How to Be a Badass Doula in 2 Easy Steps

Post a Birth Video to Facebook. Have Someone from FB Take it Down Because it Violates Community Rules.

We posted a fantastic birth video of a woman standing in her kitchen, catching her own baby standing up. It was just over one minute long. She was wearing a bra and birthed unassisted. The video was filmed from a bit of a distance, there were no full-on yoni shots.

If you have been in the birth world a while, or you are fairly new to it, you have probably heard the buzz that Facebook removes photos of birth and breastfeeding as it violates community rules for nudity yet all the photos from the Sports Illustrated nude, body painted athletes were posted last month. It happened again a few weeks ago when Kim Kardashian showed her post pregnancy body in a photo with the “important bits” blocked out. Apparently, she had nothing to wear and the “internet broke” because of it. We are not sure if the video was just simply removed or if it was actually reported. Facebook does not provide that information.

There is also something to be said about the power of a woman’s body, and not just their appearance, that Facebook does not want to share with the general population. Women at their finest. Women being women. Women being mothers. Women loving their children. Women’s power. Women’s wisdom. These are all censored.

Birth art from a historical perspective is documented in Aztec, Egyptian, Greek and Roman times. In all medium, in all cultures, birth is portrayed as a reverent, respected and powerful event. What will be left of our times that will show birthing and breastfeeding mothers as powerful?

The photos below were taken at the Vatican Museum and the National Art Gallery in Ottawa, Canada. Depictions of women feeding their babies is not new either.

At the Vatican Museum, Vatican City National Gallery, Ottawa, Canada

What are you going to do about the censorship that continues on Facebook and Instagram? How will you make a difference to what art history pieces of our times are given to generations to come? There needs to be a change of culture but it seems like the only ones that are noticing the differences are people already actively involved in providing birthing services. The general public sees birth as gory and gruesome but watches horror and psychological thriller moves. The average pêrson thinks breastfeeding should be done in private but publicizes their own eating patterns on Instagram. There is something not right in going on in North America when it comes to birth and breastfeeding.

Watch the video. Comment below. Is it worthy of censorship? Tell us your thoughts.