The Business of Being Born (2008)

Director:

Abby Epstein

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Birth: it's a miracle. A rite of passage. A natural part of life. But more than anything, birth is a business...

Plot Keywords:

Birth | Hospital | Brief Female Frontal Nudity | Archival Footage | Doctor

Cast

Mary Helen Ayres	...	Herself - Homebirth Midwife in Indiana
Julia Barnett Tracy	...	Herself - Parent
Sylvie Blaustein	...	Herself - Owner & Director, Midwifery of Manhattan
Louann Brizendine	...	Herself
Michael Brodman	...	Himself
Patricia Burkhardt	...	Herself
Tina Cassidy	...	Herself - Journalist and Author of 'Birth'
Ronaldo Cortes	...	Himself - Ob / Gyn (as Dr. Ronaldo Cortes)
Robbie Davis-Floyd	...	Herself - Medical Anthropologist
Eugene Declerq	...	Himself
Abby Epstein	...	Herself - Filmmaker
Eden Fromberg	...	Herself - Ob / Gyn (as Dr. Eden Fromberg)
Natashia Fuksman	...	Herself - Doula (Labor Support)
Ina May Gaskin	...	Herself - Midwife
Nadine Goodman	...	Herself - Public Health Specialist
Carolyn Havens Neimann	...	Herself - Curtified Nurse Midwife
Susan Hodges	...	Herself - President, Citizens for Midwifery
Gregor Huebner	...	Himself - Parent
La Juana Huebner	...	Herself - Parent
Ricki Lake	...	erself - Actress and Producer
Carol Leonard	...	Herself - Certified Midwife, Owner, Longmeadow Farm Birthing Center
Heloisa Lessa	...	Hersef - Nurse Midwife
Ana Paula Markel	...	Herself - Childbirth Educator
Elan V. McAllister	...	Herself (as Elan Vital McAllister)
Jacques Moritz	...	Himself
Cara Muhlhahn	...	Herself - Certified Nurse Midwife
Paulo Netto	...	Himself - Abby's Boyfriend & Filmmaker
Michel Odent	...	Himself - Ob / Gyn & Researcher (as Dr. Michel Odent)
Florencia Polite	...	Herself - Ob / Gyn, NYU Hospital (as Dr. Florencia Polite)
David Radzinski	...	Himself - Parent
Neal Rosenblum	...	Himself - Ob / Gyn (as Dr. Neal Rosenblum)
Michael Silverstein	...	Himself - Ob / Gyn (as Dr. Michael Silverstein)
Catherine Tanksley	...	Herself - Midwife
Van Tracy	...	Himself - Parent
Mayra Vazquez	...	Herself - Parent (as Mayra Radzinski)
Anna Verwaal	...	Herself - RN and Doula (Labor Support)
Marsden Wagner	...	Himself (as Dr. Marsden Wagner)
Abbe Wain	...	Herself - Ob / Gyn (as Dr. Abbe Wain)

Directed by
Abby Epstein

Produced by
Abby Epstein	....	producer
Ricki Lake	....	executive producer
Paulo Netto	....	producer
Amy Slotnick	....	producer

Original Music by
Jason Moss		(as Supersonic Music)
Andre Pluess

Cinematography by
Paulo Netto

Film Editing by
Madeleine Gavin

Production Management
Amy Slotnick	....	post-production supervisor

Art Department
Preeti Belosay	....	graphic artist

Sound Department
John D'Aquino	....	additional sound recordist
Fredrick Helm	....	additional sound recordist (as Fred Helm)
Matt Israel	....	sound mixer (as Matthew Israel)
Lukasz Janik	....	additional sound recordist (as Lucasz Janik)
Jesse Malings	....	additional sound recordist
Eric Milano	....	sound editor
Tom Paul	....	sound designer
Tom Paul	....	sound re-recording mixer
Kipjaz Savoie	....	additional sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Andrew Epstein	....	additional photographer
Madeleine Gavin	....	additional photographer
Nate Kraxberger	....	additional photographer
Lucas Loureiro	....	additional photographer
Jesse Malings	....	additional photographer
Jenna Rosher	....	additional photographer
Jenna Rosher	....	camera operator
Jeanny Tsai	....	second camera operator

Animation Department
Jim McDonald	....	animator

Editorial Department
Jon Fordham	....	color timer
Jon Fordham	....	on-line editor

Music Department
Kim Blackburn Bowen	....	music legal services
Gregor Huebner	....	composer: additional music
Qasim Naqvi	....	composer: additional music

Other crew
Sara Bader	....	researcher
Josh Braun	....	distribution advisor: Submarine Entertainment
Eugene Declerq	....	research consultant
Joe Farrell	....	production assistant
John Kazlauskas	....	researcher
Lucas Loureiro	....	production assistant
Amy Slotnick	....	researcher
Kelly Dean Smith	....	production assistant
Philip J. Strina	....	business & legal affairs: New Line Cinema

Thanks
Rebecca Benghiat	....	special thanks
Sylvie Blaustein	....	special thanks
Howard Borris	....	special thanks
Rafael Cambraia	....	special thanks
Melanie Comer	....	special thanks
Orlando Contes	....	special thanks
Marie Da Silva	....	special thanks
Jeffrey Epstein	....	special thanks
Renee Epstein	....	special thanks
Gretchen Farrell	....	special thanks
Joely Fisher	....	special thanks
Sofie Gavin-Melamed	....	special thanks
Neal Gorman	....	special thanks
Teresa Sartorio Guaraciaba	....	special thanks
Janice Guild	....	special thanks
Doug Jacobson	....	special thanks
Ross Kauffman	....	special thanks
Kamila Saliba Lessa	....	special thanks
Vincent Longo	....	special thanks
Ana Paula Markel	....	special thanks
Hitome Matarese	....	special thanks
Cynthia McKie-Addy	....	special thanks
Jordan Melamed	....	special thanks
Jason Moss	....	special thanks
Lisa Palattella	....	special thanks
James D. Scurlock	....	special thanks
Amanda Segilia	....	special thanks
Delphine Selles-Alvarez	....	special thanks
Wendy Shanker	....	special thanks
Kurt Skonberg	....	special thanks
Milo Sussman	....	special thanks
Owen Sussman	....	special thanks
Rob Sussman	....	special thanks
Laura Zeidenstein	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Barranca Productions

Distributors

• International Film Circuit (2008) (USA) (theatrical)
• Red Envelope Entertainment (2008) (USA) (theatrical)
• New Line Home Video (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Music Entertainment (2010) (Japan) (TV)

Other Companies

• Teatown Communications Group  post-production facilities
• Teatown Communications Group  post-production services

Runtime:

USA:87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:15 | Japan:R18+

Company:

Barranca Productions

Movie Connections:

Features "A Baby Story" (1998)

Soundtrack:

Feel Like Making Love

Misleading and One-sided

Like any good piece of propaganda, this movie starts by demonizing the OB/GYN profession (the enemy). The viewer is bombarded with images of early-20th century birthing practices as if they were still in use today. Having hospitals (and of course, insurance companies) set up as the "bad guy", the movie portrays the alternative (midwives) as the "natural" solution. Moreover, home delivery is portrayed as the only real choice for a woman to express her femininity and individual power.

A few hand-picked critics of hospital births are chosen, who promptly spew out some convenient statistics in support of home delivery. Correlations (like infant mortality rates) are presented as causality without even discussing other potential factors. For example, the movie likes to recite the infant mortality rates in the US as being higher along with the higher rates of hospital vs. home births in other industrialized countries. However, at no time do these "experts" note factors like the relative experience levels of midwives in Europe vs. the US. Nor is a qualitative assessment provided that compares the level of care offered. Further, factors like miscarriages are not even discussed (if there are higher rates in Europe then these babies would not be reaching full term, thus diminishing infant mortality at birth), nor are other elements like obesity discussed (the US is the fattest nation of fatties in the world).

One of the things that stood out to me was the frequent use of absolutes in their arguments: "There's no scientific evidence" to support hospital delivery as better than home deliver, etc. etc. Nothing even close to resembling counter-arguments were presented, making this documentary Michael Moore worthy in its biased presentation of its content.

It's a shame something so delicate has been treated with such utter disregard for good science and disinterested research. The movie maker had a clear agenda and presented a completely one-sided argument. If you disagreed with home birth, you simply are a brainwashed fool ready to submit to fake doctors posing as OB/GYNs.

Perhaps the most hilarious part of the movie came at the end, as the filmmaker went into labor one month early with a 3.5 lb baby who was in the breached position, umbilical cord wrapped tightly around its neck, as her water broke in a taxi cab as she was rushed to the ER. In spite of this, the filmmaker mused a month later "I think I would have been OK at home." Wow.