What Not to Watch.

I was listening to my favorite podcast the other day, and the guest was a man who used to work on a couple of popular cable shows that depict birth stories.  You know the ones I am talking about-- many of you probably have these shows, or shows like them, set to record on your DVR right now!  I have always maintained that viewing these shows is a bad habit for pregnant moms, particularly first-timers or experienced moms who have had previous negative experiences.  This male guest, who has firsthand experience with the behind-the-scenes, provided verbal proof of my intuitions.

His wife is pregnant with their first child, so he recently unearthed some old tapes of his shows for her.  As they watched together, he pointed out what was REALLY going on in each scene.  The example he used was so simple, but so demonstrative of why these shows are poisonous for the morale of pregnant women.  He said that when you see a doctor or midwife running down the hallway of the hospital, they are NEVER really running!  It may seem like no big deal at first, but this one trick the producers use exemplifies the goal of these shows-- to sensationalize birth.  To turn every single labor and birth they record into something viewers cannot take their eyes off of.  And who wants to watch a normal, healthy, complication- and intervention-free birth?  According to the ratings, no one does.

I guarantee you, when you speak with your care provider during your labor about a serious subject, no scary music will be playing in the background.  He or she will not pause dramatically before revealing an opinion.  No bright red stopwatch will be placed in your room to count down, with very loud beeps, how long you have been in labor.  It will be nothing like what you see on TV!  Those births may be portrayed as "real," and may even look real, but they are NOT real.  They are produced, edited, and orchestrated 22 minute snippets of what a high-intervention birth might look like. 

My advice to all pregnant women-- stop watching other people's birth stories and start positively visualizing your own.

Comments

[Christie]

What do you think about watching other birth videos, like the kinds shown in birth classes, or reading birth stories? I'm pretty nervous about my impending birth, and a friend of mine said that reading lots of birth stories helped her, so that she was sort of prepared for the range of experiences.

I'm enjoying your blog! Keep it up.

[Ruth Baril]

That is a great question, Christie. I would categorize birth videos from classes and written birth stories differently than the ones on cable TV, for a couple of reasons. First, they tend to be more straight-forward-- "this was what happened in my birth and this is how I feel about it." It leaves more room for the reader or viewer to form opinions about what they are seeing or reading. The TV shows use production tactics to "tell" viewers what to think about a particular event-- a cesarean is recommended, then they cut to a shot of the mom crying. Do you see the difference?
Second, the videos shown in class are immediately open for discussion with an experienced birth professional who (hopefully) can answer questions based on evidence and real-world experience. This limits or eliminates an expectant parents' confusion or fear about what they saw in the video. I show four different births in my class, which, as your friends suggests, helps prepare my class members for a variety of scenarios.
Books can be a bit of a gray area, especially ones that are aimed at a target audience, such as women hoping for a VBAC. If you are a careful consumer, though, and read with the knowledge that details may have been omitted or altered in each story to prove a point, and if you read a wide range of stories with varying outcomes, and make sure you get any questions the stories bring-up answered, these can be helpful, too! It sounds like you are, indeed, an educated consumer. Try not to let yourself get consumed with any extremely negative or positive birth stories you hear, which is very easy to do with all those pregnancy hormones rushing through you! Good luck!