Meet the filmmaker

Debra Pascali-Bonaro is an internationally respected childbirth expert, a 26-year speaker in childbirth education, and a Lamaze-certified veteran in maternity care with a passion for birth. She is the mother of three sons and two stepchildren.

A graduate of McGill University, Debra travels the world working to help educate and inspire people to consider their options and the implications of the circumstances of birth for women’s and babies’ health and well-being. She teaches nursing, midwifery, and medical students at the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, and New York University; has spoken about doula care at the White House; and has been instrumental in the development of hospital-based and community-based doula programs. Abroad, she provides consultation to H.O.M.E., a project of the European Community, and works in Brazil to implement doula programs. She leads in-service programs for nurses, midwives, and residents and Grand Rounds for physicians at hospitals and universities internationally.

Debra is Co-Chair of the International MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative, which works in collaboration with global leaders and groups to reduce maternal and infant mortality and improve care for mothers, babies, and families. She serves on the Board of Directors for Childbirth Connection and is a DONA-approved doula trainer. She coauthored Nurturing Beginnings: Mother Love’s Guide to Postpartum Home Care for Doulas and Outreach Workers and received Lamaze International’s Elizabeth Bing Award in 2002.

Debra began videotaping births worldwide in 2002 as she traveled to New Zealand, Mexico, the U.K., and South America, and throughout the United States in her birth outreach work. Orgasmic Birth is her first film.