If any of you are in the greater New York City area on Labor Day weekend, come and join the fun. On Sunday is a Bagels and Breakfast get together at the Red Tent Women's Project in Brooklyn. On Labor Day is a march in Central Park and a performance of Karen Brody's powerful play, Birth, with Barbara Harper, Debra Pascali-Bonaro, and moi playing roles followed by a panel discussion. Now there's a once in a lifetime opportunity!

For more information, go to NYC BOLD events.

-- Henci By: Henci Goer

I wish I could have seen this. I played Beth (the elective cesarean character) in the BOLD 2007 production of BIRTH in Chicago. Playing Beth afforded me the perfect opportunity to mention 'The OB Disinformation Campaign' during interviews and it also gave me insight into the character. I just wanted to thank Henci Goer not only for writing this article but for all her efforts to educate women about better birthing options. I know this is going to sound silly but Henci, if you're reading this, you're my hero.

~Sara

Thank you for those kind words. I feel honored whenever I find that I have been helpful to someone on their journey.

We have something in common. I played "Beth" too. I chose to play her because her character had the closest affinity to mine in the sense that she is left-brained and approaches things with her mind as opposed to her heart. I wanted to be convincing to the audience, to give an honest portrayal, which meant understanding Beth and trying to get into her skin. One of the things I did, for example, was invent a back story that could explain why she thought the way she did and why she made the decisions she did. This made for an interesting journey for me because in my own persona, of course, I see things very differently. I wonder if you had a similar experience. 

-- Henci 

I was a bit conflicted about playing Beth at first. But I am a Type-A person as well, so I could relate to her in that sense. I think we see strong evidence of the cultural warping of childbirth in Beth. She talks about her sister's nightmarish birth experience and how she couldn't understyand why anyone would want to go through that. But, if you think about it, what she probably saw was the typical humiliating, intervention-riddled hospital birth. And if that is the case, she's right! That IS a nightmare and no one wants to go through that. Beth just never knew there was a better way. She talks about not wanting a midwife because she doesn't want to deliver in bath water. But, perhaps she didn't know that most CNM-attended deliveries occur in a hospital setting. Sadly, the word "midwife" has such a negative connotation for most people. And like I said earlier, your article on the OB disinformation campaign gave me tremendous insight into her personality. Probably more so than anything else. Keep up the good work! You're helping so many women.

~Sara

Thank you for the kind words. One thing that puzzled and intrigued me: Beth was, at least on the surface, an assertive person, yet she stayed with an ob she didn't like and who treated her badly by her own standards. All issues about planned cesarean surgery aside, she could have switched to someone nice. She even had friends who were obs who could have referred her. While I agree with you, I think something deeper was going on than just our birth--excuse me, delivery--culture. What typically goes on in hospitals today cannot be called "birth" any more than artificial insemination resembles making love. (That, by the way, is a paraphrase of  someone else, Ronald Laing, I think.) It sounds like we both learned a lot by playing against "type."

-- Henci