"Business of Being Born" effect

[sunshine]

do you hear from birth doula clients that they have seen "bobb" and that it is a huge factor in their birth decisions? (choosing a doula, homebirth, birth center, etc)

i sometimes feel like i should be sending ricki and abby a percentage they have been so good for my busn. just curious if other doulas notice the same.

[raeben]

definitely felt a strong "bobb effect" here too. i don't remember why people chose doulas before but i'd say just about everybody mentions it as a factor now.

"bobb effect" - that is a great phrase btw.

[JessicaE]

BOBB effect here too -- moreso for my classes than doula services, but many of my students become clients, so by extension. I loan videos in class for them to take home, one of the ones I circulate is BOBB, many have already seen it.

I was at the MANA conference, and the home birth midwives were just going on and on about how much Ricki and Abby have done for natural birth in general, and home birth specifically. Yay for B-list celebrities taking up such an awesome cause!

[peechez23]

I actually have my client watch it. I was a great documentary!

[AMotz]

Yep - I can't tell you how many consultations I've done, where mom's are saying, "well.. I watched the business of being born and..."

lol, the bobb effect.

[AmandaB]

I can't say that I have had any increase in business because of it and maybe it's because I am up in Canada. However I am not a fan of the movie, I felt that it demonized people for their choices and choices that are made because we have at least 3 generations of loss of power when it comes to birthing and a loss of connection. I don't believe that homebirthing is for everyone and I am a Doula that means her clients where they are not try and convince them otherwise (unless they are truly unhappy with their HCP).

The movie left me sad and disappointed. I was sad for Abby Epstein and what looked like abandonment from her team because she "failed" to have a homebirth that I am not fully convinced she really wanted.

I am not trying to rain on anyone's parade I am just voicing the other side of what that movie brought out.

[sunshine]

i don't have the exact same opinion amanda - i don't see the abandonment issue - but i respect that some may get that from the film.

if couples have already seen it, i try to engage in a discussion about it w/ them. here are the problems i see - it's scary and snarky. most of my couples STILL choose hosp even after seeing it, but now they are more aware of current obstetrical politics and problems, so maybe they want a natural birth as a way to avoid c/s, and they want a doula to "protect" them. i try to clear up some of the scariness, calm them down from some of the images they've seen, remind them of my job as doula - that they have to "protect" themselves. also, i tell them that i believe in homebirth for the couples who choose it, but also remind that in the end, abby's baby is very sick and needs the medical intervention that they seek. i try to give a more balanced picture than "homebirth good, hospital birth bad." i don't personally like the sarcastic aspects of the film or how it seems to go out of the way to make doctors look like idiots (i think the medical establishment's actions speak loud and clear w/o making it a personal sarcastic attack).

what i see as really really good, is that it's encouraging couples to examine their birth choices and start on a path of questioning what they may have taken for granted and that it's been good for me as a birth educator and doula to have something so popular to open that door. i like that the the bias is huge and clear.

[mrsott]

I like that term- the BOBB effect I must say for myself, after watching that movie, I anxiously switched from having a birth center birth, to a home birth, just a week and a half before my baby was born. I have recommended people watch it, and have only heard positive things. I bought the movie, and showed it to my 4 year old, when she started asking me how babies were "made"... I showed her how they were born instead

[AmandaB]

I guess one of the issues I have with the film (and I have a few) is that we keep interviewing the same people; Marsden Wagner, Christianne Northrup, Michel Odent and others and for over 10yrs they have all been saying pretty much the same thing "hospitals for birth not so good, home/birth centre better" but the part of the interviews that are missing is how do we get there? How do we get OBs to release themselves from the 80% of births they over-see? I would like to hear concrete solutions not just the same blanket statement over and over again.

[Garden Doula]

I've never had anyone mention the movie to me... and I haven't seen it yet! (bag over head) I got it from Netflix, but never had time to watch and I didn't feel like elevating my blood pressure in my sacred space before bedtime.

I'm sure people are watching it, but I don't have people mentioning it to me.

[breezyinsc]

I think that BOBB is a good jumping off point, as some PPs have said. My client who most recently gave birth (2:53 a.m. yesterday, but that's another story!) had to have a very long, serious talk with her then clueless husband about why ALL doctors are not evil, not EVERY intervention is just because said evil Dr thinks it would be fun, and MOST Drs don't manage every labor with the intent of forcing a C-section.

I am definetly careful with this movie because, as I learned with this particular daddy-to-be, those who are not self-educated or don't have any other reference for natural childbirth will get a completely different message from this movie than someone with a little education will. With this couple, it was plain to see that the husband (no CBE) completely bought into the negativity of this film without a second thought. The wife (self CBE supplemented by me) then had to "fill in the gaps" so to say and remind hubby to not be hostile with the Dr during labor.

Interesting!

[JessicaE]

For whatever reason, I find that people aren't really taking the "home birth or nothing" message from it. The film mostly seems to be opening my client's eyes to birth issues in general, them prompting them to seek our more information. But like Sasha, most of my clients are still choosing hospital birth.

[mrsott]

From those women that I have talked to that are TTC, are interested in out of hospital births, but it is their husbands, or so they blame, for not "being able" to choose any other setting but a hospital, in case something goes wrong... this is when I suggest the movie, among other literature and websites, to inform her of the misinformation that has been spread BY the OB community, that having a baby outside of a hospital is dangerous... just my two cents!

[sunshine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmandaB I guess one of the issues I have with the film (and I have a few) is that we keep interviewing the same people; Marsden Wagner, Christianne Northrup, Michel Odent and others and for over 10yrs they have all been saying pretty much the same thing "hospitals for birth not so good, home/birth centre better" but the part of the interviews that are missing is how do we get there? How do we get OBs to release themselves from the 80% of births they over-see? I would like to hear concrete solutions not just the same blanket statement over and over again.

i really want to make that film!!! "how to have the best possible birth for you." full of useful techniques for labor, for communication w/ birth team, how to turn a baby, tricks helping mom relax, why good nutritiion is imp, lots of great births w/ many variations and providers and places. and NOT negative. how to have a birth the way you want, to get the process of changing our culture around birth started.

[DL]

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