Jennifer's Birth Blog

Perinatal: Birth Symposium

I was fortunate to attend the Perinatal Birth Symposium held at George Mason University last week, and will be dedicating the next few posts to some of the highlights of the event.

First, I must confess that the best part for me was meeting Henci Goer. She’s a power house in the birth advocacy world, and it was truly an honor to get to walk with her and chat a bit. But she was only one of many remarkable women I got to meet, and I look forward to sharing some of them with you.

The event was organized by Jessica Clements. From her bio on the symposium site:

Jessica Clements is a feminist, a mother of two, and a painter. She holds a BA in English from Grinnell College; and she is currently completing her MFA at George Mason University, where she also teaches drawing, painting, and aesthetics. Her work, with an interview by Imogen Tyler, will be published in the upcoming Birth issue of Feminist Review.

Her art work greeted us as we entered the main welcome center in Harris Theater. At first glance, I thought a small print I saw was a photograph! She has captured the incredible moment that a baby emerges from her mother’s body with softness and detail but minus shame and fear.  Her images show babies on the perineum, a mother reaching to touch her baby’s head as it begins to crown, and the beauty of a round belly, in the warm and cool mottled tones of real flesh.

These are the images we all wonder about but are afraid to vocalize – what does normal birth look like?  What will my body do, exactly?  It was refreshing and touching to see it presented so honestly.

To view a few of her paintings of birth, go here. Do be warned, though, that the images are raw and true to life, and may not be considered safe for work.

Next installment: are birth issues  women’s rights, or human rights?