A baby born in a tree! A baby beamed out of her mother’s body! A baby born to Arnold Schwarzenegger! I’ve looked at hundreds of TV and movie birth scenes to discover exactly how the mass media distorts birth. I found that Hollywood routinely exaggerates fear, danger, and speed, like in this common motif: the minute a pregnant woman’s water...
If you’ve ever been pregnant, you know how you rely on your favorite fetus-nourishing foods. You know how you cherish your collection of pillows and your comfortable bedding. You choose your shoes and clothing carefully for comfort and self-expression. You know how nice it is to get the kind of exercise that feels good – the pool at the Y,...
Vicki made the film “Laboring Under An Illusion: Mass Media Childbirth vs. The Real Thing.” She has been a childbirth educator and doula for 29 years, and she has trained childbirth educators for the Association of Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators and Seattle Midwifery School. She offers a workshop called “Childbirth Education Essentials” and a low-cost, grassroots, streamlined certification program for childbirth educators. She is a volunteer childbirth educator and doula with PBP. Her next film will be about what REALLY works for labor, and moms are invited to participate at her website, www.birth-media.com.
