While going over the marketing plan for, Birth Models that Work, I came across a website recommended by one of the authors. The website was the official homepage for the documentary, The Business of Being Born, which was produced by actress and former talk show host, Ricki Lake and directed by Abby Epstein. The documentary explores the history of midwifery and shows a contrasting perspective from the delivering at a hospital birth model we are so accustomed to today. The film also shows how health care and insurance companies helped to increase the use of maternity wards while ostracizing midwives.
Little did I know, another author from Birth Models that Work, Robbie Davis-Floyd makes a few appearances throughout the film. It was a pleasant surprise! As a medical anthropologist at the University of Texas at Austin, and an expert in child birth and midwifery, Davis-Floyd examines the different players in the medical field that make a difference with regard to U.S. birth models.
The stats were clear: in 2006, 99% of all births in the U.S. were delivered by doctors in hospitals, while nearly 1 in every 3 births are delivered by cesarean section. However, the U.S. still has one of the highest death rates in births compared to other industrialized countries where midwives are more prominent. If you want more information about birth models or would like to watch this film, go to The Business of Being Born. If you would like to read the latest scientific evidence about birth models that work, go to https://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/10482.php.
By: Lindsay Wong, E-Marketing Coordinator, UC Press
