In conjunction with the More Business of Being Born giveaway I’m currently hosting, I’m also pleased to share this mini-review of the first installment (Down on the Farm) guest posted by my friend and colleague, doula Summer:

More Business of Being Born

Down on the Farm: Conversations with Legendary Midwife Ina May

Reviewed by Summer Thorp-Lancaster

http://peacefulbeginnings.wordpress.com
http://summerdoula.wordpress.com

The first installation of More Business of Being Born, Down on the Farm: Conversations with Legendary Midwife Ina May, is infused with loving scenes of midwifery care, loads of vital information and even a few jokes (such as a gift referencing Ina May’s infamous “sphincter law”).  We are given an up close view of the well-known Farm in Tennessee, whose Midwives boast an exemplary track record of Midwife attended, out-of-hospital births. This record includes a less than 2% cesarean section rate in over 2500 births. Throughout the interviews, Ina May’s (and the other Midwives featured) reverence and respect for the Midwifery Model of Care is ever-present. Her passion for the safety and overall well-being of the motherbaby is palpable and stirring.

It would be impossible to cover the many aspects of birth, or even just Midwife attended out-of-hospital birth, in a full length film, let alone an episode, but this piece successfully touches on many topics and will (hopefully) lead to further discussion amongst viewers. As an activist, I found myself left with a renewed sense of action or purpose, a desire to do more and help more so that all mamas and babies have the opportunity to experience birth as the positive, loving and intimate experience it was meant to be as well as a deeper understanding of the crisis surrounding our medical model of birth. I would recommend this film to everyone, as the state of maternity care affects us all.