Review of The Business of Being Born (2008) by Stacey W — 14 Jan 2008

[font=Century Gothic]The documentary "The Business of Being Born" is an enlightening and effective advocacy in favor of natural births by midwives who are trained medical professionals who have backup in case something goes wrong. They act in the best interest of mothers whereas hospital doctors often do not by lining up their patients like on a production line and unnecessarily use chemicals to rush labor which is often finished by Cesarean sections.(I guess Aldous Huxley was right...) All of this is done in the name of cost effectiveness prescribed by insurance companies, thus serving as an important case study of the state of today's health care system. [/font].

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[font=Century Gothic]The movie talks to advocates and professionals on both sides of the argument with the doctors using scare tactics against women who are ill-informed when it comes to their pregnancy and are not aware of all of their options. The movie mostly focuses on a midwife as she makes her rounds through New York City as she cares for a couple of pregnant women. Footage is also shown of women giving birth in hospitals, compared with women giving natural birth which dare I say it I found beautiful while not exactly buying the argument that it is empowering.[/font].