The Busniess of Being Born-Response

(I really liked this snapshot of the scene)
Through out most of the American Way of Birth unit in history class, before watching the movie Business of Being born I was kind of stuck between the two ideas of Natural birth versus the normal American way of birth. I felt that I did not known enough about everything and the facts to convince me of which makes more sense. What was really so bad about hospital births? And if it was so bad then why is it so common? These were the questions I had in my mind. We had many class discussions and lectures but I felt like it was still mainly ideas or assumptions. After watching the Business of Being Born I think I've finally found what mind set I have towards the American Way of Birth. It really opened my eyes to the possibilities of a natural home birth. It makes me wonder that if I have never been taught this process of having a midwife or if I have never watched the movie, I would have most likely (if every gotten pregnant) go through with the common American birth. I would have sucked it up and dealt with the uncomfortable, costly, and risky process of a birth in a hospital, most likely leading to a C-section. While watching The Bushiness of Being born and gather facts from the movie it really geared my mind set towards a natural and home births. It amazed me how blind some people can be to the processes of the hospital and the way it works. the first thing that really caught my attention is what Susan Hodges in the movie mentioned "Very few doctors have ever observed a natural birth in medical school." It surprised me because as a doctor in a birth procedure you would think that the doctor would know every single full detail bout a natural birth as well as all the drugs such as the epidermal, etc. It would really turn me off to have someone be in charge of my birth when they don't even know what the natural birth looks like or have ever experienced one.

The second thing that really stood out to me was the concept of how there are so many C-sections yet so little home births/ births with midwives. Also the fact that a hospital is like a billion dollar business.Someone in the movie (I've forgotten who) mentioned that "Hospitals are like businesses, get in and get out". I really thought about the whole process and it made so much sense to me, they want to get the women out of the hospital as soon as possible with the baby so they can have the next pregnant women come in a fill your bed. This is one of the reasons mentioned why there are so many C-sections and births during the day. Doctors want to get the mother out and be done with your birth so 1) they can get their money and 2) so they can go home in time. The facts that were mentioned in the movie by mainly professionals really shocked me. One comment mentioned from Marsden Wagner M.D., a former director of Woman's and Children Health Org. that I actually never thought could be true: "Everyone else in the world have midwives" and as the picture of the US shows up alone he says "The United States Stands alone". Another fact that reminded me of this comment was that Europe and Japan have 70 percent of midwives to attend as United States at 8 percent, followed by the fact that the death rate of births in the US are higher than some of the third world countries. These are some of the facts and comments from the movie I found interesting because American who is usually thought to be the land of freedom, hope, 'the future country' is going so downhill with the birthing process. To think that compared to third world countries America having one of the worst birth rates is surprising. It really makes a person wonder why? In my opinion it is most likely because of the process of the normal way of birth in America. The fact that it seems that the death rate in other countries is not as high, maybe it is the fact that most other countries have births with midwives. It makes me question, how come people don't know this stuff? I think it has to do with how over the years the natural birth has been so neglected and alienated that most people are in a way brain washed to think that the normal birth is the best way to go since its common and involves technology, machines, and magical drugs that let you skip out on the pains of birth.

Another topic that was brought up about why home births may be better because of the fact that it gives the women their own power. In a hospital you are forced to sit on the bed, legs spread wide open and it gives the mother a feeling as if she is not in control of her own birth but the doctor is the one with the power. It gives people the idea that since the doctors are so certified and so professional that they know more about the process of what a pregnant woman's body feels like the goes through in the process of labor. As I watched the video I compared the scenes of a women giving birth in a hospital to scenes of a women giving birth at home. One of the pictures that really stood out to me is of a doctor grasping on to the woman's feet and opening her legs wide apart. It really made me think how bad and uncomfortable it must feel being forced into that position, even made me feel disgusted in some ways. As when I saw the home birth the women was comfortable and was able to sit and stand as she pleased, she was able to be comfortable, move her body in what way will make her in control of her process and labor, in the end she will feel accomplished and have more of a life altering experience as it was all her hard work and determination that made such a beautiful baby. Letting the doctors be in control is, personally is not how it should be. It should be about the mother and as mentioned in the movie the birthing process should be about the needs of the mothers, not about the needs and perspective of the doctors.

After watching the movie it really gave me a good idea of where are stand on all of this. In the end of the movie the women who was the maker of the movie was going through labor early, her baby was premature and her birth was fallowed by some other complications so instead of a home birth that was originally the plan she ironically had to get a C-section as what the movie was kind of trying to contradict. A doctor that she had picked for the procedure in advanced in case of any problems was the one who did the C-section, he tried to tell her it'll be done quick and everything will be fine. As this process was shown on the screen on Andy's computer I heard a lot of fellow students mutter things like "shes having a C-section? That's to hypercritical of her". By the end she turned out with a perfectly normal and healthy baby. This really made me think about what I would want my experience to be like if I were to ever have birth one day. And through out everyone woman's experience, especially the filmmaker's experiences it really made me want to have the same sort of experience with a natural home birth and the hospital as a back up in case of complications. I don't think the filmmaker was hypocritical at all because she choose the hospital and the doctor as a last resort and if she did not go through with the C-section she most likely would have ended up with out a living child. I think that the American Way of Birth should be run similar to what the filmmaker's process of birth. Not for everyone to end up with a C-section because of premature babies, but that hospital births or a C-section should be the last resort and the back up to all births. Even though it it seen as something risky and dangerous and the doctor's easy and quick way, it does have it's benefits as sometimes there are complications that occur which can be life threatening to the mother or the baby. It really opened my eyes to the reasons behind the hospital births and how it may not be as great as some people say compared to home births. I think I would most want to do a home birth or at a birth center because not only is it cheaper but as Eugene Duclerq, professional maternal and fetal health mentioned that if the woman are close to a hospital, has a professional midwife, generally home births are much safe. I too in the end would want that 'drug' feeling as mentioned in the movie that gives me a special connection and bond between the baby and the mother.