Laboring Under An Illusion: film on media & birth

[RoseDuperre]

Finally! Along with all these other great birth movies, one that addresses how media influences our expectations and perceptions of birth.

Laboring Under An Illusion: Mass Media Childbirth Vs. The Real Thing

[MsHiss]

That looks great! Thanks for sharing.

[claddaghmom]

Originally Posted by RoseDuperre

Finally! Along with all these other great birth movies, one that addresses how media influences our expectations and perceptions of birth.

Laboring Under An Illusion: Mass Media Childbirth Vs. The Real Thing

well I can't spend $40 on it! argh

[ChampagneBlossom]

I would love to see that one too...

[amlikam]

I saw this movie

and LOVED it- I am hoping to buy it to show at a prenatal with clients.

[mntnmom]

I saw an ad for that. I was waiting until I heard some opinions It looks really great for education.

[elanorh]

Argh, it's not on Netflix yet.

[autumnday]

Thanks! I, too have been waiting for this film!

[gcgirl]

I am almost invariably PO'd when I see a depiction of birth on a film. There are always more complications than necessary; it's always in a hospital; the water ALWAYS breaks first, leading to panic; everyone wears scrubs, even the woman sometimes; and the woman is ALWAYS on her back with people directing her pushing.

Then I got angry recently while I was reading White Oleander, a book about a girl's experiences in foster care after her mother goes to prison. Anyway, toward the end another foster girl has an unmedicated hospital birth, and the author describes the maternity ward as a horrific, screaming hell*. Then she muses that it's no wonder women died giving childbirth because they just got so exhausted by the thought of going through it again that they would rather just give up life than go through it again. WTF!!?? That REALLY ticked me off. So freaking annoying, that kind of stuff.

*Also what ticked me off about all the "screaming" is this: with a 90% epidural rate, why are all those women screaming? Really, was she in a maternity ward back in the days of twilight sleep (?), because that makes no sense. Leads me to believe the author either had a horrendous birth experience or no birth experience at all.

[amlikam]

Did you notice the price has dropped on this film!! Yippee!!!

[Smokering]

[Spoilers for the show "Community" herein, if you haven't seen it]

I watched the birth episode the other day, and it really annoyed the heck out of me. Mostly because it was all about the other characters, not about Shirley. SHE was the one giving birth, and had done it twice before (although admittedly with lots of drugs in a hospital); but of course she was the "victim" and the object who just lay there moaning while everyone else got to be Brave and Courageous and Clever and figure out how to "save" her. And of course, pretty much the first thing they did was get her to lie on her back on the floor. *sigh*

There were a couple of good moments - when Shirley told Abed she wasn't comfortable with him seeing her naked, he backed right off and got one of the girls to take over. And later when Britta was asking what to do (during the second stage) he replied "At this point the bus pretty much drives itself", which was true, although begged the question of why it was such an emergency if that were the case! Checking for a cord around the neck once the baby's head was out wasn't a bad idea either. But then, after the birth, NOBODY gave any props to Shirley... you know, the MOTHER. She was thanking her labour support, and they were all praising each other, and then Britta was beaming about how she "yanked" a baby out of her friend (which really made me cringe - I hope she didn't actually yank!)... it just made me sick. This whole perception that the woman giving birth is powerless and the real drama lies with the caregivers... eugh. If I ever have to help deliver a baby in a stuck lift or something, I'm gonna make darn sure the media knows that the BIRTHING MOTHER is the hero/protagonist/whatever of the story. You know?

Personally I love/hate/find fascinating all the births on Friends. I can only assume the writers had never, ever done a speck of research about birth. Some of it is kind of impressively natural - Rachel has a vaginal breech delivery, and Phoebe gives birth to TRIPLETS vaginally - what are the odds of that happening in a hospital in the USA, really?! - but not in a way that really grapples with the issues, just kind of a "hey, what would make this scene more dramatic? I know, breech baby!" way. Plus, Rachel in particular seemed so perky when she was giving birth - between contractions, she was just chillin' there being snarky like it was any other day. No "labour land" vibe at all. I didn't buy it. :p

[Cyllya]

I once saw the opening to a video game that showed the main character's birth, during... um, some time in the Renaissance I think. I think I smacked my forehead at least four times during it. The mom was in "the sadistic obstetrician pose," doing a bunch of purple pushing and screaming, while two midwives were standing there yelling at her to push like a couple of cheerleaders. Then she gave birth to a four-month-old baby with no umbilical chord. (Note that this is a video game, which uses 3D models for the characters, rather than live actors.) The midwives seem to immediately forget about her when the father comes rushing in, so apparently there was no placenta either?

[Smokering]

Then she gave birth to a four-month-old baby with no umbilical chord.

Oh yeah, Community did that too. A very clean four-month-old baby. (Cute as heck though...) Wasn't it Juno that showed the baby born circumcised?

Saw The Other Boleyn Girl recently, and it also had the lithotomy position and semi-directed pushing... and four-month-old babies, who were immediately whisked away by the MWs, although they weren't doing any kind of medical checks or procedures that I could see. Really, I'm trying to think of a well-portrayed childbirth in a movie, and I can't think of one. Children of Men did have an appropriate amount of blood (which enraged a bunch of viewers - I read all these reviews saying it made the birth look like a torture scene, etc, but I thought it was pretty realistic)... I can't remember how the rest of the birth was, though.

[obscureepiphany]

I thought the birth on Farscape was pretty good as tv births go- waterbirth, upright position, some blood shown, born into father's hands, no bumbling father or mother screaming that "this is all your fault", they work together. He cuts the cord, but the writers apparently forgot about the placenta. :) Of course, it is scifi, so the baby is born in the middle of a firefight and the mother and father then have to shoot their way out of there (she puts the baby in a sling so that she has her hands free to shoot) lol.

[tourist.]

Originally Posted by obscureepiphany 

I thought the birth on Farscape was pretty good as tv births go- waterbirth, upright position, some blood shown, born into father's hands, no bumbling father or mother screaming that "this is all your fault", they work together. He cuts the cord, but the writers apparently forgot about the placenta. :) Of course, it is scifi, so the baby is born in the middle of a firefight and the mother and father then have to shoot their way out of there (she puts the baby in a sling so that she has her hands free to shoot) lol.

Haha that's awesome.  I'm going to have to go pull out my dvd's and rewatch it now.  I totally love that show.

I'm completely drawing a blank but there was recently a show that someone gave birth on and the baby was seriously like 6 months old, it was crazy!  Practically crawling. 
 

[Jaimee]

Thank you  for sharing!  It looks great and it look like it includes a lot of clips from other independent birth films that I've seen. I'd really love to split the cost with someone!