A few years ago, in this blog’s early days, I watched a documentary called The Business of Being Born and posted a review.
The movie was a one-sided piece of propaganda designed to terrify women away from hospitals and into the arms of a doula. I don’t have any problem whatsoever with the concept of natural and/or homebirths, but I was offended by the tone of the documentary, which diluted its own argument by ignoring the possibility of any middle ground.
Recently, while browsing Netflix, I ran across something called More Business of Being Born. Apparently Ricki Lake – the documentary’s producer and primary evangelist – and the creative team behind the movie went and created a sequel – complete with Alanis Morissette! I haven’t seen it, and – no longer being in the midst of a pregnancy – I probably never will.
But I thought it was a good opportunity to revisit my original review, which, aside from some spotty writing, I stand behind:
The Business of Being Indoctrinated
I tried to watch BoBB. I really did. But I couldn’t get through the dreck. I had a doula… We attempted a VBAC… and I did the hypnobabies training, etc. I still had an emergency c-section. While I do agree that women need to push back and informed consent is crucial, the lack of middle ground is just not at all something I am comfortable with. And since we’re done with having babies, there’s no way I’ll even try to watch the sequel.
Thanks for your response! It’s heartening to hear from a doula-enthusiast who recognized some of the same biases I saw in the movie.
I reiterate: I am not at all against home-birthing, doulas, natural birth, etc. I think there are valid arguments to be made for it. But I think the documentary is a clumsy piece of propaganda that demonizes hospitals by treating those scenes like a horror movie and ignoring the billions that are born perfectly healthy in hospitals.
Thanks for reading!