by
Jennifer Block
people
plentyliving
plenty
eco star
Ricki
Lake
14
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questions for
the cult-movie
legend, television
host, and newly
anointed “Al Gore
of Home Birth”
You know her as John Waters’ teen film
star, a former talk show host, and a celebrity
weight-watcher. Now meet the acclaimed
executive producer. Ricki Lake’s newly released documentary, The Business of Being
Born, shines a spotlight on the excesses of
US obstetrics and is being likened to An Inconvenient Truth, earning her the moniker
“The Al Gore of Home Birth.”
Lake is humbled by the comparison to
her eco hero, even if the climate crisis and
childbirth are seemingly unrelated. In her
eyes, the state of maternity care in the US
is also critical because the proportion of
women giving birth by cesarean section is
now 31 percent—a rise of 50 percent in the
last ten years. So Lake is talking up what
you might call the green alternative: home
birth. Her film’s harrowing footage shows
that there’s virtually no such thing as “natural birth” in most US hos pitals. “I love that
this issue is being talked about as an inconvenient truth,” she says from her Los Angeles home. “It’s that dire of a situation.”
Those already living green are a natural
audience for the film, says Lake, who opted
to give birth to her second son at home
with a midwife. (Hers is one of several home
births filmed in the documentary.) The experience has made her both healthier and more
eco conscious, from the pounds she’s shed to
the organic veggies she now buys. “I learned
to love my body the day I gave birth at home
in my bathtub,” she says. >>>
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