Ricki Lake documentary - Business of Being Born

Released on 09/07/2008

IMA and NCT host screenings of Ricki Lake’s film - The Business of Being Born  

The Independent Midwives’ Association (IMA) and the NCT are hosting private screenings of ‘The Business of Being Born’ - directed by Abby Epstein, executive producer Ricki Lake – to raise awareness of the importance of good quality midwife led care and to campaign to save independent midwifery in the UK.  

Lake’s documentary film ‘The Business of Being Born’ looks at the birth culture in America, explores the choice between obstetric and midwifery care and asks if birth is becoming increasingly medicalised and too far removed from a natural life event. Lake became interested in the US birth culture after having her first child. Her second child was born at home and this is featured in the documentary, along with footage of other women giving birth.  

Ricki Lake says; “When it came to giving birth - it wasn’t an illness, it was something to be experienced. I knew I wanted a home birth almost as much as I wanted a second child. The experience was so unexpectedly empowering and life-changing.” 

With rising caesarean rates, a reduction in one to one midwifery care and low home birth rates, the IMA and NCT are highlighting this film as an example of what could happen in the UK in the future if we ignore the need for good midwifery-led maternity care. Both organisations are also calling on the Government to increase funding and resources to ensure current maternity policies are met and that women have access to quality care and choice.  

Belinda Phipps, Chief Executive, NCT says; "This film shows us a picture of the future of birth in the UK if resources and changes to the way we treat women are not introduced as a matter of urgency." 

"We believe it is vital for women to feel confident in the fact they will have one-to-one midwifery care throughout their labour. Around ten percent of women in the UK have reported they worry in advance about a possible lack of support and feel anxious when left alone in labour and this is unacceptable." 

The IMA and NCT are planning a tour of private independent screenings in over 100 locations over the coming months. Since the IMA held an initial private screening of the film, interest has grown and a number of private screenings have been held across the country. The film has stimulated passionate debate about the need for good maternity-led care and the best way to achieve this.  

Belinda Phipps continues; “We are taking this film on tour because we want to raise awareness of the choices women have over their maternity care. Every woman should receive one-to-one support from a midwife throughout her labour and they should be able to choose the environment in which they give birth." 

"We need women in the UK to know what's possible and to stand up for a service that will meet their needs and give them the midwifery care they deserve." 

Annie Francis of the IMA, says; “Although the film is based in America, with very few midwives, we have to realise we have taken our midwifery profession for granted for too long. We are in danger of losing the skills that set midwifery apart from obstetrics because of the unchallenged supremacy of the medicalisation of birth.” 

“Normal birth is declining and so is midwifery. If we are not careful we will have maternity units full of obstetric nurses, healthcare assistants and a tiny number of unregistered, sidelined and invisible midwives - very similar to America now. Women need to know that independent midwives provide a ‘gold standard’ of care which should be one of their options in pregnancy and this film will give them the confidence to ask for it.” 

Changes to the insurance rules mean that within two years independent midwives may no longer be able to practice legally in the UK. The IMA is working with the Government to save independent midwifery and find a solution to this problem through contracting into the NHS so that independent midwives can continue to offer one to one midwifery care. 

Background

 In 2001, 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 in a hospital setting. When Ricki succeeded in giving birth on her own terms and the experience was so unexpectedly empowering and life-changing that she felt every woman should know what they could be missing out on. 

“The Business of Being Born” was created by US actress Ricki Lake and filmmaker Abby Epstein to examine birth culture in America, and ask questions about the way American women have babies. The film features footage of many families’ birth experiences as well as interviews with a number of obstetricians, experts and advocates about the history, culture and economics of childbirth. The film was released on general release in US in January 2008. The film’s fundamental question: should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potential medical emergency?

For more information please see www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com 

Ends  

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Notes to Editors

 ·         The NCT and IMA are hosting private independent screenings of Lake’s film to over 100 locations in UK over the coming months. Film listings on: www.nct.org.uk/businessofbeingborn and www.saveindependentmidwifery.org - the film will be shown in communities, local cinema’s, children’s centres, church halls and women’s homes. ·        

For further information on The Business of Being Born visit www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com - Directed by Abby Epstein, Executive Produced by Ricki Lake the film was released in America last year. Footage of women having babies punctuates the film. Along the way, Epstein conducts interviews with a number of obstetricians, experts and advocates about the history, culture and economics of childbirth. The film is planned for general release in the UK in future.

The Independent Midwives Association (IMA) was founded in 1985 to disseminate information about, and support for, independent midwives, and to lobby for the traditional role of the midwife.·        

Independent Midwives have been forced to practice without professional indemnity insurance (PII) since 2002 when the last commercial insurance product was withdrawn from the market. Insurance is unavailable due to the small number of Independent Midwives and the potential for very high claims, even though there have been no cases of significant awards against Independent Midwives in the UK since 1994. All Independent Midwives explain the situation clearly to clients to ensure they understand that they will not have significant recourse in the event of a negligence claim. www.saveindependentmidwifery.org·        

The NCT – formerly the National Childbirth Trust - is the leading charity on pregnancy, birth and early parenthood - we're with parents all the way from bump to baby. The NCT is a trusted charity that provides expert-led classes, evidence based information and practical and emotional support through 300 UK-wide branch networks and we campaign for better maternity care. For more information on NCT call 0300 330 0770 or visit www.nct.org.uk

Ricki Lake Biography

Born in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, Ricki Pamela Lake developed an early interest in performing. She took acting and music lessons for years and appeared in numerous school plays. She enrolled in New York’s Professional Children’s School in her teens, and by the end of her freshman year at Ithaca College in New York, she began to fear that her dream was slipping away. She took a one-year leave of absence to pursue acting fulltime. Toward the end of the year when Lake had begun to lose hope, she received a call to audition for writer-director John Waters’ musical comedy “Hairspray.” Lake’s performance as the film’s zaftig heroine, Tracy Turnblad, won over not only audiences of Waters’ campy, affectionate production but also the cast and crew. “I do adore Ricki,” declared Waters, who would go on to cast her in several other films. Her performance earned Lake a 1988 Independent Spirit Award nomination for best actress, and the following year she appeared on the 61^st Annual Academy Awards broadcast in a musical number celebrating “Break-Out Superstars of Tomorrow.

”Though heavy enough to play Tracy when cast, Lake dropped some weight learning the array of ‘60s dances featured in the film. The film’s “fat patrol” pushed her to eat constantly, and the confluence of stardom and being overweight soon became, in Lake’s mind, her “gimmick.” Roles in films like Waters’ “Cry-Baby” and “Cookie,” the top-grossing comedy “Working Girl,” the acclaimed drama “Last Exit to Brooklyn,” “Where the Day Takes You” and “Inside Monkey Zetterland” followed, as well as a season on TV’s “China Beach.” Following “China Beach,” Lake shed 125 pounds over six difficult months. Flushed with new confidence, Lake auditioned for the hosting spot on a new daytime talk show. She impressed the producers and appeared in a pilot in the fall of 1992; by the following year she had moved to New York and begun taping “The Ricki Lake Show” for Sony Pictures Television. Even as her talk show became a phenomenon, Lake continued to pursue acting roles, including leads in the romantic comedy “Mrs. Winterbourne” (for which Roger Ebert praised her “no-nonsense warmth”) and the TV mystery “Murder She Purred.” She also garnered parts in Waters’ “Serial Mom” and “Cecil B. Demented” and a recurring role as Stephanie Heffernan on the smash sitcom “King of Queens.” 2002 saw her onstage at Madison Square Garden in a celebrity-studded performance of “The Vagina Monologues.”

Lake also recently completed Kurt Voelker’s film, “Park,” opposite William Baldwin and Cheri Oteri. Since the wrap of “The Ricki Lake Show” in August 2004, Lake has pursued a typically personal path in her appearances: she provided a guest voice-over for Disney’s animated series “Higglytown Heroes” and appeared as herself in Waters’ “A Dirty Shame” and the mockumentary “The Naked Brothers Band.” Ricki recently debuted her film The Business of Being Born, a documentary about home births that we executive produced. When not acting, Lake, an avid gamer, loves to take part in an occasional game of poker. She recently displayed her poker and blackjack talents on “Celebrity Blackjack” and Bravo’s “Celebrity Poker Showdown.” This summer, Lake shared her love for games with millions as the host of the CBShit, “Gameshow Marathon.” 

Contact

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