If you have enough time, show "The Business of Being Born." My human development professor screened it during class time, I showed it to my husband when I was pregnant, and it absolutely saved me from an emergency C-section.
The Business of Being Born is a documentary film, produced by Ricki Lake, that explores the modern birthing experience and maternity care in the United States.
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In a nutshell, I went in for induced labor, agreed to a low dose of Pitocin, and the nurses snuck up the dose behind my back. Literally behind my back, and my husband noticed the numbers on the IV going up without our permission. I turned down an epidural knowing that it was a possibility and I needed to listen to my body. At a certain point, I knew something was wrong. I was in so much pain I could barely talk. My husband spoke up and demanded that they lower the Pitocin dose. I confirmed that's what I wanted. The rest of the birth went very well.
About a third of births in the US are C-section births now, but only about 10% are medically necessary. A hospital gets more money for a C-section, so they pump birthing people full of Pitocin, and that produces very strong contractions that lead to fetal distress, which means they can justify an emergency C-section. I heard 2-3 calls for emergency C-sections during my prenatal visits, and the doctor who was discharging me got called away for an emergency C-section. It's happening way too frequently!
C-sections carry a high risk of complications for the mother and deprive the baby of the healthy microbes it would usually pick up while traveling through the birth canal.
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