Review of The Business of Being Born (2008) by Cooterpatooter — 07 Mar 2012

I probably could have done without seeing Ricki Lake's ummm... "thing", but her argument is compelling nonetheless. The American hospital system, at the corporate level at least, consists of for-profit businesses who don't always have your best interests in mind.

These hospitals, in turn, are heavily influenced by for-profit insurance and pharmaceutical companies who definitely do NOT have your best interests in mind. Lake's focus on the extreme overuse of labor-inducing drugs and cesarian section procedures in the US, along with the arguments for "squatting" vs the seemingly-stupid "feet in stirrups" method of birthing are probably the most compelling points that she makes.

However, the argument that "we've been having children at home since freakin' forever" doesn't necessarily cut it either. Old ways of doing things tend to die out for a reason. The solution should be to improve certain hospital practices, not necessarily to bolster expectant mothers with a "do it yourself" attitude.

If the baby comes out bright blue, it's unlikely that a midwife can provide the same emergency care that a hospital staff can. But then again, empowering women to take back the control over their bodies that's been slowly stolen from them is an awesome thing too.

It's a tricky subject that Ricki Lake can't hope to cover in 90 minutes but she does just enough to light a spark in the minds of folks who just accept the status quo.