These days, it’s become a luxury for me just to go out and
see a film, so I was excited to attend Urbanity|baby’s recent screening of More Business of Being Born: Special Deliveries,
Celebrity Mothers Talk Straight on Birth, even though I suspected that the film’s subject
matter would continuously remind me of the two little people I was taking a
break from. —
But as a testament to Producer Ricki Lake (who we recently interviewed for Birth: The Sequel) and Director Abby Epstein, I was able to focus solely on the documentary (a follow-up to their
2008 film, The Business of Being Born) in which they examined various
aspects of labor and the numerous options available to women through the
experiences of a group of celebrity moms–among them Laila Ali, Gisele
Bundchen, Cindy Crawford,
Alyson Hannigan, Melissa Joan Hart, Kelly Martin, Alanis Morissette, Christy
Turlington-Burns and Kimberly Williams-Paisley.
Rotating from one celeb POV to another, the documentary
interweaves their stories as they cover a range of topics, including home
births, epidurals, pitocin, c-sections, hypnobirthing, and the roles of
doctors, doulas and midwives. While I related most to Kimberly Williams-Paisley’s story,
each woman had her own inspiring and emotional journey–sometimes ending where
she expected, other times somewhere entirely different. Any woman who has been in labor will
truly understand Cindy Crawford’s comment that you can only know what the pain
feels like when you’re in that moment..
I especially liked how the women responded when the birthing
plan they initially wanted didn’t go exactly as planned. As Laila Ali sees it, things went as they
were supposed to, even if it wasn’t what she had originally intended. Kimberly Williams-Paisley admitted that while
she used to judge other moms for having c-sections and thought that they should have
tried harder for a natural birth, after her own difficulties, she realized that
it wasn’t an easy choice.
Despite the serious theme at hand, the film was actually quite
funny. Alanis Morissette made me laugh just about every time she appeared
onscreen and I no longer think of Alyson Hannigan as the band camp girl from “American Pie,” but, rather, as
the woman who became fixated on not having enough toilet paper around after she
started having contractions.
After the screening, a panel of experts discussed several
topics from the documentary, including the importance of connecting mind and
body during pregnancy, eating foods based on how you feel, choosing the
birth plan that’s best for you, and getting the right team together to help you
through the process. The women also spoke about the importance of relaxation (one
panelist mentioned that she was a big fan of Kegels!) and choosing to surround
yourself with people who make you feel completely comfortable.
This connects back to a
central theme of the film: women’s bodies are made to handle childbirth, so you should simply pay
attention to what your body needs and take control of your own labor, with as little worry as possible.
As one of the experts pointed out though, as much as the
focus is on a woman when she’s pregnant, that usually changes once the baby is
born. So it’s important to be patient, take time to recover and don’t be afraid
to ask for help. After all, whether you’re
a first time mom or already have four little ones, you need time to take care of
yourself.
Elisabeth Reed is the shopping editor for Born & Bred. Prior to
becoming a freelance writer, she worked in the financial services
industry. Elisabeth was born and raised in New York and loves exploring
the city with her husband and two children, Brandon and Julia.
