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	news bulletins the business of being born

New Yorkers had an opportunity to experience a real "birthing" week in Manhattan starting with the much-anticipated opening of the documentary film, The Business of Being Born, which had its premier at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 29th.

The idea for the film sprung from the personal experience of actress/talk show host Ricki Lake, Executive Producer for the film, after birthing her own children—one in a conventional hospital setting, and the second at home with a midwife. The film's message is clear and unflinching: modern medical practices have so distorted the process of birth that we have lost the natural beauty of this rite of passage. "If you really want a humanized birth, the thing to do is to get the hell out of the hospital," say Marsden Wagner, a physician and former Director of Women's and Children's Health for the World Health Organization, in an interview during the film.

Interviews with other experts, such as medical anthropologist Robbie Davis-Floyd, acclaimed midwife Ina May Gaskin, and French obstetrician Michel Odent, are contrasted with moving interviews from real-life women. We see these women before, during and after their homebirths.

But the best part of the film by far is the surprise twist it takes when director Abby Epstein discovers that she herself is pregnant. Both Epstein and Lake share their own personal experiences in such an open and giving way that the old cliché held true—there were very few dry eyes in the house by the end.

Two days later, on Tuesday May 31st, Childbirth Connection's event, Women and Childbirth: Choice, Control, Knowledge and Decision Making, was held in Manhattan's venerable Harvard Club. The organization presented the Carola Warburg Rothschild Award for outstanding contribution to the health and well-being of women and their families to Betsy Gotbaum, New York City's Public Advocate, and Choices in Childbirth, whose director, doula Élan McCallister, was also interviewed in the film, The Business of Being Born.

Gotbaum and Choices in Childbirth were chosen to receive this award for their collaborative effort to enforce the Maternity Information Act, originally written in 1989. The law directs that all hospitals that provide maternity services in New York State must provide prospective patients with a brochure that clearly outlines that hospitals track record. The brochure, which is provided to hospitals by the state's Department of Health, requires precise information about current c-section rates and rates of induction and episiotomies so that women can make informed decisions.

Over the past two years members of the two organizations actually visited 44 New York City hospitals posed as pregnant women in order to determine whether or not the brochures were being handed out. None of the hospitals visited, except one, complied with the ruling. This effort made it possible for compliance with the law to be enforced. Present at the event were doulas, midwives and birth advocates from all over the country—but when Childbirth Connections director, Maureen Cory, asked if any hospital administrators were present, no hands were raised. Also present was former Carola Warburg Rothschild recipient, Doris Haire, whose dedicated efforts had helped to get the original bill passed in the 1980's.

After taking in the poignant and provocative works of the film and award ceremony, New Yorkers also had an opportunity to laugh out loud at some of motherhood's more everyday challenges at the one-woman show, Mother Load, playing at the Sage Theater through June 16th.

Although purists might take issue with some of the commentary (i.e. epidurals are okay, and so is a bottle of formula or two), few could argue with the play's bottom line: our culture bombards mothers with such a high standard of perfectionism that just relaxing and enjoying your kids is nearly impossible.

Actress Amy Wilson wrote and stars in this lively production, which is based on her own life as the mother of two young sons—with a third on the way. The bewildering array of conflicting information that comes at most mothers these days is personified by the amplified voice of an astringent announcer whose commentary becomes increasingly distorted as the onslaught of information builds from television shows, magazines, pre-school applications and even that sacred old standby, What to Expect When You're Expecting.

Wilson's comedic timing is excellent, her bewildered and frenzied facial expressions are easy to both identify with and laugh at. One wishes for a few more of the poignant moments, such as when she describes the joy of finally getting the hang of breastfeeding. Still and all, though, this play is an hour's worth of entertainment that any mother will thoroughly appreciate.

For more information:

• The Business of Being Born; directed by Abby Epstein; Executive Producer: Ricki Lake; www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com
• Childbirth Connection (www.childbirthconnection.com) has a link to more information about the Maternity Information Act in New York State, along with a download link to the Public Advocate's report on the recent enforcement of this act.
• Mother Load; written by Amy Wilson; directed by Julie Kramer; produced by Hyde Park & Lafayette. Playing through June 16th at The Sage Theater. Order tickets at 212-279-4200 or go to www.motherloadshow.com

Birth: it's a miracle. A rite of passage. A natural part of life. But more than anything, birth is a business. Compelled to find answers after a disappointing birth experience with her first child, actress (and Mothering reader) Ricki Lake recruits filmmaker Abby Epstein to explore the maternity care system in America.  Should most births should be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potential medical emergency?

Join Producer Ricki Lake, Director Abby Epstein and the Friends of the Birth Center at The Business of Being Born at the 2007 NYC Tribeca Film Festival, Friday, May 4th.

5:00 pm Screening The Business of Being Born at the AMC Theater, 266 3rd Ave @ 11th St.

6:30 pm Post-show talkback with Producer Ricki Lake and Director Abby Epstein

7:15 pm Cocktail Reception at Danal, 90 East 10th Street (@ 3rd Avenue)

$40 individual ticket includes screening, reception, and gift bag

LIMITED TICKETS!  To purchase, call Friends of the Birth Center at 212-867-9646 or e-mail becca@friendsofthebirthcenter.org.