| The Business of Being Born | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Abby Epstein |
| Produced by | Abby Epstein Paulo Netto Amy Slotnick Ricki Lake |
| Cinematography | Paulo Netto |
| Edited by | Madeleine Gavin |
| Music by | Jason Moss (asSupersonic Music) Andre Pluess |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
Release date |
|
Running time | 87 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Business of Being Born is a 2008documentary film that explores the contemporary experience ofchildbirth in the United States. Directed by Abby Epstein and produced byRicki Lake, it compares various childbirth methods, includingmidwives,natural births,epidurals, andCesarean sections.[1]
The film criticizes the Americanhealth care system with its emphasis onmedicines and costly interventions and its view of childbirth as a medical emergency rather than a natural occurrence.[2] Lake drew inspiration for the documentary from the disappointing experience she had had with the birth of her first son, Milo Sebastian Sussman.[citation needed]
The film documents actualhome births andwater births, including in the latter category that of Lake's own second son, Owen Tyler Sussman. They follow a midwife, Cara, inNew York City as she takes care of and attends several births. They then give the audience several statistics about our current birthing techniques and challenge today's doctors. Many experts are interviewed and they cite a multitude of reasons for these, such as the overuse of medical procedures in the interest of saving time.
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 81% of 27 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Epstein's argument in favor of home birthing is certainly biased -- but its biases are so transparent, and so impassioned, that they work in the film's favor."[3]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 68 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[4]
TheDVD was released in the US on May 6, 2008 and soon after an international version was released.
