Debra Pasacali-Bonaro geeft op 15 en 16, 19 en 20 juni 2006 twee Engelstalige doula-workshops het Geboortecentrum in Amsterdam. Speciaal voor de site vertelt zij iets over zichzelf, haar achtergrond en idealen. Debra heeft aan de basis gestaan van de doula-beweging in de Verenigde Staten. Zij is internationaal actief in allerlei initiatieven die zich sterk maken voor emotionele ondersteuning tijdens de bevalling. Haar workshops zijn zeer de moeite waard voor iedereen die hierin geïnteresseerd is.
As a mother of five, my interest in working with women and their families during childbearing came out of my own experiences and the power giving birth brought into my life.
I have been working as a Doula since 1986 when I was beginning as a childbirth educator and women/couples in my classes began to ask me to come with them for their birth. It was in the Fall of 1987 I read an article in Mothering Magazine about a Doula and it was a magical moment... I said: "I am a Doula."
From there many of those who read the article contacted the Doula in the article and she put us all in touch. Our network began to grow and in 1992 DONA held its first meeting in Boston. I attended and found myself on their first Board of Directors. It was wonderful to be a part of the beginning of DONA and watch doulas share and grow in the US.
My interest grew in the history and traditions of female companionship during childbearing. I began working on an international documentary about childbirth and started to network with doulas around the world, realizing that female support during childbirth was a universal aspect of our history that had been lost in many regions of the world. As I traveled and shared with traditional midwives, I learned how many of our nurturing and comforting skills for childbirth had been handed down from our grandmothers and were now being lost with the medicalization of birth. Doulas are a remembering and a return to these skills.
As a DONA International Doula educator, I am honored to share skills that I have learned from midwives and doulas around the world and help us to reconnect the traditional circle of support for women in childbirth. At our workshop we will learn skills, see films and share stories about birth around the world. We will look at how a woman's emotions effect the progress of labor and the ways that doulas can offer emotional support.
I have attended births in the Netherlands and often cite your maternity care as one of the best in the world. The only aspect of care that you have also lost over time is the continuous presence of a woman/doula. I feel that with the opportunity to bring this important aspect of care back to your system, you will truly have the best model of care in the world.
I teach Doula workshops around the
world. I find that everywhere women and sometime men are coming together for
a workshop out of their desire to
make birth better for the women and families in their communities. Whether you
have a lot of experience with birth, or you are new to working with birthing
women, you will find the workshop a fun, refreshing look at childbirth and an
opportunity to nurture yourself in the process. I have had midwives and physicians
attend, childbirth educators, doulas, and everyone agrees that taking two days
to discuss options in birth, practice skills and generally share and learn together
has something to offer everyone.
In addition to being a Doula and childbirth educator, I am a Co-Chairperson for the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services, CIMS, International Committee. We are in the process of launching a Global MotherBaby Friendly Initiative, GMFI, of which having a continuous presence/Doula is one aspect of achieving quality evidence-based care.
I hope to meet you and share with you at one of our upcoming workshops in Amsterdam,
Debra Pascali-Bonaro
www.midwiferytoday.com/friends/motherlove
Doula training
Childbirth Education
www.orgasmicbirth.com