HBAC Performance Manifesto
Artist Film - LADA Screen Double Bill on Motherhood - 26 Jun 2023 - 26 Jul 2023
LADA Screen Double Bill on Motherhood: HBAC Performance Manifesto
HBAC Performance Manifesto is an artist film by SLQS. This work is a documentation of HBAC Performance Manifesto, written during the last term of her pregnancy and the Home Birth After Cesarean performed on 04-05 November 2018 by the artist with the support of two independent midwives. This film is autobiographical and created in response to the artist’s lived experience of being assessed by the NHS as ‘high risk’ having previously had a caesarean and denied her birthing rights to having a home birth.
Film Credits:
Performers: Mother SLQS, Father, Child, Baby, Independent midwives Emilie Edwards and Jacqui Tomkins
Filmed by: SLQS, Father
Edited by: Ella Yollande
Glacier Soundscapes by: Nefur (AKA Laura Guarch)
Workshops
In Birth Manifesto Zine Workshops, participants are invited to share their birth experience through the creative practice of making a zine. Together with a health facilitator, SLQS creates a safe and mindful space where individual zines are made and collectively shared. The techniques include writing, collage, drawing and mindfulness practices.
Manifesto Zine Workshop: the Performance of Birth - Live Art Development Agency - 13/07/2023
Zinemaking on Vaginal/Home Birth After Caesarean and ‘high risk’ assessed pregnancies - Oxytocin: Collective Care - Science Gallery London - 18/05/2023
Publication and Durational Performance - London - Autumn 2018
The home environment is a safe and calm place to give birth. A home birth can be an empowering and positive experience. However, this birth choice is taken away from women due to current or previous medical conditions. They have to give birth in very restricted and monitored conditions in hospitals, sometimes leading to traumatic birth experiences.
The HBAC Performance Manifesto was written from my personal experience of being pregnant and not given access to a home birth, having previously had a cesarean. I navigated a healthcare system where I was not being heard and my birthing rights were being denied.
On 4th and 5th November 2018, over 25 hours, I performed the act of giving birth at home with the support of two independent midwives. The birth was documented as an act of everyday life in the domestic space, with cameras set up in my kitchen, my bedroom and my living room.
The Manifesto declares my views on birth as an every day performance and Home Birth After Cesarean (HBAC) as being a safe birth option. It was published by the Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services in 2020 and M.A.M.A Publication in 2022.
Independent midwifery supports choices for women by providing evidence based information and continuity of care to women. Unfortunately, since 2020, due to their insurance product being annulled, their practice is now heavily restricted. Not only is this threatening an ancestral profession, it is also forcing many women to go through unwanted hospital births.
A group of independent midwives are taking action and fundraising to set up their own social insurance product owned by women. Their campaign Childbirth Choices Matters has a long term goal to set up a hardship fund for women who cannot afford independent midwives.
Publications:
HBAC Performance Manifesto by SLQS: AIMS Journal 2020, Vol 32, No 1
HBAC Performance Manifesto with photo collages by SLQS: M.A.M.A Publication Issue 52
Podcast Interview: The Eve Event Podcast: Conversations with disobedient women
Thank you for your support: Live Art Development Agency, Arts & Health Hub, Procreate project and London Birth Practice.
