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Review: The Business of Being Born

February 8, 2008 at 8:41 pm · Filed under Childbirth, Pregnancy ·Tagged homebirth, hospital, midwife, natural childbirth

Summary
In this eye-opening documentary, The Business of Being Born, actress Ricki Lake along with her friend filmmaker Abby Epstein, question the way American women have babies. The film is comprised of personal birth stories, historical, political and scientific insights. In addition, the film talks about the current practices of the maternal health care system.

Positive Elements
The many different aspects of childbirth were explored in the movie. They went over the history of childbirth in America from the 1920’s to the 1970’s and then added in statistics from 2007. It would have been nice if they didn’t forget that gap in between the 70’s and 2007. However, I was excited to see touching live births. It brought back precious, joyous memories of my children being born. I was glad that they spoke of the lasting effects of cesareans on the mother and the baby.

Sexual Content
Due to the subject of this film, there were many scenes in which laboring women were naked. I thought the angle of the picture was fairly tasteful.

Violent Content
Yes, there is violence if you count the way they treated laboring mothers in the 1920’s.

Profanity
There were a few instances of profanity used by laboring mothers.

Drug Content
A pitocin drip was used to induce labor and epidurals were given for pain in laboring mothers. We need to remember that these are drugs (even though not illegal) and they affect the way the body works, just the same as any recreational drugs do.

Conclusion
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Definitely a tear-jerker for those who are birth junkies like me. This movie will be an eye-opener for many women who may not have known the disadvantages of using unnecessary interventions or technology in childbirth. This movie definitely supports my opinion that natural childbirth is the most rewarding, life-changing and joyous experience. Some may say that this is not a religious movie, but I believe that this is evidence of how wonderful our creator is. We are wonderfully made by God. We need to believe in our bodies and let them do what he made them for.

review by Shannon

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Circumcision

January 16, 2008 at 5:30 pm · Filed under Childbirth, Health, Pregnancy

Circumcision is a huge decision. It’s right up there with the vaccination debate, but the facts are much more clear cut with circumcision (no pun intended). At any rate, my husband and I spent weeks reading and praying about whether or not to circumcise our newborn, should it be a boy. In the end, we both felt strongly about leaving our son intact.

Through this experience we have had many interesting conversations with our family and friends. Many people believe that circumcision is necessary for health and cleanliness reasons. It is not. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) revised their circumcision policy in 1999 stating that “the benefits are not significant enough for the AAP to recommend circumcision as a routine procedure.” In addition, I appreciated my father’s concern about our son having to have a circumcision later in life should it be medically necessary, as was the case with his brother-in-law. The likelihood of that happening is 1 in 100,000 (see Circumcision Information Resource Center) — statistics that put my father at ease. All in all, circumcision is not suggested by the medical community, nor is it beneficial.

The other comment that we’ve heard is that parents circumcise their boys so that he will look like his father, older brother, or friends. Circumcising a boy merely for the way he looks in comparison to others is presumptuous. Circumcision does not provide any health benefits, but doctors are still performing them because of these weak, cosmetic concerns. The circumcision rate in the U.S. is now around 60%.

All in all, if you are leaning towards circumcision, you ought to at least be aware of the different methods used and the pain that is experienced by the newborn. Three different kinds of anesthesia can be used, but none of them completely numb the area. Research regarding infant response to circumcision is dreadful, including problems nursing and much worse.

There is a great deal of information out there on this issue from doctors and experts who are much more learned than I am. Please review the following sites, pdfs, and articles. It will be well worth your time.

Top 3 Sites (in my opinion):

Circumcision Information Resource Center — amazing site with lots of medical and practical information; before viewing graphic photos, a warning comes onto the screen; great site
Not Just Skin — site with info on lots of baby topics; circumcision FAQ sheet written by a dr
National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers — great site dedicated solely to circumcision info; has circ video