World Doula Week A Uniquely Intimate Film Screening - DOULA! The Ultimate Birth Companion

March 1, 2012 - PRLog -- Doulas across the Hudson Valley will be joining their global colleagues in celebration of World Doula Week from March 22 – 28. Join Just Us Women Productions as it hosts a screening of Doula! The Ultimate Birth Companion, followed by lively discussions and an opportunity to meet your local doulas. The free Doula! film is being shown Saturday, March 24th,  2:00pm at Curves of Monroe, 360 Rt. 17M, Monroe, NY. According to the World Doula Week website, “The purpose of World Doula Week ("WDW") is to empower doulas all over the world to improve the physiological, social, emotional, and psychological health of women, newborns and families in birth and in the postpartum period. The World Doula Week events will take place all over the world during the same week, stating the benefits of the presence of doulas in birth and in the postpartum period”.  Visit http://www.Justuswomen.org to register and confirm your space or call 914-595-2065.

Doula! The Ultimate Birth Companion is a 65 minute, intimate and emotionally charged documentary about doulas and their part in pregnancy, birth and the first few weeks. Made by UK film-maker Toni Harman (Credo, Real Birth Stories), Doula!  launched in June 2010 and screenings are being organized in the US, Europe, the UK, Canada, Australia and Japan.

Through close-up documentary footage of three doula-supported births, Doula! captures the non-medical but highly practical and emotional support given to the mother before, during and after childbirth. This unique look into a doula supported birth is captured through two intimately filmed home water births and accompanied by a video diary shot by the parents of a home birth that ends in a hospital caesarean section.

Film-maker Toni Harman said "I was inspired to make Doula! by my own difficult birth experience two years ago that ended in an emergency caesarean. I wish I had known about doulas then as I'm sure I would have had a much more positive experience. The film has really opened my eyes about the amazing difference having a doula can make and I'm hoping the film will empower other women to have the birth they want, with the help of a doula."

Doula! is supported by the UK's non-profit doula organization, Doula UK. Bridget Baker, Doula UK co-chair said, "Doula! shows how the calm accepting presence of a doula can enhance the whole experience of childbirth. From the practical to the emotional, we become aware of some of the work an intuitive doula can do. The film is a joyful and inspirational view of doulas at work."

The production team behind Doula! created film screening kits in an attempt to encourage public screenings, which the film is licensed for.

The screening is being organized by Just Us Women Productions, LLC.  Just Us Women Productions, headed by Executive Director Tamara Wrenn, provides birth and postpartum doula care as well as related birth services such as normal birth education and infant massage instruction, in and around the Mid-Hudson Valley and New York tri-state region. Visit http://www.justuswomen.org for more details.

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Just Us Women Productions, LLC is a boutique consulting firm. Its focused areas of consulting expertise include perinatal health, women's wellness and the maternal child health life course model.