The Business of Being Born – StrangenessAbounds’ Review

The Business of Being Born

Buy It Now on Amazon: The Business of Being Born

Amazon’s Summary: Is it conceivable that in the United States, profit is increasingly driving the business of birthing–sometimes at the expense of the best possible outcome for mothers and babies? Should birth be viewed and treated as a natural process or a potential medical emergency? This documentary, produced by Ricki Lake and directed by Abby Epstein, opines that money and fear are changing the way Americans give birth, and not necessarily for the better. Beginning with shocking statistics that the United States has the second-worst newborn death rate in the developed world and one of the highest maternal mortality rates in industrialized countries, the film presents interviews with medical professionals including Dr. Jacques Moritz, OB/GYN from St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital; Dr. Michel Odent, OB/GYN researcher; and Masden Wagner, MD, former Director for Women’s and Children’s Health at the World Health Organization. Each expert paints a dismal picture of American birthing and emphasizes the frequent overuse of medical procedures in what are otherwise potentially normal deliveries. Stressing the prevalent use of midwives in birthing in other developed nations (70% of births are attended by midwives in Europe and Japan, versus 8% in the U.S.), the documentary then follows Cara Muhlhahn, a certified nurse midwife in New York City, as she attends a variety of home births. The footage is candid and sometimes very graphic, showing various home-delivery methods, including water birth. Interviews with Cara and her clients emphasize their shared philosophy on birthing as a normal life process that, when attended by a caring and well-trained midwife, can be both empowering and exhilarating. Though a midwife is often characterized as a supportive, but medically untrained birth attendee, the film dispels that stereotype, stressing a good midwife’s solid training and knowledge of when it’s appropriate to seek outside medical intervention. Key in every birth is a commitment to doing what’s best for mother and baby, regardless of pre-planned agendas. The filmmaker’s lament is that hospitals and doctors often too quickly advocate medical intervention in the interest of saving time and avoiding potential litigation. While unquestionably advocating midwifery over hospital birthing, this documentary presents solid expert opinions, concrete facts and statistics, and anecdotal experiences of both mothers and midwives that are crucial in making an informed decision about the use of midwifery in birthing as well as enlightening as to the current state of birthing in the United States

StrangenessAbounds’s Rating: 

StrangenessAbounds’s Review: (This review is based on a copy the author personally bought) I will admit to having already arrived at a firm decision as to what I’m going to do to control the birth of my children. Or rather, what I’m not going to do to control the birth of my children.

The Business of Being Born is a documentary by two women, Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein; both have either had children or about to have a child. Ms. Lake gave birth to one child in a regular hospital setting complete with pitocin (a chemical that’s used to ripen the cervix during labor and act as a catalyst for stronger contractions) and epidural, but her second child she had at home with a midwife. Ms. Epstein hopes to have her baby at home and is employing a midwife to help that dream come true. These two women filmed The Business of Being Born in the hopes that they will be able to educate women in the US specifically as to what kind of birth experience they’re giving themselves and their babies.

The Business of Being Born does not claim to be unbiased. It pits hospital-setting births with attending doctors against home-setting births with attending midwives and the Home/Midwife team clearly wins in this documentary. But for me, this is anything but the television show A Baby Story rehashed. I always cringe and look for the nearest cheese grater to claw out my eyes when Baby Story comes on. There’s just something to me that’s utterly repulsive. And yet with Business of Being Born (herewith dubbed BBB to save my fingers ;) ), I only received a warm, deeply moving experience.

When Lake and Epstein filmed BBB, they attended several births in homes with midwives attending. The documentary portrays it well, but anyone can see that there is a stark difference between a hospital birth and a home birth. They interview several OB/GYN’s and midwives, present crazy statistics (did you know that the US has one of the worst rates of babies who are DOA among the most developed countries? And yet the US spends more on hospital birth than most other developed countries?) and gives the history of the rise of the hospital birth. This is a documentary that challenges the regular way of thinking.

I give BBB five stars out of five and I would highly recommend picking up The Business of Being Born for yourself. It is was a thought-provoking, occasionally disturbing but overall very powerful in its presentation. Unfortunately, I’m concerned that this documentary is “preaching to the choir.” The types of people who enjoy documentaries often seem to be the type to seriously reconsider what US society regards as “the best way to have your baby.”