Birth and Boston College

Last week I had the privilege of speaking on a panel after a screening of "The Business of Being Born" at Boston College. On the ride over to the college with Abby Epstein, the film's producer, she was reminding me about the history of Catholic colleges not being open to frank talk about women's reproduction (a la, banning the Vagina Monologues from campuses...) Anyway, the organizers for this event were warm and open-minded and I had the distinct sense that times have changed. The crowd of young people that turned out to see the film seemed truly moved by its message: That hospitals are not the best place or a low-risk mom to give birth.

Before I left BC for the night I had an interesting chat with a pregnant professor who was talking about the differences between radical feminists (those who believe in the power of the female body and therefore understand how transformative a natural birth can be for a woman) and other feminists who believe that an unnecessary cesarean is also a woman's right to choose. The question is: which feminist agenda will win the day?

One other note from that event: Abby and Ricki Lake are busy making a sequel to the film. Stay tuned.