What academics, women’s health advocates and press are saying

The documentary film Birth Story is in the Schlesinger Library’s collection because it not only captures an important historical moment in the women’s health movement, but is also a document of the discourse around childbirth continuing today. The film, rich with archival footage of natural childbirth, points students and faculty toward an understanding of birth as a natural physiological process. Ina May Gaskin continues to be a pioneer and activist for women’s health.
Jennifer Gotwals, Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University

Birth Story presents many historical lessons for students of birth and women’s health that are as relevant today as they were decades ago.
Cecilia M Jevitt, CNM, PhD, FACNM – Yale University School of Nursing

A film of such importance that it should not be missed and should be shown in every eighth grade health class and to every couple about to welcome a baby.
Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth, Misconceptions, and Vagina: A New Biography

It’s a great reminder for us to always listen with compassion and give feedback and ask questions with respect and a kind heart; to our patients/clients, students, staff, and the healthcare professionals we collaborate with.
Stacey Walden, LM: Clinical Director at Florida School of Traditional Midwifery

Birth Story is the film you’ll want to share with every mother you know…This amazing movie reconnects us to the spirit of women supporting other women in childbirth and in life.
Ricki Lake & Abby Epstein, Filmmakers “The Business of Being Born”

A celebratory tribute to the endangered art of midwifery and its most influential practitioner, Ina May Gaskin…doubles as a defense of natural childbirth and an affectionate look back at the movement’s 70s counterculture roots.
Variety

…a granola ode to natural childbirth that makes you want to hop into a tub of warm water and start pushing.
New York Times

A fascinating history lesson and a raucous celebration of life…you’ll shed tears of joy at the sight of babies being born with a sense of wonder, awe, and joy.
Matt Holzman, KCRW

It’s inspiring stuff, regardless of your own birth plan.
Portland Mercury

[Birth Story] warmly recounts how a busload of hippie moms reframed the culture of American childbirth.
San Francisco Weekly