Discussion

Arrivals + Departures: Birth Cafe

Book ticket

Sun 20 Sep

14.00 - 16.00

Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court

Part of Arrivals + Departures

An open-air Birth Cafe discussion space, held in association with Arrivals + Departures outdoor installation.

Whilst some of us may birth all of us are born.

Birth Cafe provides a safe, non-judgmental space in which anyone and everyone is welcome to come and talk about their relationship to, and concept of birth, in order to build understanding and respect for its psychosocial, cultural and bodily significance for us all.

As Birth increasingly takes centre stage, through popular TV programmes, celebrity pregnancies and NHS maternity scandals, what should be a momentous event can seem reduced to a procedure or ‘event’ devoid of its wider significance.

Birth Cafe is based on the Death Cafe model, and is a welcoming, inclusive and diverse space.

Birth Cafe is convened by Laura Godfrey-Isaacs, birth activist, midwife, and artist and birth activist Amy Dignam.

About the artist

Laura Godfrey-Isaacs aspires to bring her knowledge and experience in the arts together with midwifery to bring fresh interdisciplinary perspectives to inform birth education, practice, policy and research.

She regularly presents at conferences, writes and blogs about birth. She also creates interdisciplinary projects and campaigns, such as Maternal Journal which supports mental health and well-being through creative journaling.

She is Ambassador for Proceate Projects, Co-Chair of the Women’s Equality Party’s Health Committee, Board Advisor of The International Forum for Wellbeing in Pregnancy, and member of the Thought Leadership Group at the NMC reviewing midwifery education standards.

Amy Dignam is an artist, birth activist and hypnobirthing teacher. She is also Co-Chair for the Maternity Voices Partnership at Chelsea & Westminster and West Middlesex hospitals, one of the Founding Mothers of the Maternal Journal and currently training to become a Doula with Nicola Goodall's Red Tent Doulas. She also runs the mother artist organisation Desperate Artwives and Viva Birth.

An artist's impression of the Departures board in the courtyard at Somerset House

Arrivals + Departures

Learn more about this new installation in our courtyard.

Add a name to the Arrivals + Departures boards

This event is produced in collaboration with artist duo YARA + DAVINA and Artsadmin.

Please be aware that this event encourages discussion about birthing experiences and is guided and facilitated by industry professionals.