Resources
Books and Films
Doula-knowledge about childbirth
At every time women encouraged other women during childbirth. For thousand years, mothers, female relatives and friends are supporting and attending the laboring woman during the birthing process. A doula is a labor companion who is respecting the autonomy, the personal decisions and the needs of the woman in labor. She is attending the mother during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. Doula-knowledge about childbirth offers women and their partners far reaching information to get more self-resolution and confidence to birth in a natural way.
ISBN 978-3867810494 Melanie Schöne und Dunja Herrmann, 2011
New Film: Homebirth - childbirth, simply peaceful (2011)
All women have the unique ability to give birth. The birth of a baby that grows for nine months in her womb, is the most intensive moment in a woman's life. For the woman it means: Opening her body and welcoming her baby with love! This is a natural process and all women around the world should be celebrated and honored for it.
This is a documentation about homebirth, attended by close people, with an intimate and cosy atmosphere. It shows how the birth of their daughter becomes an overwhelming and powerful experience for Michaela and Harald.
More information: www.hausgeburt.tv
Information about the author and film maker: Melanie Schöne, born in 1974, mother of two children, lives near Karlsruhe, Germany. She is working as a Doula since 2006 and founded the German Doula Organisation “Doulas in Deutschland e.V.” in 2008. She is also founder and trainer of the German Doula Education in Co-Operation with DONA International. As an author and film maker, she loves to have nurturing contacts to international and national birth activists and people who are interested in changing the midwifery and the way of giving birth and welcoming babies.
Doula (2011)
A wonderful photo-book with brief descriptions of the doula job: from the first meeting during pregnancy, the common birth preparation, the doula assistance during labour and birth up to the childbed period with the new born. The touching pictures and the artistic layout of photo-book are completed with texts in six languages: German, French, Italian, Rumantsch, English and Spanish. An inspiring book for future parents and people working around in pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum care, which is also a communication help thanks to the different languages.
Author/photographer Bea Mueller, 1954 Kindergarten teacher, special educator, paint therapist and doula childbirth companion. Nowadays: Paint teaching for children and adults, doula assistance of women/couples before and during the birth and during the childbed period. Mother of four children. Lives and works near Zurich/Switzerland.
ISBN 987-3-8423-7323-5 l bea mueller l 2011
«Marie-Kerguelen»
tells the story of perinatal loss, the fleeting visit of a little girl very much longed for. It’s a love story. It is the path of a woman who, through the ordeal, grows up and matures. «There are events we don’t recover from. We carry them forever inside us. We believe that time passes and muffles the terror. We believe that we have been able to sublimate the ordeal, that we are over it, have forgotten about it. But the damage is done, and deep inside the pain is intact. The heart, out of balance, doesn’t beat in the same way. Through a wide open window the wind engulfes itself, while life slips away. We feel ice-cold. We feel lost. A part of us has run away. We stand, forever fragile, with withdraw symptoms. Something inside us awaits only the end. May be we need to dive deep inside to find the source of life. While I was letting my daughter fly away, I found a precious gemstone, A small flame liken to the cristal of the soul...» © gaëlle Brunetaud
"Marie-Kerguelen" est le témoignage d'un deuil périnatal, qui raconte le passage éclair d'une petite fille ardemment désirée. C'est une histoire d'amour. On y lit le cheminement d'une femme qui, en traversant l'épreuve, grandit et mûrit. Ainsi, la mort favorise la renaissance. "Il est des événements dont on ne guérit pas. On les porte en soi pour toujours On croit que le temps passe, qu’il lisse l’effroi. On croît qu’on a sublimé l’épreuve, qu’on l’a dépassée, oubliée. Pourtant, le mal est fait, et, au plus profond de soi, la douleur est intacte.Le cœur, déséquilibré, ne bat plus pareil. Une fenêtre est béante, le vent s’y engouffre, la vie s’y dérobe.On est glacé. On est perdu. Une part de soi s’est enfuie.On est fragilisé à jamais, en manque pour toujours.En soi, désormais, quelque chose n’attend plus que la fin. Il faut peut-être plonger profond pour trouver la source de sa vie. En laissant ma fille s'envoler, j'ai trouvé une pierre précieuse, une petite flamme qui s'apparente au cristal de l'âme..." © gaëlle Brunetaud
ISBN : 978-2-296-08082-9 • mai 2009 • 150 pages
Gentle Birth Companions: doulas serving humanity” (2010)
“Thinking about becoming a doula? Or hiring a doula? Interested to know more about the doula role in relation to that of the midwife?
The first ever, fully referenced, comprehensive account of the doula movement in UK & Europe, Gentle Birth Companions outlines the history and politics of the childbirth companion and explores the essence of her modern role. Discussion on doula training & regulation, some lovely real life doula stories and many further resources are also included.”
