I am a mother of two, and I found this movie to be extremely offensive. How to give birth is a deeply personal choice. To suggest that a woman who chooses a hospital birth is ignorant, and to imply that she is less caring and loving about her child is uncalled for. Sure, some are uneducated, but in this day and age, most women diligently do their homework before entrusting theirs and their baby's lives into a doctor's hands. Both my children were born in the hospital, and every decision I made regarding their coming into this world had months of research behind it.
Not everyone wants a hypothetical medal to go with their birth. What I wanted above all was a healthy baby, and I got it, twice. I was not forced to lie on my back, or to take pitocin, or to have my perineum sliced, or anything of the sort... What I did, twice, was give birth in a safe, clean environment, with my loved ones and competent medical staff who stuck by me and cared about me and my babies. And plenty of painkillers, thank you very much. I actually enjoyed giving birth. Which can't be said for my mom, who had me "naturally" and describes it as a "total nightmare". She had a normal pregnancy, yet things went wrong during labor: I had trouble breathing, and she had postpartum hemorrhage. Thankfully, even though her birth was unmedicated, she was at a hospital. Had she been at home, with no medical stuff or equipment available, we could've both ended up dead. Which only proves: giving birth is a deeply personal choice. What works for one woman may not work for another.
Who are you, Ricki Lake, to decide what is best for me, and for the rest of us *dumb, weak American women* (that's how you come across, you know)? Should cancer patients just let their illness run its course without accepting the help of modern medicine, because that's what's "natural"? Don't get me wrong, by no means am I comparing having a baby to having a terminal disease, but fact is, both are medical conditions, and modern medical advances help people, not impair them. If you prefer to think that pain and uncertainty are wonderful things - by all means, this is a free country. But don't you even dare tell me that everyone should follow your lead. Don't you dare telling me that having painkillers somehow makes it less special for a woman, or worse for her kids. Every woman who gives birth still goes through 9 months of pregnancy, feels her baby kick, hears the heartbeat, and cries tears of happiness when she first sees the little one on that ultrasound screen. Every woman who gives birth wants, above all, a healthy baby. Every woman wants to remember hearing her baby cry for the first time and holding her for the first time, not the dandy little fact that she gave birth in a bathtub because she is woman, hear her roar.
Films like this do more harm than good, because they use lies, cheap scare tactics, and guilt trips to get their point across. They demonize doctors and belittle women who choose hospitals, but they never - not once! - actually site statistics and facts. They don't tell you that today, most women who give birth in a hospital are free to walk, be in any position they choose, be in the tub or shower, use doulas, and basically do whatever they want, unless there is an emergency. They glorify Europe's "wonderful" system but don't tell you that its high percentage of midwife births is due to COSTS, not CHOICE. They don't give you statistics on what happens if something does go wrong with a home birth.
Should women like me feel less than women and worse mothers for DARING to go the route we chose? This is certainly how this movie comes across. And it is beyond offensive for me to hear some "expert" who's never given birth (and never will, due to being a man) sit there and philosophize about how a woman who's had a C-section or pitocin, QUOTE/UNQUOTE, doesn't care about the child because she doesn't receive that cocktail of love hormones released into the body during normal birth. He even goes as far as to imply that hospital births are the reason our society is failing. Really? Boy, they sure had a great big utopia 200 years ago! Bottom line: birth is a very personal thing. Every responsible, caring woman wants what's best for her child. There's something seriously wrong with people who think birthing your baby in a tub somehow makes you a better mom. Shame on Ricky Lake & Co for making this biased, fanatical rubbish.
Not everyone wants a hypothetical medal to go with their birth. What I wanted above all was a healthy baby, and I got it, twice. I was not forced to lie on my back, or to take pitocin, or to have my perineum sliced, or anything of the sort... What I did, twice, was give birth in a safe, clean environment, with my loved ones and competent medical staff who stuck by me and cared about me and my babies. And plenty of painkillers, thank you very much. I actually enjoyed giving birth. Which can't be said for my mom, who had me "naturally" and describes it as a "total nightmare". She had a normal pregnancy, yet things went wrong during labor: I had trouble breathing, and she had postpartum hemorrhage. Thankfully, even though her birth was unmedicated, she was at a hospital. Had she been at home, with no medical stuff or equipment available, we could've both ended up dead. Which only proves: giving birth is a deeply personal choice. What works for one woman may not work for another.
Who are you, Ricki Lake, to decide what is best for me, and for the rest of us *dumb, weak American women* (that's how you come across, you know)? Should cancer patients just let their illness run its course without accepting the help of modern medicine, because that's what's "natural"? Don't get me wrong, by no means am I comparing having a baby to having a terminal disease, but fact is, both are medical conditions, and modern medical advances help people, not impair them. If you prefer to think that pain and uncertainty are wonderful things - by all means, this is a free country. But don't you even dare tell me that everyone should follow your lead. Don't you dare telling me that having painkillers somehow makes it less special for a woman, or worse for her kids. Every woman who gives birth still goes through 9 months of pregnancy, feels her baby kick, hears the heartbeat, and cries tears of happiness when she first sees the little one on that ultrasound screen. Every woman who gives birth wants, above all, a healthy baby. Every woman wants to remember hearing her baby cry for the first time and holding her for the first time, not the dandy little fact that she gave birth in a bathtub because she is woman, hear her roar.
Films like this do more harm than good, because they use lies, cheap scare tactics, and guilt trips to get their point across. They demonize doctors and belittle women who choose hospitals, but they never - not once! - actually site statistics and facts. They don't tell you that today, most women who give birth in a hospital are free to walk, be in any position they choose, be in the tub or shower, use doulas, and basically do whatever they want, unless there is an emergency. They glorify Europe's "wonderful" system but don't tell you that its high percentage of midwife births is due to COSTS, not CHOICE. They don't give you statistics on what happens if something does go wrong with a home birth.
Should women like me feel less than women and worse mothers for DARING to go the route we chose? This is certainly how this movie comes across. And it is beyond offensive for me to hear some "expert" who's never given birth (and never will, due to being a man) sit there and philosophize about how a woman who's had a C-section or pitocin, QUOTE/UNQUOTE, doesn't care about the child because she doesn't receive that cocktail of love hormones released into the body during normal birth. He even goes as far as to imply that hospital births are the reason our society is failing. Really? Boy, they sure had a great big utopia 200 years ago! Bottom line: birth is a very personal thing. Every responsible, caring woman wants what's best for her child. There's something seriously wrong with people who think birthing your baby in a tub somehow makes you a better mom. Shame on Ricky Lake & Co for making this biased, fanatical rubbish.
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