My Response

9 March 2009

My response to Monika. The only issue facing The Pink Kit Package is that families do not know they need to seriously prepare the pregnant body to give birth, learn skills then use them to work with their baby's efforts to be born. This has to change but it can't change without your help.


Hi Monika:

How nice to hear from you. Where in the bush are you? The fires there have been so horrific and I hope you are far away.

Thank you for looking through the imperfect material we have now and I hope .... as is ... you will consider becoming a wholesaler as you go around the country with your products. We tell people it's imperfect in presentation and full of the skills they need. There are many 'old fashioned' things that still wow.

You bring up many issues. Here's what's happening since we met.

What's happening now:

1) I'm re-writing all the written material now so that if we never re-do the whole thing than the written material will at least be vastly improved.

2) My daughter's husband who has a master's degree in film is going to spend the next three months going over the re-written draft, visuals and audio and he'll take out of the written material what should go into the new visuals and write a story board for that ... hoping we'll eventually raise funds to re-do the whole thing.

3) I'm speaking to a publisher mid march to discuss the project.

4) I hope to meet up with the new Minister of health in the next few weeks. There was an article in The Listener called Birth ... the kiwi way (or something like that) which dealt with the same old, same old issues.

5) We're creating 6 'commercial intent' websites such as: gift for ... baby shower, expectant mother, expectant father-to-be. We hope to create 20 commercial intent mini sites that just sell The PK in US$.

6) We've done the research for 100 online bookstores and there's a woman who will fill out applications with the hopes as is, it will be sold on some of those sites.

Whether people will do it:

1) People don't know they need to so this is all about 'education' and helping people connect pregnancy to birth in a way that is no yet connected. In other words, people are more focused on 'choice' or lack of around birth rather than the fact that they will birth no matter what and therefore they need to prepare the pregnant body to give birth, learn the birth and coaching skills and use them in whatever birth they have.

2) Andrea Vincent, the midwife here (80 births/year), found that 30% are immediately keen. She thought the PK didn't work if only 30% were interested but that's actually a large number. Now 85% of her clients work through the resource (she had to change her attitude) and do use the skills in whatever birth they have. 5% absolutely won't and 10% say they do but it's obvious during birth they haven't because the women aren't coping well and the fathers aren't helping. The goal has to be (from the care provider view point) that more women cope, manage, behave, act and handle birth better and more fathers help them do so. The goal from an expectant family's viewpoint has to be ... birth is an activity that we need skills to do well so we can have positive memories of what we've done for ourselves no matter what happens to us or around us. This is all education.

3) Given that there are 3,680,000 births each year in the US, we only need to capture a .01% or less. There are 700,000 births in the UK. We don't need a big market, we just need to be in the market!

The midwifery community

1) These skills will never be about them. In fact, our target market are families having hospital births with staff midwives or obstetrical nurses. Our product has always been used by the most conservative people in the most common of birth situations. We have a history of reaching people that neither the 'natural birth or midwifery movement' reaches. Most families do not have access to continuity of care midwifery and no one really has defined 'natural' birth except to say it's a birth without medical intervention. But many Pink Kit families have wonderful 'medical' births and we want to reach that market.

New resource:

1) if there is no funding to redo the whole thing then the new written material will be about 40 short resources that address specific aspects of self learning. EAch resource is written for both mothers and fathers-to-be. EAch resource hopefully will have 'quick' do, 'learn more', 'go deeper' but this is proving harder to do than I thought.

2) I've completed the 2nd draft of 11 out of 40 new 'chapters'. At the moment it looks as though it is cheaper to continue with the resource as a PDF so people can read which resources they want. however, not having a book means we can not hope to get into bookstores.

3) If we raise the funds to re-do it then you're absolutely right, we're aiming for a visual+ Birth Journey(CD), dump Internal work into visuals and all the rest of the body knowledge/breath/language/touch as well.

Funds:

There will be no efforts to try funding bodies. The money has to come from individuals, or they may know skilled people who will help and be paid later.

I developed these skills with thousands of families in the 1970s. I have no scientific background, never took anatomy/physiology ... didn't want to know or confuse what we were doing with the medical profession (including the midwifery profession). Everything we learned was on our bodies and nothing more than that and that's why it's 'right' ... we can all feel the same thing. I've been doing this now close to 40 years and I'll continue as long as necessary to at least get it ready to be re-done. every single small donation helps. We stash it away for when we can re-do it.

So, if you know people who want to donate small amounts then let them know. if every midwife (2000) in NZ donated $100 it could be completed within 18 months and they would get a new resource and be able to purchase in the future for 50% off retail.

We're already off the starting block. When I met jenny in 1991 and mistakenly shared these skills with her and another australian woman who works as a midwife, I didn't believe I'd get this far so I'm not afraid of where we are or where we are going. Once again, think Jenny is a lovely woman and it was my mistake that I have to live with.

As I said to you in my earlier emails, because I don't have a political charge on childbirth, I am the best person to bring forward the concept that all births should have skills attached to the activity. Every woman and every man can benefit from knowing how to work with their baby's efforts to be born. That should just be the societal message then you would see real change in childbirth.

Imagine 8 out of 10 women really handling birth in a very skilled manner whether medical/natural/hospital or home because she prepared her body to let out a very big object.

Imagine a woman having a planned c/s enjoying her pregnancy, preparing and using her skills during surgery and recovery.

Imagine men finally knowing how to help in whatever birth unfolds for his family and having a place beside his partner with skills that lead toward feeling confident as a father.

So, if you ever feel inspired to take another step toward the Pink Kit re-do then please come forward.

Anyway, thank you with deep kindness for spending time with The Pink Kit Package.

With all care to you and your work


Wintergreen, trustee