The Business of Being Born Classroom Edition

The Business of Being Born: Classroom Edition

An Award-Winning Documentary and Educational Tool on Childbirth in the US

Perfect for High Schools, Universities, Student Groups, and Patient Education Settings!

Once you take a quick online survey, it is only $24.99 for the digital package download and $29.99 for the physical package!

Childbirth IS a women's rights isue and a reproductive justice ISSUE. The United States maternity system is one of the costliest in the developed world, yet our birth outcomes compare poorly to those of other industrialized nations. Among industrialized countries, we consistently rank last or second to last in perinatal and maternal mortality rates. Moreover, birth is depicted in mainstream media with fear, medical intervention, and crisis. The Business of Being Born: Classroom Edition (BoBB:CE) builds on the enormous success of Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein’s documentary, The Business of Being Born, to encourage students to question the current maternity system and expose them to the issues surrounding childbirth in the United States.

The Business of Being Born: Classroom Edition reaches out to young adults BEFORE they confront their own birth decisions—challenging the prevailing assumptions about birth providers and current obstetrical management trends. Our goal is for the next generation of policy makers, practitioners, educators, and parents to approach birth decisions with awareness and confidence. Our strategy is to incorporate this evidence-based presentation into classrooms around the country.We envision empowering the next generation of parents to seek out systemic change and new policies supporting maternity care in the United States.

The Business of Being Born: Classroom Edition consists of:

30-minute version of the original documentary

“Birth by the Numbers”, 20-minute presentation by Eugene DeClercq, PhD at Boston University

Interviews with two celebrity mothers, Kellie Martin and Alyson Hannigan, discussing their birth experiences - 15 minutes

Toolkit to facilitate discussion of maternity issues (scroll down for more information)

Online Pre-and Post-Assessment Surveys to gauge the effects of BoBB:CE on the perspectives of birth and less common childbirth options in the US.

Trailer

The Classroom Edition is a 30 minute version of the original documentary, The Business of Being Born. Here is a trailer of the original film to give you an idea of what to expect in the Classroom Edition:

Ideal for a variety of disciplines including:

Anthropology

Family Studies

Health Policy

Nursing

Midwifery

Public Health

Reproductive Health and Advocacy

Sociology

Women and Gender Studies

Toolkit

The Toolkit was designed by graduate students under the guidance of Maternal and Child Health Professor Eugene Declercq, at the Boston University School of Public Health. This Toolkit provides classroom instructors with talking points, discussion questions, project ideas, and resources tailored to a variety of disciplines. We are currently working on a toolkit for high school classrooms, which will be available in 2013.

Introductory Script: Frames issues raised by the BoBB excerpt, and outlines the goals and purpose of this module.

Pre- and Post- Assessment Surveys: Prepare students for the topic and assesses the efficacy of the video in raising awareness about childbirth options. These surveys are available online for students to take before and after viewing this program. The results will be useful in reporting to the BoBB:CE funders.

Pre-Viewing Discussion Questions: Prompts students with ideas to gauge knowledge and opinion of birth options in the United States before viewing the excerpt.

Concentration-Specific Discussion Questions: Arranged by academic topic, questions are designed to facilitate post-viewing classroom discussion.

Recommended Timeline: Available for both 45, 60, and 75 minutes class times, to be used as a general outline.