If you are a loyal Giving Birth with Confidence reader or birth junkie (as we are affectionately called), you have probably seen Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein’s The Business of Being Born. If, however, you are just beginning your journey toward birth and motherhood, you may not have. If so, stop what your doing and See. It. Now! When I watched The Business of Being Born three years ago, I already knew so much about birth advocacy and yet, as I was pregnant with my second child at the time, the movie spoke to me, inspired me and made me realize that I needed to continue to advocate for women’s birthing rights.
Well, the directors of the original film — which caught on like wildfire, by the way — have done it again with the creation of More Business of Being Born, which is being released today. I was given the special privilege of viewing the movie in advance of the release so I could provide a review and give away a digital download to our readership. More Business of Being Born is actually a set of four films that provide a collection of real birth stories and concrete, practical information on choices in childbirth. The films are:
1: Down on The Farm: Conversations with Legendary Midwife Ina May Gaskin
2: Special Deliveries: Celebrity Mothers Talk Straight on Birth
3: Explore Your Options: Doulas, Birth Centers & C-Sections
4: The VBAC Dilemma: What Your Options Really Are
These series of films are a great follow up to The Business of Being Born because they delve deeper into subjects like birth choices, interventions, birthing locations and cesarean section, and because they offer a little something for everyone, depending on what you want to know. Anyone who has read books by Ina May Gaskin will love the first DVD in which Ricki and Abby spend time at The Farm talking to both Ina May and other midwives who attend births there. Among the discussions, they reflect on the reasons behind the rising rate of inductions and cesarean surgeries. Ina May’s comment caught me off guard, but was poignant — she said, “Doctors are being asked to do too much.” The conversation goes on to discuss Ina May’s more recent advocacy efforts to address the high rate of maternal mortality in the United States, an issue that needs more national attention.
The second film, “Special Deliveries,” is a video collage of several well-known celebrities sharing their birth stories. What gets your attention at first is the celebrities. What keeps your attention are the real narratives of women experiencing joy, fear, triumph, disappointment and empowerment. While their lifestyle may be out of reach for the average person, their birth experiences are just as real as any other woman. The take away from this DVD is that birth experiences can and will be different, and may not go according to “plan,” and that’s OK.
The real meat of the DVD set is found in the third film, “Explore Your Options: Doulas, Birth Centers & C-Sections.” If your goal is to learn more about general childbirth options and you could only watch one film, this is the one you want to see. The video talks in depth about — and shows real footage of — doulas and what they do. As informed as I am on doulas, I found this piece very informational. The film also discusses the difference between a hospital and birth center, and further outlines the difference between a hospital birth center and freestanding birth center. The remainder of the film talks about two of the biggest controversies in our maternity care system today: cesarean surgery and induction.
For those looking for more information on vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC), “The VBAC Dilemma” is worth viewing. The fourth DVD in the set gives a run-down on the history and complexity of the VBAC issue, the real and perceived risks, the current medical attitude (driven by liability) and the option of home birth after cesarean (HBAC). Weaved into practical information and facts are stories of women who have successfully achieved VBAC and those who had a repeat cesarean.
The resounding message from the films is that birth is not about where you do it — be it hospital, home, birth center or wheat field — it’s about having choices and attaining the knowledge necessary to make the best choices for you and your baby.
Here’s the Giveaway!
The powers that be at More Business of Being Born have provided us with a digital download of the DVD set to give away to one lucky Giving Birth with Confidence reader! To enter, leave a comment on this post answering: Why do you want to see this film? The giveaway closes on Sunday, November 13 and the winner will be announced here on the blog on Monday, November 14.
Good luck!
PS – The films can also be purchased individually or as a set to view digitally at www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com.
About Cara Terreri
Ask our resident obstetrical expert, Henci Goer, any question you have about conception, pregnancy, birth, and newborns. 
I can’t wait to see this series! It’s amazing how different cultures handle birth and I’m always interested in learning more.
As a doula, childbirth educator and student midwife I’d love to use these DVDs to educate more women about home birth and the dangers of induction and cesarean. I believe there’s a lot of misinformation given to moms by care providers and hospitals. Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein have touched a large portion of the mainstream population and have provided information and education to many.
I am due to give birth to my first baby on next Tuesday. I am very nervous and confused but at the same time very hopeful and excited. I have been studying a lot about natural childbirth for the last couple of years. The Business of Being Born was groundbreaking for my husband and helped me enormously in explaining to him why natural childbirth and my rights as a birthing woman are so important to me. I am hoping that More Business of Being Born will make us more confident and believing in ourselves during the last moments before we welcome our baby girl to the world.
Magdalena
I’d love to see the film, as the first one really opened my eyes to my options! As I’m birthing my first in the next few weeks, I’d be thrilled to continue to learn up to the last second!
I can’t wait for this! Even though I don’t plan on having another child for the next 4-5 years I love to educate myself and others! The first one really opened my eyes so much. I wish I could have watched it before giving birth to my first two. And I think I will have to start referring to myself as a “birth junkie”. Good one Cara!
I am a Childbirth Educator and always looking for fresh information for my classes. Celebrity births often catch the attention of my students and this DVD set could be a great way to bring information to the masses!
I want to see the film and particularly be able to use it in my classes. The original BOBB is amazing but there’s rarely enough time to show the film. It’s so important for parents to have the information and not just “preaching to the choir.” thanks!
I want to see the film because I am expecting my second child soon and am trying to be more informed than the last time. I also recently realized that fighting for the kind of birth I want is not enough. I will soon have two daughters and I don’t want them to have to fight the established system like I have when it is time for them to give birth.
I would love to see this film because I have a passion for childbirth. I just found out I am expecting #2 and I had a great hospital experience (completely natural, stuck to my birth plan respectfully) with my first. I continue to follow this blog and others about the world of positive, natural births.
As a labor doula and a new CBE (hopefully a LCCE – test results come in December!), I want to see this film because the first was so transforming and I want as many good tools as possible to bring to my students and clients as they discern the best birth for them.
Thanks for the opportunity.
Love Ina May books, love to see/read/hear about birth stories, would love to see these films!
I am an LCCE and I’d love to be able to share these movies with my students. It really does help to have a good visual aid during classes. I have the original business of being born, and I know how eye-opening it’s been for my students. I’d love to continue the story for them.
Before watching “The Business of Being Born” I always had a different view about what birth was supposed to be and how that was something that I didn’t want. I am now pregnant with my first child and watching “The Business of Being Born” has opened my eyes to the fact that many people share my views and that I am not alone. There are so many things that I learned from the first film and I hope to learn even more from the second. I want to be as informed as I can when I give birth in June
I want to see MBOBB because I’ll be giving birth for the first time in May, and I love reading/watching/hearing all the empowering stories I can get!
Thank you for bringing attention to these new films. I am so excited to see them, myself!
Watching The Business of Being Born helped my husband and I start down the path of choosing a homebirth for our first child. She was born at the end of August at home, and we had an amazing birth experience. I am also an herbalist and work to help educate others about herbs and a healthy lifestyle. I feel like education about natural birth options fits in well with an herbal lifestyle!
I want to see this film so bad! The first one led me into the world of natural birth. I had a great birth experience and then became a childbirth educator. I would love to see this new one to add even more knowledge to myself and my classes!
As a doula and childbirth educator, I would love to see this film in order to have more great resources to recommend to my clients.
The first film was a real eye opener. I am especially excited to see this new documentary because after my first birth experience I would like to know more about VBAC’s and how I can benefit from having a widwife/doula.
I am a student nurse with plans to become a nurse midwife. I am a total birth junkie, and am so eager to see this series and help to further educate myself and be able to help future patients!
I want to see this film because I am working toward VBAC! I am also a chapter co-leader for ICAN and I hunger for more knowledge to help transmit to the women I speak with every day who are seeking birth options.
I would love to see this film because after having my 1st child and seeing the 1st movie, I’m completely wrapped up in all things natural birth-related. I am in the process of certifying as a doula and watching movies such as this one are an immeasurable tool not only for myself but the mother I’m serving as well.
Giving expectant parents the gifts of knowledge, confidence, and empowerment to make their best decisions is my number one goal as a childbirth educator and doula. What an amazing tool by which we can spread the word to as many people as possible–in the likeable, balanced, informative, and down-to-earth manner that IS THE BRAND of “The Business of Being Born.” I will be having showings all over my community when I have this video, ande I give thanks to Ricki, Abby, and the whole crew for being committed to this issue so critical to the health of our whole society.
My wife and I are expecting our first child soon, and we’d love to learn as much as we can leading up to the birth!
I am so excited to see these new films. I am currently a birth doula in training (almost certified through DONA International) and hope to soon be a montrice in training (a midwife’s assistant). The “original” Business of Being Born was so inspiring and uplifting, I find it to be a great educational resource for new parents as well as an entertaining source of home-birth information. I am very interested in seeing how the new documentary explains the role of a doula, as most of the media tends to portray us as crazy people
I’m also thrilled about the interview with Ina May Gaskin and the information on VBACing. All that to say, I hope this new documentary set will be as great a resource as the last one (I’m sure it will be). I look forward to making everyone I know watch it!
I can’t wait to see the follow-up to the first DVD — which I love!!! The efforts of these two amazing women to reawaken the discussion about normal, healthy birth in our country are helping women regain confidence in the abilities of their bodies. With the power of a celebrity and the compassion of a mother, Ricki Lake has succeeded in making birth less taboo to talk about…
While pregnant with our daughter, my husband and I watched “The Business of Being Born” during our child birth education class. The film was influential in our decision to have a home birth. Our experience with home birth was amazing! I am so thankful that we saw the film. It spoke to us and helped us make a decision that was perfect for us…delivering our daughter in a very intimate, quiet and relaxed setting. I am thrilled to see the next film(s) because I am currently studying to become a child birth educator. The content will provide me with important information to incorporate into my classes. I’m sure that the follow up film(s) will be as powerful and influential as the first.
I went into my first pregnancy and birth totally oblivious and didn’t take the time to educate myself. I ended up with a c-section that I now think was totally unnecessary. After that experience, I started reading and getting educated. I found the first bobb very informative, and my hubby even learned a lot from it. I really want the new movies so that I can learn more in preparation for my vbac.
I come from a country where natural childbirth and midwives assisting women during labor and birth (albeit in a hospital setting) are the norm rather than an exception. I am now pregnant with my first baby and find myself in a country with an extremely high intervention rate, where episiotomies are still performed routinely (usually without the mother’s consent!) and epidurals are the norm. In order to be prepared and have arguments to present to my doctors a few weeks from now, I have been reading and watching a variety of books and videos and found “The Business of Being Born” to be among the most informative and empowering. Too bad home birth is not really an option over here, I would never have considered it back home but now it does look like the best option! I am positive “More Business of Being Born” will be equally useful in providing the tools for us moms-to-be to get the childbirth experience we – and our babies – deserve.
Three reasons I am itching to watch this series:
Inspiration. Innovation. Influence.
Three little words, three giant concepts!
As a Doula I would love to see them and share with my clients. I still run into so many people that have never even heard of a Doula!
For ME! As an RN, former Labor & Birth Nurse, current Prenatal Educator and IBCLC. For my 5 daughters…for obvious reasons!
For all my family, friends, and couples in my classes! For all the BABIES! 
Obviously, because I can never get enough videos of birth! Also I’m training to be a doula and very excited to see more doulas in action on disc 3.
This will be another great resource to share with expecting families as they navigate their choices during the childbearing year!
I would love to be able to share this series of films with all the expectant parents in my Childbirth Education Classes.
This series sounds like an excellent resource to assist me in empowering women to have healthy births!
I love these DVDs!!! I can only dream of having my own copy
I would love to be able to see these! As a co-leader on a Birth Network Chapter- we are asked all the time about BoBB and MBoBB!
As a birth doula and hopefully soon-to-be midwifery student, we need films like this to keep coming out. I always recommend “BofBB” to friends, family and clients, and this is such a great boon to everyone involved in babies … making them, birthing them, loving them, aiding them. Even my OB/GYN little sis is right on board with the woman-centered birth, and I am so glad to have been part of her education in that realm. The more people we can have educated, the better our births will be and the sooner we can improve medical care for families!
Seeing the first film, “The Business of Being Born”, I had a stronger and better sense of what I wanted when it came to giving birth. I always wanted a natural labor, a home birth, etc. My fund would not allow it and along with my experience with the hospital and its staff I know now more than ever that what ever money it may cost, it will be worth it do do what I wanted to do from the start; listen and respond to my own body. I look forward to my next birth and cannot wait to see the sequel!!
So looking forward to seeing the new BOBB! The last production was so well done and I anticipate this will be the same. A great tool for clients and birth professionals.
I would love to see this new set in preparation for my hopeful vbac. I found the first bobb very helpful and informative.
I am a doula about to give birth in Japan, and I love to get my hands on anything birth related–definitely a birth junkie here! I would love to see these films!
I’d like to see this film because I have only read about Ina May Gaskin and admire her work and passion. This film will give me the opportunity to better understand how midwives impact a woman’s life. I would like to give that education to my visitors at My Natural Motherhood Journey as well.
Special Deliveries would be a wonderful segment to watch as I am amazed at how these celebrities find natural child birth. I’d love to hear their stories and share in their journies.
I’m about to write on the topic of doulas on my site and would love the opportunity to watch how this video explores that area. I never had a birth in a center or had a c-section so I’m intrigued about that and will share my knowledge with my visitors.
Seeing as I’ve never had a c-section, I also do not fully appreicate the fight some women go through just to have a VBAC. I need to learn more about VBAC’s so I can go back and give that information to my readers.
I want to watch that movie because I live in Japan and I might be pregnant !! Still waiting after being told our chances to conceive were close to zero, I was getting crazy at home and that’s how I remembered about the business of being born’s sequel’s project and tried to check how it was going.
I absolutely adored the first documentary, in Japan birth is seen as a natural process (low rate of epidural) but not in my homecountry, and I would love to hear more about midwives homebirth and also VBAC that I have never heard of. The first movie was an amazing glympse in a world I did not think existed.
My mother is a nurse and had three C-sections(!!) she is pro-medical birth in a hospital, she has always said that anything else is unsafe and now I wonder if she could have avoid these c-sections . Oh and I want to watch the movie for the celebrity interviews because I am interested by their own stories. Especially Alyson Hannigan and Melissa Joan Hart , I adore them since my teenage years (^^)
I guess that is it. I love to learn new things. I think you do not need to agree on everything they are saying, but I am sure it is worth watching.
My son ended up being a cesarean after 2 weeks overdue, a cervical catheter induction, and 12 intense hours of active unmedicated labor. It was how he needed to come into the world and I absolutely believe that my midwife, consulting doctor, my husband and I made the right decision. I hope to have my future babies by VBAC. I loved the first movie and watched it multiple times before and during my pregnancy and can’t wait to see the new one. Education is the best tool we have and reliable information is incredibly valuabe. Can’t wait!
As a doula and childbirth educator who works with women giving birth in the hospital setting, I found the Business of Being Born to be amazing powerful at opening their eyes to the choices available to them. I look forward to using the new set to continue educating and helping women recognize their choices.
No other collection of anecdotes and data has reached a broader group of families. I love that BOBB teaches women that there is another way.
The first film generated such a groundswell of passion on either side of the issue. The next should prove to be equally informative, provacative, and enjoyable. Hopefully, the anticipted release will again bring birth in America to the forefront of disussions so that we may improve our practices and help women make truly informed decisions about their bodies. The new films would assist me in contributing to this cause!
My husband and I loved the first film! We watched it while I was pregnant with our first baby, so now that I’m pregnant with our 2nd now would be the perfect time to see the 2nd movie.