The Business of Being Born....

obeach8 · April 2012

Anyone see this? We watched it last night for our Bradley class and I thought it was really interesting! Looking for others' thoughts and opinions.

danienross · April 2012

I watched it on youtube when I was pregnant with DD. I now own it and More Business of Being Born. I plan to watch them both this pregnancy.

MrsFobeyFobes · April 2012

I saw it, and enjoyed it. It was nice to hear another perspective but it's so anti-hospital and anti-epidural I feel like it's skewed (possibly unfairly) in the complete opposite direction of what we normally hear.

It did make me want to have a natural birth in a birth center but MH is scared of that so we decided to try natural at a hospital.

hamiltks10 · April 2012

I read "Your Best Birth" before watching the movie...which was written by the same ladies that made "The Business of Being Born". I really enjoyed both. It was nice to see actual births that were not scary like in the movies and on TV. And I think the point they make about one intervention leading to a waterfall of interventions is probably accurate.

DH even watched it with me, and now he is on board with us hiring a doula.

MLKuykendall · April 2012

I really enjoyed it. Those are some things that I had previously studied, but you never really hear how bad our mortality rate is outside of textbooks. I think it gave a nice perspective as opposed to the births that we typically see on TV. It was nice to see powerful women doing things on their own.

obeach8 · April 2012

hamiltks10:

I read "Your Best Birth" before watching the movie...which was written by the same ladies that made "The Business of Being Born". I really enjoyed both. It was nice to see actual births that were not scary like in the movies and on TV. And I think the point they make about one intervention leading to a waterfall of interventions is probably accurate.

DH even watched it with me, and now he is on board with us hiring a doula.

This was the main point that I enjoyed the most. DH made an interesting comment, which was that he thought it was kinda funny that Midwives/Doulas seem to know so much about hospital births and medical interventions, and that regular OBs seem to know barely anything about home births.

We are planning to do Bradley in a hospital, and the goal there is (obviously) no medical intervention. While I find a home birth or a birth center to be very attractive options, I think for our first baby the security of a hospital is something that we need.

sjgurl784 · April 2012

obeach8:

This was the main point that I enjoyed the most. DH made an interesting comment, which was that he thought it was kinda funny that Midwives/Doulas seem to know so much about hospital births and medical interventions, and that regular OBs seem to know barely anything about home births.

We are planning to do Bradley in a hospital, and the goal there is (obviously) no medical intervention. While I find a home birth or a birth center to be very attractive options, I think for our first baby the security of a hospital is something that we need.

We decided this was the best way for us as well, primarily after watching BOBB.

discobush · April 2012

MLKuykendall:
I really enjoyed it. Those are some things that I had previously studied, but you never really hear how bad our mortality rate is outside of textbooks. I think it gave a nice perspective as opposed to the births that we typically see on TV. It was nice to see powerful women doing things on their own.

Didn't TBoBB quote the wrong mortality rate, though? If I remember correctly, the movie says that the USA does poorly on infant mortality, but that's a measure of pediatric care, not obstetric care (and may not even be true, given that different countries measure infant mortality in different ways). If you want to talk about obstetric care, you need to look at perinatal mortality -- and the USA has one of the lowest rates of perinatal mortality in the world. Which means Ricki Lake is either (1) deliberately using the wrong statistic to further her agenda, or (2) (more likely) doesn't even know it's the wrong statistic, in which case how can she present herself as an authority?

In short, I thought TBoBB was misleading and one-sided. Which, OK, it's a documentary, of course it's one-sided, but like PP said, I wouldn't go basing any decisions on it.

Calabaza78 · April 2012

I think TBOBB could be considered one-sided if you consider almost every other mainstream source of birthing information is one-sided, presented from the pro-hospital/ birth management perspective.

ETA: I saw it and liked it, although I preferred most of the books I read on the subject of natural birth. I had DS at a birth center, and I am so glad we made the switch from a hospital practice. It was a wonderful experience (although painful and hard work!)

hamiltks10 · April 2012

mbm1983:

It's actually on netflix for those that would like to watch it.

I was able to rent it from my library...so that's probably an option too for those that want to see it.

indianaa · April 2012

Warning: Ricki Lake nude boobies! I was just... surprised by that.

I watched The Business of Being Born before I even *thought* about getting pregnant (I love documentaries). Fast forward to a couple years later, and I ended up having a home birth largely due to the research it caused me to do on my own afterwards. This shocked most people because I'm a fan of modern medicine and I'm not granola at all.

It's one sided, yes, but most modern documentaries are trying to push some sort of agenda. Just keep that in mind.

WearingRed · April 2012

I loved it. Yes its one sided yes its a goes too far to its side. But seeing women give birth the way we were meant to inspires me to do it. I have watched a few times every time I start questioning my decision to use a midwife and birth center. And I used it to help educate my family at natural births aren't as bad as Hollywood makes them out to be. So far I got my MIL on my side still working on the rest.

MLKuykendall · April 2012

Paisley4140:
MLKuykendall:
I really enjoyed it. Those are some things that I had previously studied, but you never really hear how bad our mortality rate is outside of textbooks. I think it gave a nice perspective as opposed to the births that we typically see on TV. It was nice to see powerful women doing things on their own.
Didn't TBoBB quote the wrong mortality rate, though? If I remember correctly, the movie says that the USA does poorly on infant mortality, but that's a measure of pediatric care, not obstetric care (and may not even be true, given that different countries measure infant mortality in different ways). If you want to talk about obstetric care, you need to look at perinatal mortality -- and the USA has one of the lowest rates of perinatal mortality in the world. Which means Ricki Lake is either (1) deliberately using the wrong statistic to further her agenda, or (2) (more likely) doesn't even know it's the wrong statistic, in which case how can she present herself as an authority?
In short, I thought TBoBB was misleading and one-sided. Which, OK, it's a documentary, of course it's one-sided, but like PP said, I wouldn't go basing any decisions on it.

I can tell you several of my textbooks have had very similar data. They typically only compare the industrialized nations. I never checked if her exact numbers were correct but we are always at the very top of the mortality lists when it comes to birthing. It could be because of how we document things, but I doubt everyone is just using the wrong data to gather their information on childbirth. I will be grabbing my books and looking into that once I get home. However I do love that you are questioning this, I've never even considered perinatal vs. infant.

Ziegeficker · April 2012

I've seen that and one disc from More Business of Being Born (hoping to borrow the rest from a friend this weekend). To those who say it's one sided, I would say that it was merely trying to expose women to a different point of view. If you watch the Celebrity Birth Stories segment from MBoBB, the overwhelming message is that no matter what birthing method you choose, you should be proud of your body's ability to create and bring this wonderful miracle into the world. I think it's very pro-woman as opposed to anti-hospital; and I think their message is that we need to make obstetrics more woman-centered than anything and stop trying to scare women into believing birth is this terrifying event in our lives when it should be empowering and beautiful.

Bear in mind that when this movie originally came out, there was little dialogue out there about natural or home birthing...so while it may seem one-sided in that way, I think they were merely trying to instigate discussion regarding other options for women and open the public's mind to questioning the birthing status quo.

sjgurl784 · April 2012

scerulla:

I've seen that and one disc from More Business of Being Born (hoping to borrow the rest from a friend this weekend). To those who say it's one sided, I would say that it was merely trying to expose women to a different point of view. If you watch the Celebrity Birth Stories segment from MBoBB, the overwhelming message is that no matter what birthing method you choose, you should be proud of your body's ability to create and bring this wonderful miracle into the world. I think it's very pro-woman as opposed to anti-hospital; and I think their message is that we need to make obstetrics more woman-centered than anything and stop trying to scare women into believing birth is this terrifying event in our lives when it should be empowering and beautiful.

Bear in mind that when this movie originally came out, there was little dialogue out there about natural or home birthing...so while it may seem one-sided in that way, I think they were merely trying to instigate discussion regarding other options for women and open the public's mind to questioning the birthing status quo.

emaddock · April 2012

I watched this about a year ago when DD was almost 1. I struggled with PPD from what I think stems from a birth plan gone wrong--an emergency c-section. This movie made me sad/angry that I didn't have the birth I wanted but also made me hopeful that this time around I can try to be a little more in control. That being said, I also realize that things happen and I need to have some flexibility. I won't go into the delivery room with a super detailed labor plan but will speak up when things aren't going the way I want.

kplaxco85 · April 2012

Great documentary! So is Pregnant in America, I also plan on doing Bradley in hosp for my first birth and if everything goes well maybe next time home birth.

mel6304 · April 2012

I also enjoyed the fact that while one-sided, they still showed how even the birth you want may not happen (the photographer/filmer's girlfriend who went early). They could have easily just shown all these fantastic home births that went smoothly, but it was nice to have the reality that ultimately we can't control everything about when/where/how our labor happens.

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