Celebrity Births: Setting the Trends

Who’s “Too Posh to Push,” Elective Cesarean:

Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Angelina Jolie, Victoria Beckham, Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson, Tori Spelling, Patricia Heaton, Jenny McCarthy, Brooke Shields, Marcia Cross, Gwen Stefani

Unplanned Cesareans:

Kate Winslet, Camila Alves, Kellie Martin, Laila Ali

Natural Birth:

Gisele Bundchen, Idina Menzel, Ricki Lake, Jessica Alba, Melissa Joan Hart, Maria Bello, Pamela Anderson, Thandi Newton, Alyson Hannigan, Mayim Bialik

(Celebritybabyscoop)

Orgasmic Birth: Obstetrics and Gynecology

Orgasmic Labour

The Business of Being Born–Pitocin

Dr. Lisa and Ricki Lake Debate Home Birth on The Doctors

 

Community (2009-)

 

The Meaning of Life (1983)

Okay, so this is Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life from the UK directed by Terry Jones, but it seems to mirror US birth in 1983 more so than birth in the UK.  And, I think a lot of people in the US watch Monty Python films, right?

Lisa Barrett states this on her website:

“The sketch was written by python members Graham Chapman and John Cleese. Graham Chapman was a qualified M.D and the knowledge behind much of the scene. Perhaps Cleese was responsible for “The machine that goes PING!”?

When the director Terry Gilliam [sic, *Terry Jones directed this, not Gilliam! Gilliam did help write the script, however] read the script he was astonished at how similar it was to his wife’s birth experience just a few weeks earlier. She had been subject to an unwanted induction at a US hospital and they left feeling very dissatisfied.

‘It felt like this. The mother was the last thing they though[t] of. The emphasis seemed to be on the technology and machines. I was amazed when John and Graham wrote this sketch. I though[t] they must have been at Sally’s birth as well. It mirrored so accurately what I remembered'” (Homebirth.net.au).

Parenthood (1989)

Obtained from: http://www.homebirth.net.au/2011/05/absurd-birth-scenes-parenthood.html

Directed by Ron Howard.

http://www.homebirth.net.au/2011/05/absurd-birth-scenes-parenthood.html

Lisa Barrett does a nice job at describing this scene’s flaws, I can not think of much else to add.  This film has generated the television series also entitled Parenthood on NBC, and also created and produced (and I believe directed?) by Ron Howard.  There have not been any births on the series yet, that I know of (yes, I watch this sometimes), though the character Julia is currently trying to conceive.  I am curious to see how the birth scene will be depicted this time around after receiving criticism for Parenthood (1989)’s birth scene.

Children of Men (2006)

Directed by Alfonso Cuaron.   This is a neat clip because it breaks down how the birth scene was constructed:

I really like this film, but, how do you feel about the title Children of Men?  Here, Kenzie (no last name given) has “worked for many years as a doula, postpartum doula and breastfeeding counselor…lately she’s been an informal educator and advocate for homebirth and informed choice. Currently she’s practicing as an incredibly part-time Traditional Birth Attendant, but most of her time is spent caring for her own young son, born at home in the middle of a snow storm in January of 2009.”  This is what she has to say about the birth scene here:

“Here’s a woman giving birth, the first birth in 18 years. This seems to me like a pretty prime opportunity to show a birth done instinctively, without so much cultural pollution. But instead, what do they show? The same old pop culture movie birth – woman, lying on her back, panicking while pushing (uncommon – this would be more common in transition, not seconds before the birth), being reassured and directed by a male between her legs.

This is not to say that women never instinctively lie on their backs to birth, or panic while pushing, or appreciate a little reassurance and direction. But most women, left to their own devices, are more likely to assume a hands and knees position to birth in, and breath and moan in a very natural way while pushing.

I also question whether a young woman in her 8th month would spontaneously go into the birth process in such a dangerous situation unless something else was wrong. We’re mammals, after all, and most mammals don’t start birthing and do pause birthing when in dangerous or threatening situations because oxytocin (the labour hormone) and adrenaline (our dangerous situation hormone) are antagonistic, you can’t actually release both at the same time.

So this leads me to the thought that I should take on yet another part-time career, that of birth script consultant. I should totally do that” (blog.birthcycle.com).

She’s Having a Baby (1988)

From director John Hughes.  (So, this is one of my least favorite John Hughes movies, right?)

Obtained from: http://www.homebirth.net.au/2010/09/absurd-birth-scenes-shes-having-a-baby.html

I am having a hard time finding all these videos on Youtube, here is a link to the clip that is cut for time’s sake, but will not maximize:

http://www.homebirth.net.au/2010/09/absurd-birth-scenes-shes-having-a-baby.html

As Lisa Barrett’s webpage explains, the baby is in breech and it is treated as a far more serious barrier in birth than it truly is, leading the doctors to perform a “necessary” emergency Cesarean.  And Barrett makes a good point, that since the subject of this entire film and its climactic moment is the birth itself, it is surprising Hughes did not paint a more accurate picture.  What she points out that is most absurd is that the doctor states the baby is in breech and his/her head is stuck, therefore they must perform a Cesarean.  So…what was the baby’s head stuck on? Was the baby’s body out, the head got stuck, and they then pushed the baby back in to her uterus to perform a Cesarean?  I wonder how this film may have influenced viewers perception of breech.  Recently, Angelina Jolie has discussed having a Cesarean with Shiloh Jolie-Pitt because of her breech position, which in reality, is not always necessary.  I believe high profile celebrities and mainstream cinema’s construction of the dangers of breech certainly influence American mothers’ perception of giving birth to a baby in breech.  Jolie has also discussed having the birth of her child in Africa, but that American doctors were present.  Does this message reinforce U.S. practices of birth?