A team of local women, including Health & Healing Chiropractic and Peaceful Birthing, have partnered together to create a Birth and Family Wellness Center, based on cutting-edge integrative medicine. This center is the first of its kind in SE Michigan, serving expectant parents and families of all ages. Slated to open this spring. they are seeking the community’s support to open and are hosting two fundraising events. Screening opportunities of Ricki Lake’s acclaimed 4-part documentary More Business of Being Born will take place in February, including special guest speakers for the weekend showings. Proceeds will go to ‘The Sanctuary New Family Foundation’ 501c3 and to support the opening of the Birth & Family Wellness Center.
This fully operating birth and family wellness center will provide pre & post-natal care, pregnancy and childbirth education classes, a birthing suite, family chiropractic care, massage, nutrition, eco boutique and more. The center will also include a nonprofit entity in order to provide care and classes to those in our community who are in need of support. With more women looking for the opportunity to birth naturally in a more “at-home” atmosphere as well as access to complete care and birth education, the birth and family wellness center will offer all of this and so much more in one place.
The goal of the center is to help empower families in their birth and wellness choices through education and encourage conscious living choices. “We hope to create a paradigm shift in wellness through support, education, and awareness,” commented co-founder Natalie Fuoco.
Kicking off a series of fundraising events are two opportunities to see executive producer, Ricki Lake and film maker, Abby Epstein’s documentary, More Business of Being Born. This documentary continues the provocative and entertaining exploration of the modern maternity care system. More Business of Being Born offers a practical look at birthing options as well as poignant celebrity birth stories.
Tickets for both screenings can be purchased at www.Emagine-entertainment.com or at the theatre location.
Contact: Natalie Fuoco Email: birthcenter2012@gmail.com Phone: 248-953-4060 URL: www.BirthCenter2012.com
More About More Business of Being Born~
FROM EXECUTIVE PRODUCER RICKI LAKE AND FROM DIRECTOR ABBY EPSTEIN
Executive Producer Ricki Lake and Filmmaker Abby Epstein follow their landmark documentary, The Business of Being Born, with an all-new, four part DVD series that continues their provocative and entertaining exploration of the modern maternity care system. More Business of Being Born offers a practical look at birthing options as well as poignant celebrity birth stories from stars including; Alanis Morissette, Gisele Bundchen, Christy Turlington-Burns, Cindy Crawford, Molly Ringwald, Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Melissa Joan Hart.
Down on The Farm: Conversations with Legendary Midwife Ina May Gaskin
Follow Executive Producer Ricki Lake and Director Abby Epstein to The Farm Community in Summertown, Tennessee, where pioneer midwife Ina May Gaskin talks candidly about the latest birth trends and the art of midwifery. Gaskin, who was featured in the original The Business of Being Born, sparked Lake’s initial interest in natural birth and has continued to inspire the filmmaking duo’s advocacy efforts. Also on the journey is pregnant actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley, who has enlisted a midwife to attend the birth of her second child and joins the filmmakers in meeting The Farm’s famous midwives and touring the picturesque birth cabins in the woods. In the poignant final sequence, Gaskin exhibits her Safe Motherhood Quilt and calls for a deeper examination into the rising maternal mortality rate in the US. (Running Time: 55 min)
Special Deliveries: Celebrity Mothers Talk Straight on Birth
Featuring celebrity moms Laila Ali, Gisele Bundchen, Cindy Crawford, Alyson Hannigan, Melissa Joan Hart, Kellie Martin, Alanis Morissette, Christy Turlington-Burns and Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Special Deliveries is a collection of intimate birth stories from a diverse group of mothers. Whether they chose to deliver at a hospital, home or birthing center, these heartfelt and humorous testimonies speak to the lasting power of the birth experience. True inspiration for any mother-to-be, this group of women trusted their bodies and intuitions, taking responsibility for their birth decisions even when things didn’t go according to plan. None of these courageous women has ever spoken on the record in such compelling detail, and, on this DVD, the filmmakers weave together their passionate narratives as a celebration of the journey to motherhood that will leave viewers with a renewed sense of amazement about the power of women. (Running Time: 74 min)
Explore Your Options: Doulas, Birth Centers & C-Sections
The most comprehensive and educational DVD in the series, Explore Your Options offers birth-planning guidance around key topics such as the role of doulas (labor support specialists,) the advantages of birth centers and the alarming escalation of cesarean sections in the United States and Brazil. Epstein and Lake talk to doulas about why their profession is currently booming and uncover why having a good doula can make-or-break the entire birth experience. They look at the ever-growing rates of inductions and c-sections, which have reached 50% in many US hospitals and more than 99% in some private hospitals in Brazil. How “safe” are these cesarean surgeries, and what are the health implications for the mothers and babies? Explore Your Options examines the pros and cons of birth centers, described as a perfect middle ground between home and hospital. Special features include Alanis Morissette and Alyson Hannigan on the advantages of doulas, Christy Turlington Burns on her unexpected complications at a birth center, Molly Ringwald on how she avoided a cesarean birth with her twins and Gisele Bundchen and Michelle Alves on the cesarean epidemic in their native Brazil. (Running Time: 102 min)
The VBAC Dilemma: What Your Options Really Are
The VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) has become a hot-button issue in the modern maternity care system, as one in three new mothers will give birth via cesarean section. Are all of these mothers then forced to undergo a repeat cesarean the
next time around? Epstein and Lake posed that question to dozens of experts, determining the surprising truth about VBACs. They also follow several women’s stories – both those who succeed and fail at attempting a VBAC – including that of filmmaker Abby Epstein, whose first c-section delivery was depicted in the dramatic, final moments of The Business of Being Born. (Running Time: 51 min)
About Sarah Hovis