My Kids Watched the Business of Being Born

I did receive my copy of The Business of Being Born from Netflex and I watched it with my kids this afternoon. Some people might think it’s a strange film to have your kids watch, but I have often felt that in this culture we do two things badly – birth and death. I feel both of those are family events and the family should allowed to experience it as much as they are able, according to their own levels of comfort. I had my other children present during both of my homebirths and the kids were also in the home after my homebirth/stillbirth.

It didn’t surprise me that to the younger kids (Gabe, Noah, Izzy and Rosie) this documentary was a little long (84 minutes) and didn’t always hold their attention. When I was having my home births the labor thing didn’t hold their interest either! But the kids were interested when the baby appeared, and how they looked, and what it was like, and what was the cord and all of that. As in life, so it was during this movie with kids leaving to go to the bathroom, talking, fidgeting, quibbling – and then absolute silence when a baby was born.

After it was explained in the program, Sam, Gabe and Noah could all see the logic in having women birth upright so that the baby can travel down the birth canal with the assistance of gravity. It seemed so clear to all of them that the way most women are forced to push (on the back with legs in the air) is just…”stupid.” In simple terms, this is so clear a 10-year-old can see it, so why don’t most adults question it?

Gabe was surprised that the natural home births didn’t come with a lot of screaming and unbearable pain. He and Sam were both amazed at how actively the Dad’s were involved with their laboring wives. Natural birth really can be a lot of work for Dad too.

Sam couldn’t believe that it cost $13,000 for a normal vaginal delivery in a hospital when a midwife only charged $4000. What is all the extra money paying for? They were all amazed at the Cesarean show on the program. For a procedure that is frequently touted as simpler and cleaner, it seemed anything but.

Izzy is only 8 1/2. She was my biggest wiggle worm during the film. Parts of it may have been too intense for her and so she left. That is how it was during labor and birth too. When my kids felt it was too intense for them, they left and no one stopped them. That’s how I wanted for Izzy. But she got to see some natural births and I hope that there’s a little seed planted in her brain about what birth Can look like; what birth was designed to look like.

I want to see it again without the kids before I put up a review. But overall I think this a very important film. I absolutely see why ACOG might be afraid of it.

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