BOLD Locations

Chicago, Illinois

The Chicago performance took place in a beautiful, completely equipped 300 seat theater that supports community events. I feel very lucky that we found a home in this theater because they wanted us to be there and were very easy to work with. I’m also very pleased that I was able to find 2 experienced directors who were both mothers and had given birth at home. They both were very professional, easy to work with, and completely GOT the message of the play. I think they both enjoyed sharing the director responsibilities and it worked out well that they could share the task. Our actresses included 2 doulas, a former LLL leader, several actresses with stage experience and 4 mothers. It was a wonderful mix of people who were either already part of the birth community, or became more interested in natural childbirth and making maternity care more mother-friendly as we became more deeply engrossed in the work.

We had a short blessingway for the actresses and directors prior to opening night. My husband made groaning cake for us so we all had groaning cake before going out on stage, and then I gave everyone a "birth bead" to hold on to during the performance or to remind them of this evening. I also read off all of the other places where BIRTH was taking place that weekend to remind them that we were part of a much larger movement and they were not alone in giving birth that night.

As to the actual performances, one of the highlights for me was stepping out on stage on Friday night to introduce the play having just heard that my friend and ICAN board member had given birth, and having this wonderful group of midwives sitting near the front of the stage begin to cheer and clap just at the introduction! There was such great energy that night! It was clear from the beginning that the Friday night audience was part of the birth community, and they laughed at all of the "inside jokes" that people less familiar with birth might not get.

The energy on Saturday night was different and I could feel it as soon as I walked on-stage to introduce the play. They were much quieter, there were more men in the audience, and I think perhaps the crowd was a bit older. I feel that perhaps we reached more people who didn't know as much about birth as Friday night's audience, and that's certainly part of our mission.

I was able to sit back and enjoy the performance! Sometimes I watched the actresses and sometimes I watched for the audience's response. And I must say, our actresses were fantastic. There were a few standout performances in my mind that made me tear up everytime I watched them.

Also several people in the birth community approached me and said, "wow. This is truly how it is. It really gets to the heart of what is happening with birth today."

We had 3 talkback discussions, one after each performance. On Friday and Sunday, we discussed, "Mother-Friendly Maternity Care: What is it, and how do we get it?”. On Saturday, we discussed, "What Women Want: A Chicago Perspective." Our talkback panels incorporated CNMs, both hospital based and homebirth, lactation consultant, CBE-- Birthing from Within, Bradley, doulas, a psychotherapist specializing in the childbearing year and complications related to fertility, pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum, and an author who's written books about mothering. We also asked a pediatrician, OBs, and several legislators, but although interested, they were not able to attend the event.

On Friday night, there was a lot of discussion from the audience about their experiences, and what happens to women when faced with making decisions about their care. Many people both audience and talkback panelists discuss how American women in particular lose their voices, and submit to care they know is not acceptable. A panelist made the point that many of the women from other cultures who aren't happy with their care have no qualms about "leaving the relationship" whereas American women feel guilty about the "break-up."

On Saturday night, the discussion was completely different and leaned a bit toward an argument with the panelists. There was much disagreement about language -- whether a woman has "control" is "empowered" or has "authority." A CNM and the author seemed to go back and forth about this with the doula in between trying to bridge what the two parties were saying to each other.

On Sunday, there was a lot of discussion about how to support a woman who is afraid of natural childbirth, and why one would even vaule natural childbirth.

The most rewarding part is difficult because there were so many rewarding things about being the organizer. I LOVED being a part of this group of women who had never met each other yet supported each other completely, and were kind and responsive. I loved having my "own" work to do and feeling that I was contributing to the community and doing something unique that helped to further the cause. It was fun to step out of my day-to-day activities and make phone calls and interact with the theather community. I truly enjoyed meeting the actresses and becoming familiar with how a play is put together. It was thrilling to watch the directors work with the actresses. And, of course, it was breath-taking to see it ALL come together in the performances and to watch the audience respond. I could go on, but I guess I'll stop. I was honored to be able to bring BIRTH to Chicago!

BOLD Chicago’s production raised money for the International Cesarean Awareness Network of Chicago.