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The Business of Being
Born
Directed by: Abby Epstein
Starring: Ricki Lake
Genre:
Documentary/ Independent
Run Time: 87 min.
Release Date:
January 2008
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
Informative? Sure. Gives a
new perspective on a broken system? Definitely. Entertaining? Er ...not
really.
After talk-show host Ricki Lake experienced a bad childbirth
in-hospital, she decided to try a midwife, and thus THE BUSINESS OF
BEING BORN was ...um ...birthed. I can’t help but think that some of
this (not all) was a ploy by Lake to put herself back in the public eye;
specifically, the movie industry. Although this is strictly a
documentary, and other actors support various causes (from freeing
Darfur to Tibetan independence), this one felt a bit more forced.
The reason I say this is that the entire documentary was exceptionally
boring and exceptionally lopsided. I work in the medical field (as an
RN) but not in an Obstetrics setting. I can, however, vouch for the
terrible cost of healthcare and some of the impersonalness of those
giving it (as this documentary pointed out). I’ve heard doctors talking
about “tee times” on the golf course and the need to “get home by
dinner,” so time is a big factor for physicians (the film pointed out
that C-section deliveries peek at 4pm — just prior to dinnertime — and
again at 10pm — so doctors can get home to bed). Be damned whether the
patient needs a C-section or not, doctors force the decision so that
they can “get on with their lives.” Cut and run!
Even with its interesting take on the care of OB/Gyn patients in the
U.S., the film never delves outside of the States even though certain
statistics are presented (including telling us that the infant mortality
rate in the U.S. is one of the highest amongst developed countries). I
would’ve liked to have seen at least one interview with a Japanese
midwife or a European midwife, and have them show us how their system
works. But we’re never give the opportunity to see this for ourselves.
The boring nature of the film is that it never really finds its focus.
Although the title of it is The Business of Being Born, it
focused more on the plight of midwives and their care of expectant
mothers at home or in midwife clinics. We drive around with midwives,
trot down the road with midwives, listen to midwives talk on the phone
to patients, and get to watch a couple of in-home births. Then we start
the entire process over again.
And there’s also a brief and confusing stint in which we learn one of
the film’s producers is pregnant and trying to decide on prenatal care.
All-in-all it’s an informative story, but one that might cause a few too
many yawns.
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Image from The Business of
Being Born
DVD cost: $20.19
Purchase:
Tower.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
Hospital births can cost $13,000, meanwhile one midwife might cost
$4,000 for everything, including being on-call for 9 months.
Movie Quote: "Hospitals
are businesses. They want those beds filled and emptied. They don't want
women hangin' around in the labor room."
Other Actors/Actresses
from The Business of Being Born
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