The Business of Being Born

On Thursday evening I went to a screening of Ricki Lake's documentary, The Business of Being Born at the Media Coop, thanks to the efforts of Trillium Woman Care and Mothersville. Had I actually typed this post after seeing the movie (rather than writing about it four days later and back dating) it would have been filled with exclamation points!!!

The movie basically follows Ricki as she studies up on the state of the "birthing industry" in this country and discovers the sheer joy of homebirth for herself. The really funny part is that while filming, the documentarian, Abby Epstein, becomes pregnant and signs up for a homebirth.

The film was really captivating and I think that it will go along way with mainstream audiences--assuming Ricki Lake is still appealing to a mainstream audience. There were a lot of men, women, babies, and kids in attendance. Lots of familiar faces and several new ones. That alone was pretty awesome.

With my last birth three and half years behind me, I haven't given birthing a lot of thought recently. I felt really uplifted and empowered watching the movie--it was nice to be able to nod my head and pat myself on the back when they talked about the power of homebirth. It was also really fun to sit next to my friend who is pregnant with #3 ten years after her first! (What wasn't fun was when I realized she had a bigger bladder than I did! I had to rush out of the theater the minute the movie ended!)

After the movie, a panel of childbirth experts took the stage to answer questions. Here again there were some familiar faces and a few new ones. I enjoyed seeing who the key players were in the "open-minded" field. It was nice to know that Dr. L is not the only doctor around who is willing to let a woman birth the way she wants to. There was also a very sweet looking doula with awesome grey and red striped socks. I really wanted to ask where she got them, but my audience mates had much more pressing questions!

I didn't get to stay until the end, which is sad, because I bet it was really cool to just hang out and mingle with all the mamas and preggos afterwards. I was glad to at least get to see the movie, relive the "glory days" and drive home with a sense of possibility and the hopes that things might change for the better.