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Updated March 05, 2015.
The ladies of Business of Being Born are back at it again and have created More Business of Being Born, a four-part DVD film that gives further information and insight into maternity care in America. Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein gained popularity as their original film The Business of Being Born gave consumers an inside look into the maternity care system in America, including some of the major discrepancies in the care women are receiving.
They later went on to write the book Your Best Birth and this DVD series is their most recent endeavor.
The four parts of the DVDs are Down on The Farm: Conversations with Legendary Midwife Ina May Gaskin, Explore Your Options: Doulas, Birth Centers & C-Sections, Special Deliveries: Celebrity Mothers Talk Straight on Birth and The VBAC Dilemma: What Your Options Really Are. The DVDs are available to rent by viewing them on the Business of Being Born website, downloading them from iTunes and on cable On-Demand systems.
The thing that I loved most about More Business of Being Born is that it is very accessible for every family. Moms, dads, grandparents, aunts and uncles can all learn something from these videos. One does not need to know much about birth or natural birth to appreciate these films. Also, while the original film Business of Being Born gives a nice base knowledge about maternity care in America, More Business of Being Born is a film that stands on its own two feet.
Review: 5/5 Stars
- Down on The Farm: Conversations with Legendary Midwife Ina May Gaskin
- Explore Your Options: Doulas, Birth Centers & C-Sections
- Special Deliveries: Celebrity Mothers Talk Straight on Birth
- The VBAC Dilemma: What Your Options Really Are
Down on The Farm: Conversations with Legendary Midwife Ina May Gaskin
Updated March 05, 2015.
The first film Down on The Farm: Conversations with Legendary Midwife Ina May Gaskin gives a full interview with Ina May Gaskin, a midwife who is helping change the face of birth in America. Ina May runs The Farm in Tennessee where mothers can receive prenatal care and give birth with the assistance of a team of midwives. The Farm was originally a hippie compound where Ina May settled with her husband before becoming a midwife and teaching midwifery to others in the compound.
The farm now boasts an impressively low cesarean rate – 2% with great outcomes for moms and babies. Ina May uses traditional wisdom and great prenatal care to help achieve positive birth outcomes. The film covers many questions people have about natural birth, birth on the farm and her Safe Motherhood Quilt Project. Ina May shares information about the disturbingly high mortality rate in America. (Running Time: 55 min)
Special Deliveries: Celebrity Mothers Talk Straight on Birth
Updated March 05, 2015.
The second film in the series: Special Deliveries: Celebrity Mothers Talk Straight on Birth is a digital red tent for birth stories. Laila Ali, Gisele Bundchen, Cindy Crawford, Alyson Hannigan, Melissa Joan Hart, Kellie Martin, Alanis Morissette, Christy Turlington-Burns and Kimberly Williams-Paisley give their birth stories. There are hospital births, home births, birth center births, unmedicated, medicated and cesarean births.
These mothers do not all have births that went as they planned and speak openly and honestly about their experiences. I appreciated how open and honest these celebrities were. I find myself empathizing and taking the journey with these moms. I believe moms will find someone with whom they relate and enjoy the journey and their victories. (Running Time: 74 min)
Updated March 05, 2015.
The third DVD in the series: Explore Your Options: Doulas, Birth Centers & C-Sections gives some of the risks, benefits and alternatives of various childbirth scenarios and options. Through the use of expert testimonial and the experiences of various mothers, Abby and Ricki give information on some of the things that were not explained in their original film. I loved this part of More Business of Being Born.
As a childbirth educator and doula, I can advocate for doulas and birth centers all day long but having these experiences brought to mothers from a neutral third party helps moms understand why we recommend these alternatives to the normal treatment of labor in the medical model of care in the United States. This is the longest portion of More Business of Being Born but if you had to choose just one section of the film to watch, this would be my choice. It is written in a very empowering and informative format. (Running Time: 102 min)
Updated March 05, 2015.
The fourth and final DVD in the series is The VBAC Dilemma: What Your Options Really Are. Because VBACs (vaginal births after cesarean section) are not offered in all areas and the opinion of VBACs varies from practitioner to practitioner and area to area, Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein offer families a chance to understand why there is controversy around VBAC. This is especially good timing given that The American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) recently updated their recommendations for VBAC.
In this section of the film you hear from moms who have successfully had a VBAC and those who had attempted a VBAC but ended up with a repeat cesarean birth. I think that many moms will relate to the struggle of the women on finding a care provider who will attend their VBAC and some of the fears and frustration of that process. This was the one portion of the film that I was not 100% in love with. The risks of VBAC are presented in such a way that it gives a scary tone to the film. The experts repeatedly emphasize that the risks are incredibly small but when they occur they are “catastrophic.” While it is true that sometimes placental abruption can have horrible outcomes, this is the same fear-based language that is thrown around to women who are seeking a VBAC and I do not think that it benefited the film any. Frank discussion of risks, benefits and alternatives of VBAC are mentioned. I was excited to hear Abby talk about her successful VBAC and the emotional steps that she went through to achieve the birth as well as her experiences as a mom who had experienced both vaginal and surgical birth.
(Running Time: 51 min)
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