Birth is natural: true. However, so are pain, death, and deformity. Unfortunately, some people chose to ignore the fact that until the advent of modern medicine, many women (and their babies) died in childbirth, and in many countries this is still a major problem. Many of these people – whom I henceforth dub the Woo Conspiracy – also claim that pregnancy and parturition have become A Business.
This, of course, must be true because they say so and is A Bad Thing. To prove this hypothesis, an actress and a female director – not investigative reporters or possessing any medical qualification – made a film about called The Business of Being Born, “making choices based on faith and intuition” (verbatim from the ‘Director’s Statement’).
I was not aware that “faith and intuition” have their place as the basis of a documentary. Apparently Nature doesn’t make exceptions for them either, which nearly lost Ms Epstein her son.
Below is the synopsis on the site promoting the film. And the book. And the DVD. And merchandise. Yes, I thought that clashed a bit with the “birth is also big business” attitude as well. A couple of translations first:
- “intimate birth stories” = they followed a homebirth midwife around;
- “surprising historical, political and scientific insights” = apparently some yoga and ‘fertility-awareness’ bird that also does ‘detox’ and ‘anthroposophic medicine’.
Anyway, here it is, in all its glorious WTFery:
Birth is a miracle, a rite of passage, a natural part of life. But birth is also big business.
Compelled to explore the subject after the delivery of her first child, actress Ricki Lake recruits filmmaker Abby Epstein to question the way American women have babies.
The film interlaces intimate birth stories with surprising historical, political and scientific insights and shocking statistics about the current maternity care system. When director Epstein discovers she is pregnant during the making of the film, the journey becomes even more personal.
Should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potentially catastrophic medical emergency?
Hmm. Most professionals would point out that preparing for the worst is the wisest strategy in a situation where problems must be coped with rapidly if the end result is to be a healthy, bouncing baby with a healthy, bouncing mother.
Homebirth advocates do not actually have an answer to this, at least not one based on fact. For a full and informed discussion/demolition of their many and fallacious arguments, I advise reading the wealth of information available on a site like The Skeptical OB, which is written by a qualified, experienced professional.
One assertion that annoys me intensely is the linking of maternal and neonatal mortality to hospital birth, assuming that all births supervised by midwives are homebirths, and implying that midwives can cope with all types of likely complication (all natural, don’t forget) themselves. Both my children were born in France, where homebirth is actively discouraged. Fully trained, state-registered midwives – a regulated profession that’s not easy to get into – operate in hospitals where specialists (surgeons, neonatal care, anaesthetists) are easily brought into play should intervention be necessary. This is why maternal and neonatal mortality is so low here. That Woo Conspirators should misrepresent facts so blithely to advance their own agenda is nothing short of dishonest.
Then again, I wouldn’t expect people who have trouble with simple arithmetic to be capable of checking their facts. Check out this undoctored screengrab from the online store (click to enlarge):
No link to the site because, let’s face it, foolishness like this should not be encouraged more than necessary.
Recommended blog: The Skeptical OB
Useful statistics, provided with the methodology and proper caveats where required:
WHO report 1990-2008 here. NB: Big PDF with lots of words in it. Read the words to understand the numbers: for example, the differences between infant, neonatal and perinatal mortality.
Related articles
- Killing My Baby (With Their Lies) (anarchic-teapot.net)
