I was finally able to watch a documentary called The Business of Being Born, and I really enjoyed it. It is chock full of birthing statistics and information that was very mind boggling. I even got DH to watch half of it. He stopped as soon as Ricki Lake started showing some unsuspected boobage while giving birth in her tub, but don’t let that keep you from watching! Afterwards DH told me that he realizes now why I would even consider having a home birth. He’s been very skeptical, so him saying that was a pretty big deal. Knowledge is power my friends. I would highly recommend this movie to any woman who is planning on becoming pregnant and giving birth in the U.S. It has become more obvious to me that birth is a HUGE business here in the U.S. These Obs and hospitals need to keep pregnant women coming through their doors as they are bringing in a lot of money. If we were like the other countries (with better mother and baby mortality rates) more of us would be going to midwives and Ob’s and hospitals would lose a lot of their business. Birthing shouldn’t be handled this way, it should not be about trying to make more money, it should be about doing what is safest for the mothers and their babies. Ultimately we (as parents) are responsible to make the important decision to put ourselves in good situations.
You can watch the movie trailer here.