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Homebirth on mainstream tv.

post #1 of 12
2/9/10 at 12:32pm
Thread Starter 
I forgot to post about this the first time I saw it, but this aired for the first time on January 4th. The show is called Little Mosque on the Prairie and it's a Canadian sitcom about a Muslim community in small-town Canada. Anyway, in season 4 episode 10, Rayyan Hamoudi, who is a GP, attends the homebirth of one her patients. No mention is made of the fact that it's a homebirth - it's just "Oh, her baby's coming!" then the baby is born in the living room.

It was a little unrealistic in that they showed the mom fully clothed with a towel over her knees, laying on her back on the couch with her foot up on Rayyan's shoulders, but I guess that goes back to the belief that on the back or semi-sitting is the way you give birth and nobody considers any other way. I've never seen a birth on TV or in a movie that wasn't in that position, with the exception of once (the made-for-TV Cleopatra movie had her giving birth squatting while holding onto ropes). But I did like how they treated as totally normal. There was no emergency, no rush to the hospital, no freaking out, just having a baby.

If anybody wants to watch it, it's available on YouTube. Just search for "LMOTP S04E10."
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post #2 of 12
2/9/10 at 12:58pm
That movie "The Nativity Story" also had a birth where the mother (I think it was Elizabeth?) was squatting and pulling on a rope flung over the rafter.
I guess filmmakers think you have to be in the B.C. rather than A.D. time frame to pick a sensible birthing position.
The other on-screen birth scene that I liked was in "Children of Men." She even used a midwife for prenatal care.
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post #3 of 12
2/9/10 at 1:15pm
Judging Amy and Dollhouse both had episodes with excellent home birth scenes.
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post #4 of 12
2/9/10 at 1:28pm
And didn't Jane Seymour, in Dr. Quinn, MD, have her baby outside, squatting by a tree? Unassisted? That's pretty unmedical...
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post #5 of 12
2/9/10 at 2:30pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by *MamaJen* View Post
That movie "The Nativity Story" also had a birth where the mother (I think it was Elizabeth?) was squatting and pulling on a rope flung over the rafter.
I saw that and I got all excited when I saw the ropes, but if you look, she's not squatting. She's laying on her back pulling on the ropes.
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post #6 of 12
2/9/10 at 4:47pm
As for being fully dressed, with the towel and all, I have heard stories of Amish women choosing to birth that way, because of modesty issues. I wouldn't be surprised if a Muslim woman made similar choices.
But it does kinda bug me that semi reclining is the "default" birth position. It just never occurs to anyone that you don't *have * to do it that way.
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post #7 of 12
2/9/10 at 4:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cathicog View Post
And didn't Jane Seymour, in Dr. Quinn, MD, have her baby outside, squatting by a tree? Unassisted? That's pretty unmedical...
I don't count that. There were extenuating circumstances, it wasn't really an accurate portrayal of home birth even for a time and place where there was no hospital.
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post #8 of 12
2/9/10 at 4:56pm
How about that unassisted waterbirth on Farscape?


Of course, she screamed like the dickens and there's premature cord cutting....
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post #9 of 12
2/9/10 at 5:05pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mntnmom View Post
As for being fully dressed, with the towel and all, I have heard stories of Amish women choosing to birth that way, because of modesty issues. I wouldn't be surprised if a Muslim woman made similar choices.
But it does kinda bug me that semi reclining is the "default" birth position. It just never occurs to anyone that you don't *have * to do it that way.
She wasn't Muslim, the doctor was. I think they just did it that way to try and avoid the question of covering nudity.
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post #10 of 12
2/9/10 at 5:16pm
Hmm I don't know where the link is...but someone blogged their birth story and they had their husband hide behind a curtain for "modesty." She also mentioned special garments, with the implication that she was modestly dressed during birth. So it seems people do this in real life.
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post #11 of 12
2/9/10 at 5:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by claddaghmom View Post
How about that unassisted waterbirth on Farscape?


Of course, she screamed like the dickens and there's premature cord cutting....
I screamed like the dickens at my home waterbirth and like to think it qualifies. And the MW asst (MW didn't get there in time) cut the cord somewhat early.
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post #12 of 12
2/9/10 at 7:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by *MamaJen* View Post
The other on-screen birth scene that I liked was in "Children of Men." She even used a midwife for prenatal care.
Yep, that was definitely one of the more true to life labor/birth scene(s) I've seen in a movie, at least in a long time.
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