Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Micransix Crappy film

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

TinyDanseur27 The Business of Being Born is about birth procedure in the United States today, specifically regarding home births in contrast to hospital births. According to the documentary, these days 99% of births in the United States happen in hospitals. Most women don't even know about their options to have home births or even what a midwife is. Interviews with several birth specialists concluded that this is in fact a travesty, that the rushed, drug-infused deliveries that doctors are pushing on women these days is actually contributing to the United States having one of the highest infant and women mortality rates in any developed country in the world. Host, Ricki Lake and just about every person interviewed in the documentary really pushed women to consider natural home births with midwives. Obviously, this documentary was very biased towards one point of view. Regardless, it really got me thinking about birth and about the questions I should ask if and when I have a baby.The documentary showed four or five home births on camera. Sure, they were gross but what was nice about them was that they didn't look so frightening. Any time you see a birth scene in a movie, the woman is typically screaming her head off and many times complications arise and interventions are made. The home births made having a baby look like this super happy, empowering thing (and painful of course but I guess that goes without saying). The women were able to have their babies in their own homes on their own terms without having anyone make suggestions that they take drugs or induce.Of course there are times when those things are needed. I'm not trying to downplay the value of hospitals when it comes to having a baby. Hospitals can provide services that midwives cannot. I just think that it's good to at least think about. Assuming your pregnancy is low-risk, why not try it? I don't know about anyone else, but personally I don't really feel comfortable in hospitals.I'm a long way off from having to make these kinds of decisions. Who knows if and when I'll even have children. I'm glad I saw The Business of Being Born though. It gave me a lot to think about and really reminded me of the importance of doing research and developing your own birthing plan.

Shaniqua Harvey The Business of Being Born (2008) Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein (Until the Violence Stops) Rating: 7/10 "The United States has the second worst newborn death rate in the developed world" (The Business of Being Born). As a first time mother, this statistic was very frightening. I wanted to understand the reasoning and methods behind this unnerving statistic. This documentary was recommended by a peer and I was not sure what to expect of it, I thought that it would take a look at a few deliveries. But what I received from this documentary was greater than watching a normal birth. I received perspectives, answers and confirmation. Honestly, this documentary sheds light on one perspective and that is natural birthing, it does not look into other methods except to confirm the natural method. The film makers tried to compare the births that take place in a hospital setting and the ones that take place at home. The main focus was the home birth, but I honestly felt like this narrowed perspective allowed me to take the information and process it on my own. As viewers we are shown the processes of a natural birth, and then shown the processes of women who wanted natural births but for one reason or another could not. The main difference that I noted was female choice, which I believe to be the overall message of this documentary. In the hospital female choice was mostly dictated by doctor decision without understanding the rationale behind those decisions. While at home, the decisions appeared to be dictated by the mother; in fact the expectant mothers seemed to be laboring basically on their own without any mediation. Obviously in society with our new focus of going natural, there is going to be aims to support it for every aspect of life. This film supports the natural method of birthing whether at home or in a birthing center. If one is not curious or into the natural method, for a first time mother as myself it allows you to see several birth perspectives. This film can be informative from either perspective if you do not know what to expect for your first birth. It asks mothers to do something that our society usually does not do and that is to question a doctors reasoning behind some decisions. I agree with the film makers when they say that when a doctor say's I think we should do this, we automatically agree because we believe it is in our best interest. The point from this is, sometimes it may be unnecessary. Birth is a natural process in the fact that your body knows how to create, carry and eventually deliver a baby and this documentary delves into that perspective. Baby ratio is 64 born to every 1,000 women, so this is a topic that is very common and profound in our society and very relatable since everyone knows or knew someone who was pregnant at one point. The film makers use personal interviews of themselves, their patients, doctors, and experts to give us a view of the "problem" with deliveries in America. There is a span from child birthing from the 1900's to present time. One of the most appealing points in the film was the use of medicines during the birthing process and their later effects on children. With hospital staff we do see two different perspectives on home versus hospital birth, natural versus non-natural methods of birthing. Abby Epstein and Ricki Lake were both present during the entire film. Lake had an overwhelming presence on the film over Epstein. Majority of the camera shots were close-ups on the speakers at the time, or of the birthing process. Due to the one on one interviews the camera was always eye level on the speakers. The camera would also pan out, to give us a view of the room, birthing process or other speakers. The focus was deep; everything appeared clear and in focus. Some of the hospital scenes appeared to have a soft focus and that was to show the blur and rush of birthing and the birthing process in the hospital setting versus at home or at a birthing center. Editing techniques were mainly cross-cut, to quickly take us to the next scene. The film makers included archival photos and video of birthing over the course of history. Diegetic sound was used throughout the filming of this documentary. My perspective was very biased since I would like to birth naturally but in a hospital. I felt that this documentary helped me gain perspective on my voice and verbalizing my wants during delivery. I think even after watching this documentary I still want to birth in the hospital, I just feel I am more aware of my options. Now from the perspective of mothers that do not prefer natural birthing, I am not sure of the effectiveness of this documentary as a persuasive technique due to my bias. I would be interested in hearing the pros and cons from this perspective. The end of the film I found gave me the perspective due to the film maker Epstein going against the overall objective of the film and then her rationalization of her decision. This changed the perspective from the overlying message of natural home birth is best, to whatever birthing option the mom thinks is best for her!

jjnoahjames The Business is awesome. About as cool as the punk rock band the Business.When the movie starts you wonder if the film quality and information in the film is worth it, I mean, it is a documentary. As the film goes on it get's better and better.Even though I'm not sure if I agree with this film 100% (I haven't had time or necessity to research) I learned a monstrous amount of information and was blown away by how much I didn't know. B.O.B.B. OPENS UP YOUR EYES!The best part was seeing women barely go through pain, though as the film goes on you do see more and more pain, but it does seem less in some ways than in the hospital.I would have liked to know more about the dangers of death but they did touch on this mildly.

llindith I watched this dreck after I had my own child and I'm SO glad I didn't watch it beforehand. I would never, EVER recommend it for a mother-to-be. I mean, come on, it's RICKI LAKE. It's not like it's a real documentary. It's biased beyond all rationality and the whole reason for its being was that Lake herself was brainwashed into grieving over some fulfilling birth process she didn't get. Gee, think she's going to be balanced and fair? Maybe by Fox News's definition, but not any other.In short: I'm sick of midwives being portrayed as being incredible medical experts when they simply aren't. At least if a doctor screws up, I can sue him for malpractice. S/he knows it and I know it. If nothing else, I'd think that would serve to keep a doctor on his/her toes, especially with malpractice rates being what they are. What option do I have with a midwife? Have her say she's sorry when she screws up and kills my child (or me?) I had contact with THREE midwives during my own pregnancy, and the advice of ANY of them would have resulted not only in my child's death, but in mine as well. All three of them pooh-poohed my several miscarriages and my advanced age, insisted I'd do just fine at home, shrugged off my preeclampsia and rising blood pressure.Fortunately, I ignored all three of these so-called experts and took my doctor's advice. As a result, my baby got an extra month of growth, even though she did have to be taken two months early, and most importantly, because I was in a hospital, where I could be monitored, we quickly realized that the baby's heartbeat was being affected every time I had a contraction. Had I insisted upon my 'natural' delivery instead of having an emergency c-section, my daughter would have been born dead and I probably would have hemorrhaged to death...because the placenta was partially separated. NOT something a midwife at home could EVER have handled!!Obviously, chalk ME down as someone who isn't going to be giving any credit to midwives and their 'birth is oh-so-natural' garbage. Sure, it's natural, and in its natural state, it kills a lot of women and infants. How natural do we really want to be? I'm not denying some of the accusations directed at the medical industry, and I certainly don't have a problem taking on insurance. However, is there really a difference between the doctors who want to deliver in a timely fashion and the midwives who out and out lie to their patients and tell them that birth is natural and there's no danger? Well, I guess there is one: The midwife will be far more likely to kill the mother and the patient.Which is how I arrive at the crux of my problem with this documentary and other natural-everything brainwashing like it. What's important in the birth process is NOT how 'natural' the mother feels the experience is, or, in fact, HER 'experience' at all. The one and ONLY important thing in a birth is that the mother and child come through it alive and healthy. However, what I'm seeing because of this documentary and other garbage like it is that women are ignoring danger signs and warning signals because they think 'natural' equals 'less danger', or because they're so selfish they don't even consider the needs of the baby, only their own emotional ones. I've even seen some women say they'll turn down a c-section, even an emergency one, because they're convinced by this crowd that they're being poor mothers if they do! That's just insane. Lake is doing her best to promote this ill-advised and downright stupid point of view. If Lake wanted to put time and effort into something, she should have done something which assured women that *every* birth experience is worth valuing, not try to place worth and weight on how they've given birth. If they did what was necessary to end up with a living, healthy child, they did something right. As for me, I had an emergency c-section, and you know what? I consider it a totally rewarding birth experience. I don't think I missed out on a thing by not having to hurt and sweat through hours of agonizing labor, and I really, really don't think I missed out on what would have happened had I gone through the natural process -- a dead baby.As it turns out, the sweetest sound I ever heard was my daughter's first cry, and I'm more grateful than I can say to the doctor who saved us both. And I say that as someone who is, by and large, extremely skeptical of doctors and who lost her own mother to malpractice.And news flash, people: birth hurts even when it's done oh-so-naturally. I notice several of the reviewers either don't have children or are male, so they really can't comment on the accuracy. 'Thought birth in a hospital didn't hurt'...oh, please!