New book released any minute!

We are excited to announce Joyful Birth: More Childbirth Stories Told by Doulas will be released this month, November 2012!

We wanted to share the beautiful cover and some wonderful words of praise:

"Take your time with this book. Read and savor and learn from each of these joyous birth stories -- each one different, but all touching and personal! In a time when the stories that most of us read and see in the media are frightening and sensationalized, here is a collection of inspiring and reassuring accounts. This, the second anthology published by “The Lisas,” is as full of wisdom and inspiration as their first, Bearing Witness. It should be read by every expecting parent and those who care for them! Enjoy!"
-Penny Simkin, author of The Birth Partner: A Guide to Childbirth for Dads, Doulas, and All Other Labor Companions.

"Joyful Birth challenges the reader to abandon all preconceived notions about what it means to experience a joyful birth. The authors have woven together a variety of birth-related stories that celebrate the joy and the transformative power of birth. Joyful Birth will make a treasured addition to the birth libraries of doulas and others who are passionate about birth."
- Ann Douglas, author, The Mother of All Pregnancy Books

"In order to interpret this anthology of joyful birth stories, I explored scientific databases via the keyword “Joy”. It appears that this term is almost unknown compared with “anxiety”, “fear”, “aggressiveness”, “psychological distress” and “depression”. We must be grateful to Lisa & Lisa for bringing in limelight what is still a neologism in scientific circles." 
- Michel Odent, MD, author, Childbirth in the Age of Plastics, etc. 

Bearing Witness is now officially a Series! :) We look forward to many more books in the future.

News!

Bearing Witness is on the "We Recommend" list at Toronto's The World's Biggest Bookstore!

And, 10 copies are now available in the Toronto Public Library.

We received a wonderful, heartwarming story from one of our contributing authors, Lesley Dasilva:

"I had forwarded a copy of Bearing Witness to my friend in Massachusetts last August. When I visited her a month later in September I had asked her if she read the book and she told me no. She has polyps and had been trying to conceive for a couple of years with no success. This same friend texted me last December letting me know she was pregnant. I made a joke saying that it was the book but I knew she hadn't read it and when I said that she corrected me and told me she had read it after I left. So in a matter of three months she got pregnant. I think the book helped calm her mind and open her up more fully to the feelings of empowerment that Bearing Witness so beautifully expressed. I think it's important for women to know they are more than what society or others perceive them to be...your work is critical and I am glad there will be two other books to remind us."

Thank you Ann Douglas!

http://www.having-a-baby.com/news/2011/6/30/attention-doulas-joyful-birth-and-postpartum-wisdom.html

Book reviews, reading lists, next call for authors

Today I was greeted in the mail by DONA's International Doula magazine. To my delight, this issue includes a review of none other than, Bearing Witness: Childbirth Stories Told by Doulas.

AND...

To date, Bearing Witness is recommended reading for:
- The Simkin Center at Bastyr University http://www.seattlemidwifery.org/simkin-school/birth-doula-texts.html

And required reading for:
- PALS http://www.palsdoulas.org/become-a-doula/required-reading-list/
- Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, Toronto
- Healing Arts Learning Organization (HALO), Kitchener ON

Do you know if Bearing Witness is on more reading lists?

And coming soon...

As we announced at the Ina May Gaskin Conference last weekend in Toronto (see our last post), our publisher is asking for the next book in the Bearing Witness series. Watch for the call for authors for two books: Joyful Birth, and The Postpartum Period Through the Eyes of a Doula.

Spring has sprung!

Midwife Ina May Gaskin in Toronto

We are hosting world renowned midwife Ina May Gaskin in Toronto!

Our own contributing authors, Isabel Perez and Julei Busch had a vision to bring Ina May to Toronto. Isabel was trained as a midwife by Ina May as you may recall from her interview with Crescence Krueger, A Life in Birth. Isabel contacted Ina May and Lisa Doran and I happily took on the monumental task of organizing the conference.

Join us as Ina May speaks to pregnant, pregnant-to-be and new families on Friday night, March 25, and to birth professionals on Saturday, March 26, 2011.

For more details and to register to to our website http://birthconferences.com

Seating is very limited.

Hope to see you in March!

Required Reading Lists

Bearing Witness is officially on 2 REQUIRED reading lists so far:

PALS (a large doula organization in the northwest US)
http://www.palsdoulas.org/become-a-doula/required-reading-list/

Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine

Watch the list grow as we learn of other organizations who have added the book. We have no way of knowing all the lists it could be on. Please let us know if you hear of any. Thank you!

Toronto Star book review

Yesterday Bearing Witness was featured on the front page of The Toronto Star's Living section in renowned parenting author Ann Douglas's debut column, The Mother of All Baby Columns. Ann interviewed several people in the book.
http://www.thestar.com/searchresults?AssetType=article&stype=genSearch&q=bearing%20witness%20childbirth&r=all:1