Ricki Lake finds support among celebrity moms for the follow-up to her “Business of Being Born” documentary, “More Business of Being Born”.
She shared with People that her first documentary, which focuses on choices in birth options for women, was a huge undertaking, but it was worth it. “I worked on this project for three-and-a-half years. My son who is born in the movie is now 10. It’s a lot of time, a lot of effort, and just hope that the public would care about the issue. The message is really about choices and exploring birth options. I want a woman to be able to give birth in the way in which she chooses. I want those women to be informed and to know what they’re getting into. They need to know the pros and cons of it all — I happen to support home birth because I had a beautiful experience, but I’m not telling everyone to do that. I’m advocating for choices.”
Celebrity moms like Alanis Morissette, Gisele Bundchen, and Laila Ali have all reached out to help Ricki with the follow-up that she’s working on, “More Business of Being Born”.
“I think because they feel so strongly about the experience they were able to have or the message of the film, they’ve been happy to come forward. Alanis is particularly private and she was so candid with us. She allowed me to interview her while she was still pregnant. She was planning a home birth and we interviewed her before she had her baby and after. She’s incredibly articulate and eloquent about her experience. Gisele was incredible. Abby (Epstein, director) went to her house in Boston and she was in tears talking about this experience that she had. It’s amazing. She said to Abby [that] she would do anything [to help us].”
One of the focuses of the new documentary will be the “issue” of having a vaginal birth after a C-Section. She explains:
“In 300 hospitals around the country, once you have a Cesarean, you’re not allowed to have a vaginal birth. If a woman is given a C-section, she doesn’t know the next time around she will likely have another C-section, and it will not be her choice. If a woman knows that, she might fight not to have the C-section in the first place. We definitely need some major reform in this birth system. There needs to be a system in place where we honor normal birth and women’s bodies working the way they’re supposed to. Midwives should really be utilized more. If women all had that experience and were able to feel empowered and transformed by however they give birth; if it can be a positive experience and they feel like they’re in charge of their babies and their bodies, I think the world would be a better place.”
Ricki hopes “More Business of Being Born” will release sometime in October.
Did you watch the first documentary? What did you think?
Photos by Wenn.com
