VERO BEACH — The community-wide, nondenominational Social Justice Film Series continues its fifth year on Sunday, December 12, at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach. The documentary to be shown is 2008’s, The Business of Being Born. Director Abby Epstein and producer Ricki Lake offer a probing look at childbirth in America. Local midwife Angie Love will facilitate the discussion following the film.
The series is free and open to the public, with no reservations or tickets required.
While the United States has perhaps the most advanced health care system in the world, it also has the second-highest infant mortality rate of any industrialized nation, and many have begun to question conventional wisdom regarding the way obstetricians deal with childbirth. Midwives preside over the majority of births in Europe and Japan, yet fewer than ten percent of American mothers employ them, despite their proven record of care and success. How do American doctors make their choices regarding the way their patients give birth, and who is intended to benefit?
The Series committee warns that the film documents several live human births, thereby involving nudity.
Reviewers said about The Business of Being Born: “an absorbing, thought- provoking inquiry into what modern birth has become and how to make it better,” “a passionate ground-level examination of home childbirth,” “full of life: humor, elation, disappointment, and the full range of emotions that the birthing experience provides,” “everyone in America should watch this film, especially fathers and mothers-to-be.”
The Fair Trade Corner will be open one-half hour before and after the film.
For further information about the series, call 772-778-5880.
