you to watch, share & ponder 'til your hearts content !
#MyChoice beautifully captures the voice of Renata Rodrigues, documenting one woman’s experience of why having a homebirth and having her birth choices respected was so important to her, as a woman and as a Mother.
It seems timely that this film emphasising the importance of honouring women’s choices around birth, and keeping the option of homebirth available to all women everywhere should be released now, given recent circumstances in the UK.
Over past weeks women in the UK have seen their rights to independant midwives and homebirths chipped away at and it seems like no better time to use this film to promote discussion and debate about women’s choices and autonomy around birth.
The film was made with the intention to be used as an educational tool to instigate debate around respecting the physiology of birth, and what empowering birth experiences really means to women’s lives. Please do feel free to share widely & use this short film in the many different groups, gatherings and trainings around birth & feminist issues which you are organising/attending.
I firmly believe that it is by using different mediums to emphasise this profoundly personal & deeply human aspect of birth, that we will highlight the necessiity to keep birth humaine, respectful and empowering.
We must keep having these conversations, and we must keep showcasing women’s voices, if we are to raise awareness of just how much our approach to women & birth will affect the character of future generations, and the course of humankind.
About Homebirth in Paris
Please note that I was not the Midwife at this homebirth : I was Renata’s Doula & hypnobirthing teacher. I do not currently work as a homebirth midwife in France. However, I am happy to support and advise women on their choices around Physioloigcal (‘natural’) birth & homebirth in Paris.
More about Hypnobirthing
Hypnobirthing during Labour
If you would like to see some of the footage of the hypnobirthing techniques we used in preparation for Renata's birth & to learn more about hypnobirthing & how it works during labour please see the hypnobirthing video clip here
You can also Read more about Renata's birth here
Blurb & Trailer for the film
If you are using the film to show at a birth group or event please feel free to use the following blurb:
“My Choice: A Homebirth in Paris” a short film by Bea Moyes and Jodi Garrod
This powerful and moving short film celebrates women's choice & autonomy, the beauty of undisturbed physiological birth, and the importance of keeping the option of homebirth available to all women everywhere.
Through the stunning images of Renata’s beautiful and peaceful homebirth, and her deeply heartfelt words, we discover what it means to women to give birth at home, in their own environment: to feel protected and safe, able to fully release and let go.
We also hear from Midwife/Doula ‘Jodi Garrod’ and Midwife ‘Jean-Claud Verdwyckt' about the importance of facilitating women’s own agency in birth, and re-negotiating power dynamics, speaking of birth workers “doing nothing, when nothing needs to be done.”
Emphasising birth as a profoundly human experience, that fundamentally changes the course of a woman’s life, this film is a final cry for women and Midwives everywhere, who face increasing barriers to birthing at home.
The trailer for the film is available here: https://vimeo.com/162080442