The Business of Being Born

Considering how much this affected me, I can't believe I never wrote about this before.

A few weeks back, we watched a documentary called "The Business of Being Born," which explores how giving birth has transformed from a natural experience to a big business for hospitals and doctors.

While parts of the film were disturbing (and will scare the bejeezus out of parents-to-be), I can't recommend it enough for anyone who's going to have a baby this year or in the future.

Consider this statistic: The United States spends almost twice as much as any other nation on delivering babies, but the rate of infant mortality in this country is the second-worst in the developed world.

We learned that the labor-inducing drug pitocin ("We need to move this along") and Caesarian sections ("We need to get this baby out now") have become almost commonplace, particularly in hospitals where beds are at a premium. The reality is that hospitals are businesses, so they often place artificial timetables on what used to be - and should still be - the most natural event in life.

Granted, this film explores childbirth in New York, where all hospitals are overwhelmed. Luckily, we live in suburban Maine, and the hospital we've chosen is more low-key, so we're probably not going to run into this "assembly line" mentality.

But still, it's good to know what could happen so we can be vigilant during labor.