The BUSINESS of being born

This documentary by Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein, is an absolute must see for all those pregnant or planning to have children within the US.  Although some might say that this documentary is one sided against hospital births, I would beg to differ since one of the moms featured, ended up with a hospital birth that saved the life of her baby. I watched this during my 1st trimester and it really helped me get a better understanding of why we have such high c-section rates in this country and how everything snowballs from the first medical intervention during labor. It is a very educational video about the whole birth system in America and the title couldn't be more accurate; giving birth in america truly is a BUSINESS. In many hospitals,  decisions regarding the birth process are made based on how cost effective they are for the doctors rather than if they are truly best for the mother and baby, which in all honesty is a mighty big shame. Considering how much money it costs to have a baby in this country, I would expect nothing less than that the long term health of myself and my baby would be the paramount factor to be considered in the decision making process.

Compared to most other countries in the world,  America has one of the worst C-section rates and infant mortality, partly due to unncessary medical interventions. Many first time moms don't educate themselves adequately on the different types of births available, the medical interventions and pain control or the side effects associated with these. Often times moms just choose to have a c-section, induction or epidural because they think it will be the easier, less painful option and often times that isn't even the case.  In such modern times with so much information available to us, we really have no excuse to be uninformed on such a crucial issue which can have long term effects on our children.  We wouldn't buy a house or even a wedding dress without extensive research, having a baby should be no different.

Don't get me wrong I'm not against hospital birth. I had my baby at a hospital with an awesome doctor and support team that were very pro natural birth, and very willing to work with my birth plan but were also quick to step in and resolve the complications that developed. What I am against is unnecssary medical interventions, drugs and surgeries that can sometimes be pushed on parents who arent well informed about them.  So go ahead and spend 87 minutes of your life to watch this documentary, as the starting point to your education on this topic. I promise you wont regret it! This documentary  is available  to stream on Netflix and several other online movie streaming sites such Amazon Instant Video.

More blog posts on birth plans and interventions coming up soon...