The film is flawed in many ways, not least of which is its tendency to oversimplify the portrayal of hospital births vs homebirths... What the movie does well, though, is to offer a corrective to the mainstream narrative about childbirth.

| Dec 17, 2020

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 17, 2011

The Business of Being Born is Ricki Lake's passionate statement about natural birth and the health lobby's choke-hold over public perception.

| Original Score: 67/100 | Apr 18, 2010

Full of surprises, including shocking stats about the high rate of infant mortality in America, prevalence and high cost of Cesarean deliveries and contextual presentation of Ricki Lake's home video of the delivery of her child.

| Original Score: 4..5/5 | Jun 9, 2009

an effective glimpse into the need for personal research, and a solid argument for making informed choices.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 7, 2009

Not a lot new about the U.S. obstetrics industry, but despite its faults, its arguments are worth bringing to a new generation of health providers and expectant parents.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Dec 23, 2008

This movie really made me realize how cold and impersonal the hospital births really are. If I ever had another kid (first I need to find someone to sleep with me again) I would make my significant other watch this movie.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 18, 2008

Important viewing for anyone contemplating a birth plan.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 29, 2008

Interviews with the mothers and footage of the birth process combine to offer intimate portraits of women preparing for and experiencing this natural phenomenon that has become increasingly mechanized.

| Original Score: B | Feb 28, 2008

Former talk show host Ricki Lake had her first baby in a hospital and came away with the need for a birth experience that was more empowering, with less medical intervention.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 15, 2008

"The Business of Being Born" is messy and amateurish but heartfelt and compelling.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Feb 15, 2008

A powerful, frightening look at America's delivery room that makes a strong case for natural childbirth overseen by experienced midwives rather than by surgery-prone doctors.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 18, 2008

Contending that America's mothers would be far better off if deliveries were taken out of the hands of obstetricians and hospitals, director/producer Abby Epstein and executive producer Ricki Lake will push buttons, but they won't jab them.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jan 18, 2008

Epstein's film is conveniently short on interviews with the millions of mothers who have had positive experiences delivering in hospitals.

| Jan 18, 2008

Pregnant women -- and involved dads -- would be well advised to check out this provocative portrait.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 17, 2008

[It's] so selective in its presentation of information that it makes Michael Moore look like a fat lady in a blindfold holding a pair of scales.

| Jan 14, 2008

Director Abby Epstein is clearly biased in favor of home birth, but that doesn't make her case any less square.

| Jan 14, 2008

Passionate, enlightening and unabashedly one-sided, Abby Epstein's documentary is not for everyone. But at the very least, it should be seen by every pregnant woman in America.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 11, 2008

The Business of Being Born is not overtly political. Its feminism is palpable but unspoken.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 11, 2008

[Director] Epstein's opinion on the issue is never in doubt and once the attitude of the film is established, it seems to make the same points repeatedly. Fortunately, Epstein herself gets pregnant, and she gets to test her own theories.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jan 10, 2008