Listen to BIRTH

[doulala]

http://www.thinairmedia.org/

BIRTH: A one-hour documentary about the practices and perceptions of birth in America.

Starting with early perceptions, we move through the process of birth beginning before labor, continuing during labor, and following the actual event. With a multiplicity of voices woven with sound we examine the process of birth from an emotional, physical and philosophical perspective.

As we move back and forth through time and from person to person, we discover how stories from our lives, history, media, and the medical institution enter into the culmination of the actual birthing process.

Birth is a rite of passage through which all human beings pass. Is it the same as it ever was? Why do some women feel deeply empowered by their birth experiences and others feel stripped of their motherhood? Where do our expectations about how we give birth come from, and how do they play out when we approach the event? What is the baby’s experience? And what about the father’s role?

Turn on the television or watch a movie and you're likely to see birth portrayed as an emergency medical procedure. Is this a true depiction of what happens? Perhaps, and yet there are many ways in which to approach the experience. Above all else, we are biologically predisposed to be interested in this topic. Quite simply, when it comes to birth everyone can relate.

[Precious333]

May. 6, 2008 at 5:08 PM I completely agree.  When it is done any other way but natural I feel that mom's are missing out on something very important and life altering.  I know thats how I felt, even with a vaginal birth, because of they interventions that were used in the hosptial.

[gingerfargas]

May. 6, 2008 at 5:13 PM i hope lots of ppl hear this.. i got SO MUCH flak for wanting to do things naturally and the waterbirth (even though it didn't work out) was so over the top for most ppl I just stopped bringing it up to avoid a debate! Thanks for the link!