On Saturday 1/12/08 I decided to drive by-myself to NYC to be one of the first to see The Business of Being Born. I felt it was necessary for me to support this movie in the beginning so they makers can bring it to more cities and raise more awareness of a huge healthcare crisis. I met up with a good friend once i was there and she was such a trooper for coming with me to see the movie considering she is never planning on having children. But we support each other so it was good quality time with a good friend.

Since I decided to follow the path of midwifery, I have found more and more motivation and inspiration with every book, website and birth film that I have come across. This movie has been far more motivating than anything I have stumbled across in my journey thus far.

The birth experts and the World Health Organization make their cry for help abundantly clear : The U.S is putting women in danger to make money. The US ranks second to last of all developed countries for healthy outcomes for mom and baby. In all the other countries with far better outcomes the common denominator is the use of Midwives. In Japan and Europe 70% of births are attended primarily by midwives and the doctors are only used for the high risk populations. In the US only 8% are attended by midwives with less then 1% giving birth at home. The interventions the US uses for everyday birth in hospitals put mother and child at risk. The free flowing use of Pitocin to stimulate contractions and the pain medication cocktails used to numb the experience create a physiological mess that can only be fixed with a c-section when the baby becomes distressed due to interventions. Its a giant snowball of manipulation of these women the second they walk into a hospital maternity unit in labor, or even during pregnancy when the doctors try to push for elective c--sections for trivial or vain reasons. They use the "baby is in trouble" line in which any mother would tell the doctor to do what he needs to do insure the safety of the baby. In most cases the heart rate of the baby drops due to interventions such as Pitocin. But nobody is going to tell mommy that in the hospital.
And why wouldn't a doctor want to do a c-section? He is in and out in 20 minutes and gets paid far more. Our population must be made aware of these startling numbers from the WHO and changes must be made in this country's birth culture. I hope that this movie raises the awareness needed to make a difference in this country. I know that I am going to try to do what I can make a difference. Every women who is pregnant or ever planning on become a mother needs to see this movie so they can take the proper steps to educate themselves and not be a victim of terrible system. Education is The most powerful tool in protecting the safety of our mothers and babies!

WWW.THEBUSINESSOFBEINGBORN.COM