Documentary: The Business of Being Born - finally watched it

LA_Badger

I know the documentary comes up from time to time on this board.  Has anyone else watched?

Curious on what you think of the views expressed.

Admittedly, an "at home birth" sounds much more peaceful - but I am the personality who would like to be in a hospital for that slim chance something needs to be done NOW.  

kdMeg

My husband started watching this this weekend thinking it was going to be something else. I somewhat felt the argument was one sided and the protrayal of the hospitals was off. This is my first child so I haven't been on that side of child birth yet but have been with friends and an older sister when giving birth and from what i saw with the hospitals in my area the mother was given all opportunities for their births to go exactly the way they wanted, and were never pushed to do anything/ take any medication that they did not want.

missfire

I thought it was a bit sensationalized, but I whole-heartedly agree with the premise behind it -- most hospitals are set up to care for sick people (understandably), and that hectic, sterile environment is not the healthiest one to be in when you're trying to let your body progress through labor on its own.

There's an excellent book called Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Childbirth. She's a very experienced midwife and she spells out the things your body needs in childbirth - you need to be completely relaxed, feel safe, supported, have some type of nourishment, etc. - and some of the physiological reasons behind those things. It tipped the scales for me and I chose a birth center for my DS' birth. And going through that birth made me comfortable with the idea of a home birth for this one, if everything goes well.

Those sudden emergencies in birth are rare, and much more rare when you haven't had interventions like pitocin or epidurals during your labor to start with.

But I'd never encourage someone to do an out-of-hospital birth if they weren't comfortable with it -- it's a personal choice, and there's definitely no right or wrong in it.

 

armandos_girl

I've seen it.  I think that a home birth can be a beautiful and peaceful thing.  That being said, I'd rather be in a hospital.

missfire

There's also a PBS documentary called "Born in the USA" that I thought was more fair and balanced.

cranberry27

I thing TBoBB is like watching a Michael Moore film.  It's interesting, but you know the "facts" are heavily biased and twisted to suit the message.

I'm sure a home birth can be very peaceful.  I am of the opinion that it's not worth it for any reason.  Several friends and I have all had easy pregnancies that would easily have qualified for homebirths, and had unexpected complications that could have been very dangerous for us and our babies.  

I read a bump homebirth story almost identical to my hospital experience.  The difference is, my baby was fine after doctors and nurses helped me safely deliver and hers had to be resuscitated after a midwife screamed in her face.  I am grateful for the interventions that helped him be born safely, and for the team that was standing by in case he wasn't.

jjaxbie

I saw it a few months ago, and what I remember of it is that I was really disappointed in how it presented its points.  I felt like its incendiary nature made it hard for me to focus and really evaluate what they were trying to say.  As a result I think it fell way short of trying to convince people to consider home births seriously, made for a crappy source for info, and a lousy documentary.  

 Don't get me wrong, not against home births for the folks that choose them - just thought the movie was crap.  

 

EmandChris08

My DH and I watched it together a few days after I got my BFP. I agree with what some of the pps have said-- it's a little bit one-sided and sensationalized, but I think the message of the documentary is really important. Our bodies are made to deliver a baby. That said, there are obviously circumstances where, say, 100 years ago the mother or baby would have died during childbirth that our modern interventions are now able to prevent/overcome. But for the most part, labor and delivery without complications should be a lot simpler than it has become.

I'm really glad that DH and I watched the movie. No, we're not going to have a home birth, but the documentary did help convince us to go with a midwife in a birthing center and have a birth that is as free of interventions as possible. 

violetvilla83

I think the best thing I took from it is the little cartoon on pitocin use. DH and I sometimes can't explain things to one another and the cartoon was perfect for me to show him. After he watched it made sense to him. I basically told him with this baby we will be patient and wait for the baby to come on its own.

LucyGoosey81

I felt a whole lot more knowledgeable about birth in general after watching that movie.  Did it change my preference of wanting a hospital birth?  No, and in fact, I think it helped solidify it.  But I'm pretty anti pitocin now, knowing that much of the time pitocin-induced births end in c-section.  I was fortunate enough to not have that experience with DS, but I will be doing my best to avoid it this time.  That said, because of my birth history with DS who had shoulder dystocia, they may be inducing me to prevent that.  If it means I have a chance of preventing a c/s, then I'd rather the pitocin.

Anyway, my final thought was that it was a movie to get my brain going and really questioning why OB's do what they do.  I'm considering getting a doula for this birth...probably won't, but it's not out of the question.