Water Baby: Experiences Of Water Birth

Winner of 12 Film/Video Festival awards, this newly edited version of Water Baby: Experiences of Water Birth is a thought-provoking transcontinental introduction to a "gentler" birth method, which was developed in the U.S.S.R. by Igor Charkovsky in the 1960s, flourished in France under the enthusiastic direction of Dr. Michael Odent, and finally migrated to the United States during the last decade. Beginning with a brief overview of the "medicalization" of birth over the past century, the program points out the rather alarming statistic that the U.S. ranks 26th in birth mortalities--surprising given the advanced technology that we possess. Yet, with all our progress, recent criticism --noted on this tape and elsewhere--claims that we are far to quick to resort to drugs and Caesarean sections during childbirth. Water Baby features extensive interviews with professionals who discuss the pros and cons of birthing in water, listing shorter labor and gentler birth under the former, and the risks of drowning and vaginal infection under the latter (though none of the literally hundreds of water births performed by Dr. Odent in France and Dr. Michael Rosenthal in the U.S. has had either of these complications). In addition, viewers witness four water births in various settings (home, hospital, birth center). At first, the births look a little scary: there lies the baby underwater peering up, and one's immediate thought is to get him or her into the air--yet, this is precisely the environment that the baby has been flourishing in over the previous nine months, and he or she is still receiving oxygen through the placenta. Too, these babies are not the arms flailing, lungs wailing type we generally see at birth--without exception they seem extraordinarily calm and quiet. Water Baby is a fascinating program that is sure to be of interest to parents. Highly recommended for those libraries who can afford it. (Available from: Point of View Productions, 2477 Folsom St., San Francisco, CA 94110.)