Childbirth Video Documentaries

Childbirth Videos, Childbirth DVDs

Birth as We Know It

In this documentary, we are introduced to the concept of Conscious Birth. I really appreciate the emphasis on the mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of birth. This movie also describes the potential for peace and positive change in the world through changing our birth practices.

This film is artistically done with some really beautiful water scenes. They also discuss the use and importance of spiraling the hips in labor.

The Business of Being Born

This film features Ricki Lake as the executive producer. Her homebirth experience is also followed as part of the documentary. There is a lot of great information about the problems with how birth is typically "done" in the U.S. in the form of interviews, personal stories and entertaining statistical graphics.

Laboring Under An Illusion: Mass Media Childbirth vs. The Real Thing

I saw this one at our local natural birth and parenting network community meeting. It's lighter fare than the usual birth film. Funny yet informative, this DVD provides an ideal balance for allowing natural learning and shifting unconsciously held attitudes about birth.

I read this great interview with the filmmaker, Vicki Elson, and learned she's been a childbirth educator for 25 years!

Orgasmic Birth

This is the newest and, in my opinion, the best film about birth to date. Don't let the title scare you away- Though it does a great job of showing the full spectrum of what's possible in the childbirth experience, it's about way more than orgasmic birth.

It tells the birth stories of seven couples who give birth in a variety of settings. Interviews with the most prominent professionals and activists in the field are interspersed throughout, including Ina May Gaskin, Marsden Wagner, Penny Simkin and Christiane Northrup.

My only criticism is that this documentary doesn't make it clear that even though more difficult, it is possible to achieve a good natural birth experience in a hospital setting.

Pregnant in America

The perspective on this documentary is really interesting because the filmmaker is an expectant father who films and researches the material during his wife's pregnancy. Because of this, it's a particularly good film for dads-to-be to watch.

This isn't my favorite pregnancy and birth film, but I still think it's worth seeing especially if you can find it through your library system. What makes it worthwhile are interviews with experts like David Chamberlain and Ina May Gaskin, as well as its coverage of the controversial use of Cytotech in childbirth. (Cytotech is the deadly labor induction agent widely used off-label in U.S. hospitals without FDA approval and against the drug maker's recommendations.)

What Babies Want

This childbirth video is one of my favorites to show birthing class students because it portrays birth from the baby's perspective. Noah Wyle narrates and shares his own family's experiences with natural birth and parenting. It has all kinds of interesting information about the memory and consciousness of babies during gestation and birth. Some of the birth hypnosis stuff may seem a little out there, but keep an open mind.

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