Acog Childbirth Preparation Program

Although this program carries the authoritative seal of the American College of Obstetricians and Gyne­cologists, it's really little more than "new age" relaxation and breathing exercises for expectant mothers. Soft music and colorful studio lighting provide a soothing ambience, as a series of couples follows directions delivered by voiceover narration for the various exercises appropriate to different levels of labor. The narrator intones such memorable phrases as "take a cleansing breath" (meaning deep, apparently, and not related to whether you live in the mountains of Washington or downtown Pitts­burgh). The second half of the program contains scenes from fourteen labors and subsequent births. Needless to say, there comes a certain point in labor where breathing and relaxation exercises become about as relevant to the situation as Einstein's theory of general relativity. This contradiction, following the soft music and soothing voice, is faithfully recorded, as we hear the beeping of machines and the groaning of women in obvious pain. Of course, in the post-natal interviews, everybody is happy--that's the wonderful thing about the whole nature of birth. The pain is worth the gain (until they're old enough to borrow the car). Interestingly, the interviewees have nothing to say about the breathing and relaxation exercises that they so dutifully performed in the studio weeks before...Not a necessary purchase. (Part of the Feeling Fine series which includes two exercise tapes--during pregnancy and post-partum--as well as a tape on safe exercise and one on back pain.) (Available from: Alymer Press, P.O. Box 2735, Madison, WI 53701.)