Зміст
A short story of my journey into making a film about childbirth
PryNadiyi Blog
In 2017, I became pregnant and started this blog because I couldn’t find the kind of blog I wanted to read myself. Writing it helped me get through a traumatic pregnancy, navigate motherhood I wasn’t prepared for, explore the questions that mattered to me, and preserve my mental health.
The most valuable thing I found was women’s personal birth stories. They taught me that every birth is different—and, of course, mine turned out differently still. No two births are the same, just as no two people are the same.
I began reading books on childbirth and parenting, along with scientific research. After organising the Hawaiian Conference in 2018, I became inspired to create a documentary built around women’s birth stories, although I had no idea how to make it happen.
Gangsta Yoga
After giving birth, I discovered I had a long list of postpartum health issues, including diastasis recti, haemorrhoids, and a lumbar disc herniation. Frightened for my own health, I threw myself into searching for answers—more books, research, and postpartum recovery courses.
Eventually, I managed to help myself, and later many other women as well, by creating my own postpartum recovery programme.
Looking for Work
In 2021, I was looking for a job. I didn’t know what the position I wanted was called, but I knew exactly what I wanted it to be like. Since I had no title to search for, I simply wrote a detailed description of my ideal job in a Facebook post, almost like a request to the Universe.
The next day, someone asked me how much I charged per hour.
I had no idea. So I sat down and calculated how many hours a day I wanted to work at most and what minimum income I needed to live. That was the first time I calculated my hourly rate—and soon afterwards I found a job that matched everything I had been looking for.
The Orchid Project
The question came from a woman who had been reading my blog and attending my postpartum recovery course. She wanted to create exactly what I had dreamed of creating: a film about women’s birth stories—and much more than that.
She had experienced two traumatic births. I had experienced one, which was, overall, quite positive.
That was the beginning of two and a half years of work on the Orchid project. During that time, I read even more, listened to countless people, wrote, filmed, and documented their stories.
These stories amazed me, horrified me, moved me, and filled me with hope. I listened with bated breath, asked questions, and sometimes cried a little. Then I cried much more while editing the interviews.
One interview—lasting five hours—was so captivating that I completely lost track of time. I missed two scheduled meetings and didn’t even notice that my period had started, staining my trousers.
Obstetric Violence
At first, we wanted to focus primarily on obstetric violence because it deeply affected both of us, while the world seemed unwilling to address it.
As the project evolved, however, it became clear that telling this story without fuelling hostility, retraumatising women who had already given birth, or frightening those who had not yet become mothers would be nearly impossible.
Instead, I chose the gentlest, least confrontational, and most informative tone I could. My goal was to touch on the most important issues surrounding childbirth while showing that meaningful change is possible.
The most heartbreaking moment that made it into the film isn’t about violence at all. It’s simply about the value of support.
First, Do No Harm
This film is the result of years of work, reflection, and conversations. It is intended both for people who have given birth—or plan to—and for everyone who supports women during childbirth. Rather than causing harm, it offers knowledge. It explores different birth experiences, highlights the challenges within Ukraine’s maternity care system, and returns agency to the woman herself.
Women possess extraordinary strength. Women supporting other women are even stronger. The way we enter this world matters profoundly. I hope you’ll watch this film.
For me, creating it was an extraordinary journey. Thank you, Mariya.
