Keep an eye out this spring on the Global Birth Fair facebook page for promotions and free-give-aways featuring Salihah Kirby’s adorable and soft baby booties! Salihah’s adorable booties are hand made with love using African batik cloth and Japanese linen and cotton, and measure 4.5 inches from toe to heel lined with soft fleece and flexible canvas or leather sole. Salihah loves beautiful fabric and the fine craft of hand made goods. With a great love of children and a deep respect for the birthing process Salihah is thrilled to be making baby booties for Global Birth Fair.

There is something extremely special in having things made by loving hands, especially for our babies!  ~ Salihah

View more of Salihah’s inspired creations at www.lionofthesea.tumblr.com

The wonderful women who make the Brazilian Breastfeeding Dolls featured on Global Birth Fair have sent us these photos of their workplace and we wanted to share them!

The breastfeeding dolls are part of the Humanization of Birth movement and have helped Brazil to be one of the few countries that are on track to reach its United Nations Millennium Development Goal of reducing maternal mortality. These dolls were handcrafted in Brazil and in many cases, the craftspeople reside in the Brazilian flavela’s and your purchase of a doll will directly help feed the residents and children. 

The women have hand-crafted these wonderfully detailed, soft, and cozy dolls that are crafted with baby that can breastfeed by snapping onto the breast. One can maneuver the baby through the breastcrawl and guide to a perfect latch snapped on the breast!

The doll provides a tactile tool for the pregnant mother to share with her children and help them to understand pregnancy as a natural process of development, care and affection towards being, extending to the post pregnancy and for life. During play the child’s fantasy and this movement of baby crawling on the mommy doll right after birth, is as important to her as the movements of the mother’s physical body. The Brazilian hand-made dolls are a wonderful tool for your child to play with and learn from, featuring unique details in different hairstyles, skin colors, and clothing.

Materials used: cotton, fabric, sheep’s wool (stuffing), cotton thread, nylon thread, paint for facial features, fabric, Velcro and snaps for the closing of the dress, acrylic. Purchase includes one 14″ doll with baby, custom-clothed!

To view our selection of these wonderful dolls available in different styles, please visit our Brazilian Breastfeeding Dolls on Global Birth Fair.

I had been asking the universe that I would meet a special driver who could share with us and help me in many ways, from seeing more of Bali to shopping for Global Birth Fair and beyond. In each location of the world, when I hold this intent, the right person appears and I can stay in touch and see them each time I am in that part of the world. Congtit appeared. He is from Nyuh Kuning and is friends with Ibu Robin. Congtit’s two sons, now ages 5 and 1, where both born at Bumi Sehat. In our short drive through Ubud I could feel his peaceful, gentle, wise presence. Little did I know how deep and perfect our connection would be. In addition to being my amazing driver for my time in Bali, Congtit became a friend and eventually shared his special Balinese, hand-crafted, wooden sculptures capturing the feelings, movement and emotions of pregnancy, labor and breastfeeding – please look at his amazing work on Global Birth Fair: Pregnant Woman Sculpture, Breastfeeding Woman Sculpture, Laboring Couple Sculpture, and Buddha Sculpture.

One day Congtit took us shop for silver jewelry at Gala Silver Jewelry. I was not sure I really wanted this stop, but seeing the man making the jewelry siting in a small shed outside his home, felt special. It was not just a shop, it was his workshop, where we could watch Cakra hand-making the jewelry. Cakra showed us how he made this small silver container for mothers to carry a piece of baby’s dried cord, so they always have that special connection with baby. Some people place baby’s first tooth or a lock of hair in the silver locket. Instantly I  knew I was meant to be here. I purchased several for Global Birth Fair, including: Silver Prayer Locket for inscription & to personalized,  Sterling Silver Design Prayer Locket, and  Gold & Silver Prayer Locket. I also purchased soothing Harmony Balls in Silver design and Silver Harmony Ball with Amber, intended to be worn low on abdomen so that baby can hear the chime when in utero and then after baby is born, shorten the length so the harmony ball is closer to the neck and chest for baby to listen or play with while breastfeeding. The women in the shop: Wayan, Nengah and Komarg were so helpful and smiled as I shared  how we would be sharing their jewelry. From the small town of Celuk to www.globalbirthfair.com it is an amazing journey as artists appear and are honored to share in our mission to improve awareness and care for Women, Men, Babies and Families.

Another day, we returned to Ibu Robin’s favorite sarong shop owned by the artist, Pudak, and his wife where they design and hand paint all their own sarongs. I had first visited the shop just a few days after arriving in Bali with Ibu Robin and Katherine when we shopped for hand-painted sarongs intended as gifts for the Eat Pray Doula workshop participants to use as Balinese Rebozos. Ibu Robin, Katherine, and I sat in a circle on the floor looking at the amazing colors, designs, and fabric – holding the soft cotton in our hands, feeling the smooth vibrant patterns was blissful for us all. My eye kept catching this beautiful wall hanging, a sarong illustrating a flowing woman with dolphins and colors around her. I asked if they could make her for me pregnant. They agreed and I ordered several of their beautiful sarongs to bring home for Global Birth Fair including the birth wall-hanging, the Starry Global Vulva Sarong, and a Large Birth Batik Sarong. 

On one of the last days, my eyes were getting heavy, but we still had our last stop for the day – the klung-kung market for traditional dress for me and my husband, Jimi. It was getting late and the stores were beginning to close. Congtit, moved us quickly to a building where inside there seemed like 100s of small booths with cloth, sarongs, gebeya (women’s traditional lace shirts) sashes, seput (outer clothes for men to go over their sarong) and udung traditional hat for men. Congtit helped me to negotiate and find two beautiful gebeya’s for me and a full outfit for Jimi. I was exhausted and happy… Soon we will be carrying the Balinese Traditional dress on Global Birth Fair.

Thank you Congtit! Finding Congtit reminded me that there are no coincidences – as Nalanti a nuturapthic physician for Bumi Sehat said:

only incidences for which we are destined….

Day 1 Yayasan Bumi Sehat Nyuh Kuning Village:  Waking this morning as the sun was rising and looking out to see my first glimpse of Bali in the daylight felt so magical. I have only been here once before but the Island and the people have captured my heart. Before long, morning offerings were made – beautiful flowers and innocence are laid on, or near, all the statues and doorways. I sip my coffee and breath in the fragrant, warm, humid, Balinese air and prepared for a great day ahead. I gather the vitamins from my travel bag to bring to Ibu Robin Lim, who will give them to the women she cares for at the Bumi Sehat Birthing Center, and begin my walk through Nyuh Kuning, the small village I will call home for these next few weeks. In just a few steps I see the familiar, smiling faces of many people I remember in the village. It felt like coming home. So many warm welcomes.

I continue on to the familiar stone outside Ibu Robins family/community that reads “Welcome Home”. I had arrived at my Balinese home. Walking into the kitchen, a family and community gathering spot at Ibu Robin’s, I was instantly wrapped into the arms of both Katherine Bramhall and Robin Lim, my co-partners for the Eat Pray Doula Workshop, amazing midwives and friends. I could not believe it was a year ago, here at this table, we envisioned the workshop and were now here to offer it. As so often happens at Robin’s table, people were coming and going, mothers and fathers with questions, family and friends gather, and soon we were all swept away with the activities of the day. Robin and I were able to sneak away to her balcony for a short while to work on beading into necklace beautiful, handmade amulets. The amulets were created by local craftsman who were commissioned by Robin for Bumi Sehat. Turtle, Pregnant Woman, Owl, Midwife’s Hand, and other creations are carved from moose antler gathered after the antler has been shed, so as not to harm the animals but to pass along the offerings of their horns when they are no longer needed.

Midwife's Hand, Turtle, OwlMotherBaby, Pregnant Belly

The variation of colors grace each item with the delicate hand-made carving, making each piece unique. Robin’s love for each piece and the intricate carving it beholds, together with her dedication to bringing gentle birth to Indonesia and beyond, is strong. As CNN’s 2011 Hero of the Year, a well deserved honor, she is my hero and this quiet moment, beading and looking out over the rice field, although short, is treasured.

Soon the phone rings, more people arrive and Robin is needed. Our peace is gone as the business of the day takes over. I walk down the street to Bumi Sehat where again it feels so good to hug and embrace all the midwives and staff.  A year has passed, but it feels as if I have only been away a week. It is acupuncture day and Dr. Bobbi is  busy treating the women, men, and families of the community. The smell of Moxa is in the air, needles adorn the many people who are laying and receiving their treatments.  A true community center, full of life. Mayra, a wonderful, Brazilian midwife and filmmaker whom I had met at the Midwifery Today conference in Bad Wildbad, Germany is here. She is continuing a year of travel and filming around the world for her Birth Around the World project. I have been following her journey and staying in touch, so was very happy our paths had come together again. Mayra and I walk to lunch at a small cafe to catch-up. We sit on pillows on the bamboo floor, with traditional Balinese vegetation all around and the great smells and foods of Bali. I was enjoying the culture through all my senses and as my body began to sweat from the rising humidity of the day and my eyes began to tear from the hot spices, I felt my body sinking back into this culture I have come to love so much.

We walk back to the birth center and I am quickly intercepted by Ibu Robin and Katherine to join them shopping for hand-painted sarongs intended as gifts for the Eat Pray Doula workshop participants to use as Balinese Rebozos. We took off in the van with Poggi our driver through the small streets and villages, taking in the temples, statues, carvings, plants, and people along the way. I never tire of the Balinese landscape. We arrive at Robin’s favorite sarong shop and quickly find ourselves sitting in a circle on the floor together, looking at the amazing colors, designs, and fabric – sharing our enthusiasm for each sarong and choosing ones for our participants. It was so much fun! My eye kept catching this beautiful wall hanging, a sarong illustrating a flowing woman with dolphins and colors around her. I asked if they could make her for me pregnant. They agreed and in three days I will return to look at the design, knowing it will be amazingly beautiful. I will order 20 to bring home for Global Birth Fair, so look for our new additions from Bali soon.

It has been a full first day, reconnecting my heart and spirit to Robin, Katherine, Mayra, Bumi Sehat, the village of Nyuh Kuning and Bali. I will sleep well as tomorrow we will settle into Swasti Eco Cottages where we will greet the women who are traveling from around the world to join the Eat Pray Doula Workshop. I look forward with honor and awe to beginning our workshop Monday morning.

Happy Holidays

Please join us in celebrating our birth of www.globalbirthfair.com  I have been traveling the world to bring messages of nurturing, companionship, possibilities and the ten steps of the International MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative, www.imbci.org .  This  has allowed me to meet many amazing people and artists from around the world.  I have been blessed to share and learn traditional comfort techniques,  breastfeeding and parenting tips from midwives,  physicians, nurses, educators, activists and doulas of the world and to see how together we can all make a difference.    A vision of creating a site that purchases products in a fair trade environment from artists and small businesses around the world that support eco-friendly pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and parenting kept moving through my mind.  As well as, to give a percentage of profits each month to support non-profit organizations that are working to improve care, providing optimal MotherBaby models of Maternity Care.

Giving is truly receiving!  I hope you will join us so that your every purchase will Make a difference in the lives of those producing the products, you – using the products, and passing along funds to build a world of gentle, peaceful, safe, respectful birth and parenting.

My vision began with a dream and now many others have joined the dream and offered their skills and vision-  together our team is here to serve you.  Please visit our web site www.globalbirthfair.com and share with your friends and family.

We are in our infancy- with plans to grow and grow.  Please connect us with artists and products you enjoy, by sending your suggestions with website, contact name, email, product description and if possible product image to – globalbirthfair@gmail.com

Visit our site and our blog often to learn where we are traveling in the world.  Join our vision as you meet the people, artists, midwives, physicians, nurses, doulas, educators,  activist and products that we will bring to you next.

With gratitude for sharing our joy and our postpartum time of growth.

Debra Pascali-Bonaro

Welcome to our birth! We are in the early days postpartum and many
other aspects of our site will continue to grow, as will our list of
products, artists and organizations we support. Thank you for your
support and for being a part of our birth and future growth.