This documentary has won 13 festival awards:

Columbus Video Festival
The Video Medium Festival
Science Books & Films Festival
John Muir Medical Film Festival
The Wine Country Film Festival
Herland International Film Festival
Houston International Film Festival
Women in the Director's Chair Festival
Philadelphia International Film Festival
Planned Parenthood Federation Festival
Suffolk County Film & Video Competition
International Film & TV Festival of New York
Festikon Film Festival of the Netherlands Film Institute

Video credits:
Water Baby: Experiences of Water Birth

Karil Daniels:
Producer/Director/Cinematographer/Editor

Andrew Neddermeyer:
Associate Producer/Audio & Video Engineer

Dorothy Fadiman:
Narrator

John Walker:
Composer/Conductor

What the Experts Are Saying About the Video Documentary

"This film opens both the viewer's heart and mind to a whole new possibility for humankind - gentle birth in water producing a peaceful people and world. A remarkably sensitive and illuminating film. Highly recommended."

- Rick Ingrasci, MD
Past President
Association of Humanistic Psychology

"The single best source of information on water birth that I've experienced. Both inspirational and educational. Done with objectivity and sensitivity, it held my attention like a magnet. A must for all parents and health professionals who are interested in exploring optimal methods of birthing."

- Ronald Valle, PhD, Past Dean
School of Consciousness Studies
John F. Kennedy University

"WATER BABY is an excellent, informative, educational tool comprising the most complete information available worldwide on this new gentle birth method. As a mother of two water babies,
I say 'thank you, Karil'." Return to: |Top |

- Barbara Harper, RN
Former Southwest Director
American Holistic Nurses Assn.

"A responsible and beautifully conceived presentation."

- Rick Kozlenko, DPM
Mill Valley, California

"Enlightening and thrilling."

- Jessica Berger
Amer. Medical Women's Assn.
New York University Med. Ctr.

"WATER BABY is exciting, well balanced and should be seen by all pregnant women and the professionals who attend them. For her last pregnancy my wife labored in water and found it very helpful. Had we seen this film three months earlier, I would have urged her to deliver our third baby in water."

- Richard Shames, MD
Mill Valley, California

"WATER BABY is a fascinating film done in an objective and even-handed manner. It presents an interesting new approach to birthing which seems to empower women and may result in major positive changes in their self-image. This unique film challenges current birthing practices and convinced me that water birth could be a useful addition to modern obstetrics."

- Mark M. Jacobs, MD
Associate Professor
Dept. of OB/GYN &
Reproductive Sciences
University of California
San Francisco

"By creating this educational video about water birth, Karil Daniels has ushered us one step closer to a peaceful world . . . this film is a must for anyone interested in exploring water birthing." Return to: |Top |

- Lee Perry, Editor
Whole Life Times
Los Angeles

"The most intriguing of the new birth films . . .WATER BABY will forever change the way we encounter birth . . . the best investigative reporting . . . my highest recommend."

- Jeanine Parvati Baker
Author of ''Prenatal Yoga & Natural Birth'' and other birth books.

" . . . WATER BABY will knock your socks off . . . an important film . . . "

- Lori Woolpert, reviewer
Whole Earth Review

"Very interesting. Great to learn about new concepts. This film created more curiosity and discussion than perhaps any other film we have shown."

- Monongalia General Hospital
Morgantown, West Virginia

"A beautiful, sensitive presentation . . . WATER BABY is an important film that makes a valuable contribution not only to the individual viewers, but also to the field of human development as it invites further study into the effects of a water birth experience on the growth of the child"

- Jonathan Parker, PhD
Founder, Institute of Human Development

" . . . technically excellent while sensitive. This video presents a complete view, both pro and con, of this new alternative birthing method, in a logical and cogent manner."

- Mary Foley, RN
Health Education Coordinator
Mt. Sinai Medical Center
New York City

"Absolutely fascinating." Return to: |Top |

- Roberta Scaer, Co-author
''A Good Birth, A Safe Birth''

"I delivered probably close to a hundred babies as a doctor during my medical training and birthed two of my own, yet WATER BABY taught me something new. If I were coming into the world as a baby, this would be a wonderful way to do it. I wish that my children and I could have had the experience of birth I saw in the film."

- Jean Shinoda Bolen, MD
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, UCSF and author of
''Goddesses in Everywoman.''

" . . . sensitive and intelligent . . . "
-Columbus Video Festival
Blue Ribbon - Selected for
"Best of the Best of Columbus"

"This film is an excellent presentation of the practice of waterbirth in the world today. I highly recommend it for prospective parents and birth attendants interested in this important subject."

- Dr. Mary Davenport
Obstetrician, Berkeley, CA

"Ms. Daniels' film WATER BABY displays her unique perspective and unusually sensitive approach to depiction of alternative birthing methods. I was struck by the depth of her attention to detail, ability to convey a complex message with clarity and understanding, and special thoughtfulness regarding the subject matter at hand."

-Kenneth Jaffe
Executive Director
International Child Resource Inst.

"The most beautiful birth film I've ever seen."

- Barbara Zahm, PhD
Anthropologist and Filmmaker

"WATER BABY shows us how joyful and easy gentle birth in water can be, and provides thorough medical information as well. Used to reduce pain and stress for both mother and baby and to assist the woman in having a natural, uncomplicated delivery, water birth provides an important advance. This program will be of great value to everyone interested in gentle birth options." Return to: |Top |

- Marianne Sher Lubliner,
Educational Director of Birthways

"I found WATER BABY to be informative and quite touching. A wonderful tool to encourage women to evaluate their gentle birth options. The audience loved it!"

- Amy Levine
Program Coordinator
UCSF Women's Center

"High quality production values and editing . . . nice graphics and effects . . . the use of water as a leitmotiv was extremely effective . . . Such inventiveness is always refreshing, especially in the documentary genre. The program pulls no punches . . ."

- Ron Marins
Reviewer, EITV
(Educational Industrial Television Magazine)

"An important film to show to instruct new mothers about new alternatives in the childbirth experience. The water baby may be the child of the future."

- Educational Film Library
Content Specialist

"It's the most incredible gentle birth film I've ever seen. Really fantastic!"

- Dennis Jaffee, PhD
Past President, Assn. of Humanistic Psychology

"WATER BABY is a joyous videotape. I was fortunate to see it early in my first pregnancy. Its strong, positive imagery was never far from my mind in the months to follow."

- Julie Mackaman
Past co-director
Film Arts Foundation

" . . . absolutely fascinating. I admire its geographical scope, the patience that was obviously required to achieve the footage, the tact and compassion needed to obtain the full cooperation of the women, but above all the balance and clarity of the exposition of a controversial subject." Return to: |Top |

- Charles Champlin
Film reviewer for the
Los AngelesTimes

"A beautiful film which enhances the premise that women instinctively know how to birth . . . very well suited for adults and school science classes who seek knowledge of varied methods of childbirth."

- Helen S. Gaevert, Ed.D.
Reviewer
Science Books & Films

"A fascinating and provocative film. The photography, the music and the quiet narration are themselves conducive to gentle birthing. Waterbirthing is brought to the viewer objectively, stimulating thoughts and feelings and presenting very artfully some of the newest information regarding labor and birth in water."

- Journal of Nurse Midwifery

"Hypnotic . . . international scope and appeal. Recommended for use with nursing students and prospective parents."

- E.R. Paterson, RN
State Univ. of NY at Cortland
in a review for CHOICE, publication of the Assn. of College and Research Libraries
American Library Association

" . . . very well received by the group, who rated it 4.5 on a scale of 1 to 5, and found it fascinating and informative."

- Lezli A. Redmond
Information Systems Coord.
Planned Parenthood Fed. of America

"WATER BABY is an artistically executed video that educates the viewer to the caring gentleness of water birthing. It tantalized me by presenting a technology that could clearly increase well being and health in all who participate." Return to: |Top |

- Walter E. Jessen, PhD
Psychotherapy & Growth Ctr.
San Jose, California

"Karil Daniels' film WATER BABY: EXPERIENCES OF WATER BIRTH does a wonderful job of presenting a balanced, realistic and inspiring view of underwater birthing. Karil manages simultaneously to be an effective cheerleader and objective documentarian. Parents and professionals won't find a better overview of water birthing."

- Steve Raymond, Editor
Pre & Peri-Natal Psychology Assn. News

" . . . an excellent composition . . . photographic characteristics are outstanding."

- Margery Simchak, Reviewer

"Bay Area filmmaker Karil Daniels' fluid hour-long documentary takes a positive view of the process, and several quietly exciting and apparently near painless on screen water births, to a voiceover of physician and former patients discussing the process, efficiently solve the talking heads problem of most documentaries. "

- Naomi Wise, Reviewer
The Berkeley Monthly

". . . filmed sensitively by Karil Daniels. A remarkable trust and sense of dignity pervaded the experience of these women who were allowed to choose their own pace of birthing rather than find themselves scheduled into a pre-conceived time frame."

- Mary Dowd
Reviewer for PLEXUS
a women's newspaper

"From watching the film I got a chance to experience the process of giving birth more than any other time in my life. As a man, I'm impressed."

- Dana Ullman, MPH

"This film is a splendid introduction to the topic of waterbirth."

- Stanley Krippner, PhD
Professor of Psychology
Saybrook Institute

"I was moved by the uniqueness of the approach and the sensitivity to the people involved. The concern and caring about the baby and the birth experience made me want to re-experience the birth process and certainly assist others to learn about this powerful new way to bring babies into the world safely and securely."

-Stevanne Auerbach, PhD
Executive Director
Inst. for Childhood Resources