The Business of Being Born
Encyclopedia
The Business of Being Born is a 2008 documentary film
that explores the contemporary experience of childbirth
in the United States. Produced by Ricki Lake
,it compares various childbirth methods, including midwives
, natural births
, epidural
s, and Cesarean sections. The film criticizes the American health care system
with its emphasis on drugs and costly interventions and its view of childbirth as a medical emergency rather than a natural occurrence.
The film documents actual home births and water births
. They follow a midwife, Cara, in New York
as she takes care of and attends several births. They then give the audience several shocking statistics about our current birthing techniques and challenges today's doctors. Many experts are interviewed and they cite a multitude of reasons for this dismal statistic such as the overuse of medical procedures in the interest of saving time.
was released in the US on May 6th 2008 and soon after an international version was released.
An online viewing is available on the film's website: http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
that explores the contemporary experience of childbirth
Childbirth
Childbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus...
in the United States. Produced by Ricki Lake
Ricki Lake
Ricki Pamela Lake is an American actress, producer, and television host. She is best known for her starring role as Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray, her ground-breaking documentary film The Business of Being Born, and her talk show which was broadcasted internationally from...
,it compares various childbirth methods, including midwives
Midwifery
Midwifery is a health care profession in which providers offer care to childbearing women during pregnancy, labour and birth, and during the postpartum period. They also help care for the newborn and assist the mother with breastfeeding....
, natural births
Natural childbirth
Natural Childbirth is a philosophy of childbirth that is based on the notion that women who are adequately prepared are innately able to give birth without routine medical interventions. Natural childbirth arose in opposition to the techno-medical model of childbirth that has recently gained...
, epidural
Epidural
The term epidural is often short for epidural analgesia, a form of regional analgesia involving injection of drugs through a catheter placed into the epidural space...
s, and Cesarean sections. The film criticizes the American health care system
Health care system
A health care system is the organization of people, institutions, and resources to deliver health care services to meet the health needs of target populations....
with its emphasis on drugs and costly interventions and its view of childbirth as a medical emergency rather than a natural occurrence.
The film documents actual home births and water births
Water birth
Water birth is a method of giving birth, which involves immersion in warm water. The immersion can mean giving birth to the infant in the water or using it as a tool during the labor process. Proponents believe that this method is safe and provides many benefits for both mother and infant,...
. They follow a midwife, Cara, in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
as she takes care of and attends several births. They then give the audience several shocking statistics about our current birthing techniques and challenges today's doctors. Many experts are interviewed and they cite a multitude of reasons for this dismal statistic such as the overuse of medical procedures in the interest of saving time.
DVD Release and online viewing
The DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
was released in the US on May 6th 2008 and soon after an international version was released.
An online viewing is available on the film's website: http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/
See also
- Orgasmic Birth: The Best-Kept SecretOrgasmic Birth: The Best-Kept SecretOrgasmic Birth: The Best-Kept Secret is a 2009 documentary film that examines the intimate nature of birth....
- Homebirth
- Waterbirth
- Midwife
- Doulas