The Business of Being Born

Buy This Item The Business of Being Born by New Line Home Video  Available from Amazon  $19.99  on 11-25-2008     I watched this movie and LOVED it. I think it is a wonderful way of introducing the idea of midwifery, the crisis in current delivery practices, and how wonderful a natural childbirth can be. <br /> <br />I had both of my children in New York hospitals. I was never pressured to have an epidural or pitocin, although pitocin was mentioned when I got to the hospital with no labor going, 14 hours after my water had broken. I felt generally respected in my wishes. That said, I had my 2nd baby flat on my back and found the experience of pushing to be excruciatingly painful, largely due to my body position and due to the OB rushing my birth by trying to push back the lip of my cervix that last centimeter or so. He was rushing me because he wanted my baby born on his shift, which was about to end. While I can understand that, he compromised my comfort and birth experience for his own ends. <br /> <br />Generally, I think it is pretty crazy that women are being delivered by men who can't possibly have any idea of what the birth experience is like. That description in the film of approaching a wall higher than any you have ever seen in your life and then somehow scaling it seemed to ring true to me. No man could possibly understand how that feels. <br /> <br />Birth is a very empowering experience, and it is also a great teacher for your first year with a new baby. Labor teaches you to be in the moment, cope with each contraction, one at a time. Many times when my daughter was a baby I felt this lesson to ring true. Rather than think too hard about the big picture I just focused on getting through the hour of crying, the next feeding, etc. <br /> <br />I applaud Ricki Lake for taking this on. For showing us some absolutely beautiful birth scenes and for going after the current thinking head on. Someone had to do it. Our birth practices are truly in crisis. When it comes to birth, I agree, less is more. I wish I had had the courage to do a home birth with a midwife. I wonder how much more positive and affirming my birth experiences might have been. <br /> <br /> Reader Reviews Ricki Lake gives a wonderful introduction to the normal process of birth. She is not an expert on birth by any means, but she thoughtfully brings a variety of experts in the field together. This film does a great job of showing normal birth in a country that rarely sees it. It does not weigh you down with statistics or organizations, but it does offer questions and insight, and it gives every member of the audience an opportunity to see natural birth. One criticism: this documentary does not address breech positions, early labor, overdue pregnancies (past the due date), "failure to progress" or any complication at all (whether real or made-up) that women often hear from doctors to be dangerous. Since many women choose an intervention-laden birth (IVs, pitocin, epidural, fetal monitoring) only because their case was a "complicated" pregnancy (or so they are told from their OB), this film leaves you thinking that all these cases are exceptions to her story (instead of a part of the story). For instance, why is a breech delivery safer with a c-section? Why does your doctor diagnose you with IUGR and induce you, but then your baby ends up to be in the perfectly normal weight range? If I am 36 weeks pregnant (early) or 42 weeks pregnant (late), should I then go to the doctor? If my doctor tells me that I need to be induced or given a c-section, because I am a "special case" (a supposed "failure to progress" is the reason half of first time moms are given arguably unnecessary c-sections), what does this movie really tell me? It says that I shouldn't get induced or a c-section for no reason, but it also tells me that there are quite a few reasons that I should get induced or get a c-section. Is any reason my doctor gives me sufficient? Either way, this movie is the *perfect* starting point to asking these questions and more. It is the first and only of its kind to really appeal to modern young people and leave you wanting more!

The Business of Being Born Available from Amazon Price: $19.99 Updated on 11-25-2008.

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