Worth: $15.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Tani Paxton, Sasha Hopkins, Taylar-Jane Byron, Marina French, Mae’t Pearson
Intro:
… an informative doco that raises interesting questions, particularly about the health system and what really is best for families. It’s also, at times, beautiful and emotional when showing the women give birth.
When midwife Mae’t Pearson was working on an obstetrics ward, she noticed that the expectant mothers were “passive”. They “hadn’t … found their power. I saw a lot of things happen to people that didn’t sit well with me,” says Pearson, who now works as a private midwife delivering babies in the home setting.
Pearson is one of many interviewed in this documentary advocating home births. Part of the discussion is about how impersonal – and in some cases traumatic – having babies in a hospital can be.
Born at Home offers sobering statistics, including one about induced births; inductions for first-time mothers have risen from 26% in 2010 to 46% in 2020. What’s going on?
Hannah, a mother of four, felt that she was “disregarded” and “didn’t matter” in the hospital setting. She’s in tears as she recalls the experience. Several women here speak of being traumatised in the hospital environment, while others talk about feeling empowered giving birth at home – in a birthing pool – usually in their lounge rooms. One mother who gave birth at home says she feels as though she was reborn. Another says the experience is “primal”.
This is a well-made documentary, and it comes with notable endorsements from the Australian College of Midwives and the Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union. The research suggests that home births are considered safe in the cases of healthy women experiencing low risk pregnancies, and the film shows that the midwives are well prepared for emergencies. But there are no voices talking about the risks, which would have made the discussion even richer and more interesting. But, this is not that film.
Born at Home – the brainchild of filmmaker Eleanor Currie and former Convenor for Homebirth QLD, Amanda Banks – makes for a compelling case. Even if babies are not on your current agenda, this is an informative doco that raises interesting questions, particularly about the health system and what really is best for families. It’s also, at times, beautiful and emotional when showing the women give birth.
But the best home birth has to be the one where the family dog – a dachshund – was in attendance, jumping up at the edge of the inflatable birthing pool, trying to catch a glimpse of the new arrival.
