Active Birth
Janet Balaskas tells the story of Active Birth
In the late 1970's and early 1980's almost all women gave birth in the supine position ('lying flat on their backs'!!) usually attached to electronic monitors, drips and aided by a cascade of medical interventions in hospital. There was no alternative option. The first Active Births (including 2 of mine) that occurred in London took place at home and were attended by independent midwives.
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Very soon enthusiasm spread, as mothers who had experienced a wonderful joyful active birth told their stories to friends. Demand grew fast and in the spring of 1982 the women in North London who had attended my Active Birth yoga classes began to request that the local hospital enable them to labour and give birth in upright positions.
At the time this so called 'animalistic behaviour' caused a furore at the hospital with midwives and doctors divided into two camps - for and against. At one point active birthing was actually banned by a senior consultant. Women who insisted on being on all fours or squatting to give birth were being asked to sign a disclaimer - sometimes during the peak of labour, in the very moments before giving birth.
I felt strongly that a woman should not have to battle during her labour for the right to control her own body or to choose the positions she found most comfortable and practicable. Our argument was backed by a sizeable body of research and was keenly supported and endorsed from the outset by a highly regarded local consultant obstetrician - Yehudi Gordon and the Royal College of Midwives.
So I organised a demonstration which we called the 'Birthrights Rally' which took place on Hampstead Heath in April 1982. We were protesting for womens' right to labour and give birth actively, rather than be forced to comply passively to an 'actively managed' medicalised birth. Word spread fast throughout the childbirth movement and with only 3 weeks of planning 5000 - 6000 people and midwives turned up to this historic event. Speakers included Michel Odent, Anna Ford and Sheila Kitzinger as well as Yehudi Gordon and myself.
A week before the rally my late husband Arthur Balaskas and I collated the research evidence into a list. In one inspired night we wrote the Active Birth Manifesto as part of a press release for the rally and the Active Birth Movement was born! Today, in the very same hospital, just 23 years later - there is a brand new custom built Birthing Centre, where Active Births are positively encouraged by the midwives who run it. Active Birth is an option women can choose in most hospitals throughout the UK.
Janet Balaskas is the founder of the Active Birth Centre. She is renowned for coining the phrase 'active birth ' and for pioneering the Active Birth Movement in 1982 in response to the policy of 'active management of labour '. In essence, an active birth means that the birthing mother has freedom, choice and control during her birth; whereas in an actively managed birth, labour is medically induced and obstetrically managed from the outset.
Janet directs the renowned Active Birth Centre in North London which promotes the Active Birth philosophy and offers an extensive education programme locally, nationally and internationally. Her groundbreaking books have been translated into many languages and have stimulated change and improvement in maternity services all over the world.They have also empowered many thousands of women to discover and trust their innate ability to give birth normally and inspired others to train as Active Birth Teachers.
Janet graduated from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa and emigrated to England in the 1960 's. After the birth of her first child, she began her career as a childbirth educator with the National Childbirth Trust in the 1970 's and then went on to evolve her own innovative style of teaching. She introduced the use of yoga for pre-natal preparation and has evolved her current approach after more than 20 years of practice.
Janet lectures internationally and teaches health professionals and midwives. She has created a new concept in pre- and post-natal education within the unique environment of the Active Birth Centre in North London, where she now works.
Her publications include:
• The Water Birth Book: From the World-renowned Natural Childbirth Pioneer 
• Active Birth: The New Approach to Giving Birth Naturally
• New Natural Pregnancy: Practical Wellbeing from Conception to Birth
• Preparing for Birth with Yoga: Empowering and Effective Exercise for Pregnancy and Childbirth
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