Midwives and The Business of Being Born

Though we've only watched part of The Business of Being Born, my opinion on midwifery has already begun to change. "Exorcising the Midwives" was an interesting article when read on it's own. Since it focused mainly on the history of midwifery in the United States and how almost one hundred years ago this vital part of childbirth was being intentionally wiped out by hospitals and doctors, it didn't really engage my views on midwifery's place in today's world. The authors included important points, making it clear how "women lost their last autonomous role as healers" when they lost their right to become midwives or have a midwife present during labor. Upon first reading this article was important solely because it furthered my understanding on the history of women in the United States and how they have either been deprived of power or simply never given power in the first place. My views changed after we started The Business of Being Born in class.
To be honest, some parts of the movie were difficult for me to watch because hospital scenes, especially scenes of women in labor, freak me out. It was really funny when the movie actually discussed how many women are scared of childbirth because of how sensationalized it is in movies and television. I really can't remember the last time I watched a natural, healthy birth in a movie or tv show. Probably the last time was in eighth grade health, when everyone screamed in shock when an actual vagina was showed on the screen during school. Other than the shock of a naked woman on the screen, the birth was pretty boring. Just a lot of pushing and yelling and sweat, and then the baby popped out and that was that. Anyways, back to the point of this! Once I calmed down and realized that hey, for centuries women have been giving birth naturally (I mean, for as long as the human race has existed, women have been there popping out babies without hospitals), the documentary started to really engage me. The horror of how many drugs a woman can be administered during a hospital birth was crazy. "Exorcising the Midwife" began to make sense when I reread the article and it said "The day of totally medicalized childbirth- hazardously overdrugged and overtreated- was on it's way." The movie proves that we've reached the point in history where the amount of interference a hospital has in the natural process of childbirth is horrific. Most births are unnatural; a woman's body can no longer be trusted to give birth to a child itself.
I believe I'll have a lot more to add to this, but I'd like to finish the documentary before I do!