Pregnant in America

With numerous birthing options available, pregnant women and their partners have varying ideas about the best ways to give birth: many wish to do so in the company of trained medical professionals, while others would rather remain at home or attend a birthing center with as few outsiders around as possible. By extension, some are in favor of pain medication, while others are opposed to epidurals and other numbing agents. Director Steve Buonaugurio and his pregnant wife Mandy speak with childbirth experts, obstetricians, psychologists, sociologists, and a number of men and women, while researching the subject. Buonaugurio notes that 98% of U.S. births take place in hospitals and that 80% of those patients opt for pharmaceuticals (as in Abby Epstein's 2008 documentary, The Business of Being Born, the filmmaker here makes a strong case that hospital births represent a particularly profitable industry). Author Dr. George Ritzer believes that “what large organizations are seeking to do is to McDonald-ize hospital operations as much as they possibly can.” However, in Holland and Germany, Steve and Mandy find cultures more conducive to home birth, and back in the U.S. hire a midwife, ultimately documenting their own birthing experience in a lengthy sequence that feels a little self-indulgent. Overall, however, the range of facts and opinions presented in Pregnant in America will make this helpful viewing, both for those experiencing their first pregnancy and those unhappy with earlier hospital experiences. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)