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Play to open dialogue about childbirth

October 1, 2008

From left to right, East Lansing resident Cara DeNuccio, Lansing resident Tamiko Rothhorn, Lansing resident Katie Chen and Capital Area BirthNetwork co-leader Lucinda Molzan rehearse a scene from “Birth,” a play by Karen Brody. The play will be performed Friday and Saturday.

Photo by Georgia Rhodes | The State News

The Capital Area BirthNetwork will join other members of Birth On Labor Day, or BOLD, around the world this weekend in performing “Birth” — a play about the experiences of childbirth.

“Birth,” written by BOLD founder Karen Brody, is a play focused on eight different mothers’ stories, representing the vast array of experiences mothers can expect in the current climate of childbirth.

Capital Area BirthNetwork chapter co-leader Allyson Fernstrom said the play opens a dialogue many women are afraid to have.

“A lot of moms think they can’t be sad because they had a healthy baby, even though they didn’t have the birth experience they wanted,” Fernstrom said. “(Birth) makes a woman a woman, and we’re having a lot of moms that are having disempowering birth experiences.”

The play will be performed at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Edgewood United Church, 469 N. Hagadorn Road. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $10 or $8 for students. Tickets also can be purchased at the door for $12.

BOLD was created in 2006 to perform “Birth” during the four days of Labor Day weekend, according to the group’s Web site. Since then, BOLD has expanded to include events at other times through September and early October.

Julie Brown, chapter co-leader of Capital Area BirthNetwork, said the play attracts attention to a part of a woman’s life most people avoid talking about.

“The biggest thing is that birth isn’t talked about very much in our culture,” Brown said. “Women and men never get to witness or be a part of birth until they do it and it leads to fear.”

Fernstrom said the view of birth as a medical procedure was not always the norm — prior to the 1900s, it was an experience to bring families together. She said the movement of birth to the hospital and out of the home has caused a decrease in positive views toward birth.

“Women were given a drug and went into something called the ‘twilight sleep,’” Fernstrom said. “They were knocked out and were screaming and ranting and raving. It’s like they said, ‘Let’s knock you out and we’ll get the baby out.’”

Michelle Verdura, a marketing sophomore, said birth experiences should vary by the mother’s needs, but she would like to see childbirth become a more positive experience.

“I think if there’s complications there’s no reason not to go ahead and, you know, give the epidural,” Verdura said. “But I think it would be nice if we could move to a more natural approach.”

Fernstrom said the play can be an amazing experience to bind together women in the common experience of childbirth.

“It’s two nights where women and their families and their husbands and friends can get together and unite in the common bond of birth,” Fernstrom said. “Most women do have children and it’s so common — we need to make it easier to talk about.”

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