Anyone watch pregnant in America?

Jessimurph · March 2012

I watched it yesterday and it gave me the worst anxiety. I'm not sure if it was the wife's reaction to the pain, the husband sounding like an idiot (even though he was pretty educated on the topic), the newborn being rushed to the hospital and staying for a week....whatever it was I couldn't sleep last night thinking about all the crap that could go wrong. Not a good place to be these last few weeks... I MUCH preferred BOBB.

couliegirl · March 2012

I watched it, and thought it was good. What I liked about it was that it showed me that I have to be prepared to go with the flow if something should go wrong. Not that I don't have any plans, or goals for L&D and immediately postpartum. I definetly do. I just am prepared to have those plans change if need be. I'm one of those people where once I have my mind set on something, there is no 'Plan B.' So I've been concentrating on educating myself so that if plans change I don't feel lost.

As far as the pain management goes, I don't know how I will react. I might be the worst NB patient ever, or I might surprise myself and remain calm. I guess time will tell!

sarahintx05 · March 2012

Honestly, I couldn't get past what a jerk that guy was. I got the impression that maybe his wife wasn't quite on board with everything as he was. It's been a while since I saw it, but was there any resolution as to what was even wrong with the baby? All I remember is he complained about the hospital staff so much.

Bonidiebabe · March 2012

As far as I understood, they never actually had a diagnosis from the hospital. They were just eventually released.

I actually saw PG in America long before BOBB. So this was the first show that had my DH thinking that the birth did not have to be in a hospital. Jess, I can see why it is so stressful for you watching it so far along. The wife did have some rough points during her birthing time, but she did it. You will too!

ncjulia12 · March 2012

I loved BOBB and hated Pregnant in America. I found that guy to be condensing and the whole movie just seemed to not be very well-organized. DH saw that I watched it on the Netflix and said he was thinking of watching it, but I recommended that he not because I thought it would just reinforce his idea that natural birth is just something for wackos.

Don't take it to hard- focus on the things that make you relaxed and confident right now!

Sawyerplus1 · March 2012

DH and I just watched this recently. We didn't really like it. It presented some interesting facts, just like BOBB, but overall wasn't great. 1. it was soooo cheesy. The music he used during the emotional or nice moments was sappy to the max and made it hard to take seriously. 2. He seemed like a nice enough guy but was annoying, and I did wonder if he was more passionate about the topic than his wife was (she was hardly in the movie!) 3. It gave me a more negative feeling than BOBB. I find BOBB to be very positive and love the birth stories and seeing the beautiful births, even though the subject matter isn't always positive. PiA just seemed really negative without balancing it out with positives. And it did make me wonder - not that I think they should have hidden this fact from the movie or anything - how effective their message was in the end when despite successfully delivering at home they still needed an emergency transfer and a week long NICU stay. (for which, according to him, they never received a diagnosis)

robyn2201 · March 2012

I watched it and wasn't really a fan. Like PP's said, I found it be very negative. I understand that natural birth in hospitals is rare and can be a battle, but I feel like they didn't focus on any positive hospital birth stories. I had an awesome natural birth in a hospital. It is definitely possible.

theboki · March 2012

sarahintx05:
Honestly, I couldn't get past what a jerk that guy was. I got the impression that maybe his wife wasn't quite on board with everything as he was. It's been a while since I saw it, but was there any resolution as to what was even wrong with the baby? All I remember is he complained about the hospital staff so much.

Yeah, the guy was kind of a tool. The documentary was interesting, but not very well done, imo. "The Business of Being Born" is much better.

carlinlp · March 2012

I watched it last week. I don't like that when they introduced the midwife they said she would lose 1 months later (meaning mom or baby) and that lead us to believe it would be their baby. That wasn't clear and just seemed really dramatic and unnecessary for me. Not a fan.

august8080 · March 2012

Jessimurph:
I watched it yesterday and it gave me the worst anxiety. I'm not sure if it was the wife's reaction to the pain, the husband sounding like an idiot (even though he was pretty educated on the topic), the newborn being rushed to the hospital and staying for a week....whatever it was I couldn't sleep last night thinking about all the crap that could go wrong. Not a good place to be these last few weeks... I MUCH preferred BOBB.

I'm so sorry that it upset you! (I haven't seen it.) I'm a huge believer in filling your mind with positive things related to birth during pregnancy. If you haven't already, go back and read the birth stories in Ina May's book--I found them so empowering and relaxing. You CAN do this!

hilwithonelary · March 2012

Yeah, I didn't like it either. I live in Wichita, which is the where the sister (or was it SIL?) lives. I plan on birthing at the hospital birth center, which was not portrayed in a good light. It kind of freaked me out.

I'm going to a CNM (the ONLY one in the entire city), and I'm hopeful that she will be a positive influence on my experience. And if something goes wrong, she's in the same practice as the only OB in town who will attend a vaginal breech birth, so I feel like I will still be in good hands.

Sawyerplus1 · March 2012

carlinlp:
I watched it last week. I don't like that when they introduced the midwife they said she would lose 1 months later (meaning mom or baby) and that lead us to believe it would be their baby. That wasn't clear and just seemed really dramatic and unnecessary for me. Not a fan.

Agreed! That was so unnecessary and dramatic. I thought for sure that the guy lost either his wife or child, and it almost made me not continue watching.

LaurelBee · March 2012

Sawyerplus1:

carlinlp:
I watched it last week. I don't like that when they introduced the midwife they said she would lose 1 months later (meaning mom or baby) and that lead us to believe it would be their baby. That wasn't clear and just seemed really dramatic and unnecessary for me. Not a fan.

Agreed! That was so unnecessary and dramatic. I thought for sure that the guy lost either his wife or child, and it almost made me not continue watching.

Agreed! And at the end, after taking his daughter to the hospital, he was talking like she didn't survive! I actually started crying and then felt a fool bc she was fine. WTF?!

jennakg · March 2012

I watched it. I hated it. The guy drove me crazy. I did think it presented some valid points about the cost of health care, but other than that I wish I could get that 90 mins of my life back.

I did, however, enjoy BOBB. Much better doc, IMO.

DesignsOnYou · March 2012

Another vote for "hated it." The dad was an arrogant jerkwad and the whole film is kind of embarrassing for the natural birth community.

Just remember, every birth and labor is different. Personally, I think their attitudes and expectations were a bit off going into the process which makes me wonder if that's part of the reason she had such a tough time.

Tarta · March 2012

I watched it and didn't like it. At the end I thought he should be ashamed that for feeling so passionate about advocating natural birth he purposefully took his viewers on a roller coaster ride to make it seem more dramatic than it was. I agree too with PP who felt there was a dichotomy between his beliefs and his wife's beliefs. I honestly started to hate (or at least strongly dislike him) when he filmed his wife by the side of the car when she was going to throw up and then told him how when she knew he was coming with the camera her body just froze up. Just after the doctor explaining how a woman needs privacy to birth or go through discomfort naturally. I have a long track record with extensive nausea during pregnancy and that moment just ticked me off.

There was some good info in there, but not good enough that I should have watched that film to learn it. DH thought Business of Being Born was super biased and wouldn't watch it after a certain point. If he would have seen any of P in America he probably would have been outraged. I honestly like BoBB and appreciate it so much more now that I've seen this film. Ugh!

Had I known you were gonna watch it I would have smacked your hand! Sorry hon.

garnet10 · March 2012

I hated it. The husband was a jerk and I didn't appreciate the way he manipulated the viewers emotions by making it seem as if their child had died when it hadn't.

JNoelleE · March 2012

Hated it.

amor_eterno · March 2012

Ugh, I hated it too!! He was such an annoying jerk.

robocop4life · March 2012

sarahintx05:
Honestly, I couldn't get past what a jerk that guy was. I got the impression that maybe his wife wasn't quite on board with everything as he was. It's been a while since I saw it, but was there any resolution as to what was even wrong with the baby? All I remember is he complained about the hospital staff so much.

^^This. We watched it recently and had watched the Business of Being Born already. I thought the guy was a total jerk and found it ridiculous that they had to rush the baby to the hospital and he tried to villanize the nurses and doctors in the NICU that were working around the clock to make sure their baby was ok. My sister had her baby via emergency csection due to a severe placental abruption at 22 weeks and her son ended up not making it but the NICU literally had 5 people working with him at all times around the clock. I just find it annoying when people cant get past their prejudices to thank people. I get that you dont want unnecessary medical interventions and have a problem with the way hospitals operate now, but these procedures are ALL good things when the situation warrants them. Those nurses could have very well saved their daughters life and he is talking about evil they are.

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