FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SEPTEMBER 3, 2008

CONTACT:
Sara Earl

AUSTIN GETS BOLD TO IMPROVE CHILDBIRTH CHOICES FOR MOTHERS WITH PERFORMANCE OF THE PLAY “BIRTH”
BOLD Challenges New Resolution Sponsored by American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

September 3, 2008, AUSTIN — 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 Austin. A performance of playwright/BOLD founder Karen Brody's play Birth will take place for a third year in Austin on September 20 at 2:00 p.m. at City Theater located at 3823 Airport Boulevard.

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 this performance of Birth in Austin will go to Giving Austin Labor Support (GALS) and their mission to provide free doula service to unsupported laboring mothers in hospitals.

“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. See 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 Austin, our BOLD talkback panel after the performance includes Illysa Foster, MA, CPM, Christina Sebestyen, MD, and Susan Steffes, LPT, CD (DONA) and the play’s local director.

Tickets for Birth can be purchased online at http://boldinaustin.eventbrite.com.

A BOLD Red Tent will also be conducted at NiaSpace on September 21 at 10:00 a.m. at NiaSpace, 3212 South Congress. The BOLD Red Tent creates an intimate environment in which Austin women can share their personal birth experiences. The BOLD in Austin organization uses the experience of the event to record, validate, heal and educate.

A paperback edition of the play, including a foreword by Dr. Christiane Northrup and emails and stories from BOLD locations, will available in August 2008.

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BOLD is a global arts-based movement to create childbirth choices that work for mothers. To learn more about BOLD visit our website: www.boldaction.org.

Click to download a hi-rez version of this image from the 2007 performance of Birth.