Triplex Slates Free Screening of Childbirth Documentary
GREAT BARRINGTON – The Berkshire International Film Festival and the Triplex Cinema will present a free preview screening of the documentary "The Business of Being Born" on Sunday, Feb. 24, at 11 a.m.Directed by Abby Epstein, the film will be shown at the Triplex in collaboration with the Berkshire-Columbia Doulas, a childbirth assistants' group.
In 2001, actress Ricki Lake gave birth to her second child with the assistance of a midwife in her home bathtub. She made the choice for a home birth after she experienced unwanted medical interventions while delivering her first child at a hospital birthing center. Lake succeeded in giving birth on her own terms and the experience was so unexpectedly empowering and life-changing, she said, that she felt every woman should know what they could be missing out on.
Ricki approached Epstein to collaborate on a film that would examine birth culture in America, and ask questions about the way American women have babies.
Epstein conducted interviews with a number of obstetricians, experts and advocates about the history, culture and economics of childbirth. The film’s fundamental question is should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potential medical emergency?
For more information, call Sarah Proechel at 518-672-4576.
