Strollerderby

I never liked Ricki Lake, until reading the HuffPost article just now and realizing that she had the good taste of using the same midwives as my wife.

The article isn't clear: Did she lose 24 pounds while she was pregnant or afterward?  I'd like to hope that she wasn't concerned about cottage cheese thighs while she was busy birthin' a baby in the bath.  But then with these celebrity types you never can tell.

My assistant would be ecstatic if the worst thing I made her do was clean up a placenta.

Aw, come on.  I think homebirting is awesome, and should be talked about more.  I love that she is willing to share something as personal as her own waterbirth, because unmedicated birthing is so important to her, and she wants to say 'look, I did it - so can you!"

And YOU KNOW that if you had a homebirth and an assistant, you'd make him/her clean that shit up.  Who wouldn't??  Shit, if I had an assistant, that be the LEAST of their complaints.

If I had and assistant, and had just given birth, you bet he/she would be a cleanin' up.

I can honestly say that if I had a homebirth and an assistant there is NO WAY IN HELL I would make that person clean it up. Was that written in that person's job description? "Responsibility #439: Clean up Ricki Lake's bloody placenta."

I know myself well enough to know that not only would *I* clean it up, but I know myself after two epidural-free births to know that I *could* clean it up. (But probably my husband would clean it up.)

You can bet that if I were the assistant, I'd be telling them to kiss my ass. I don't enjoy the smell of blood; the idea of being all nuzzled up to a big steaming heap of somebody else's blood and mucus is almost enough to make me barf just thinking about it.

Not enough money in the world.

I only had one epidural free birth.

But I would have cleaned up my own mess if I had been given the opportunity.

If I had just given birth in a tub, I would have neither the energy nor the inclination to clean it up afterwards.  That would definitely be the job of the midwife/doula/assistant!

I don't get what your problem is with the fact that she was naked.  Why would you care about that enough to emphasize it so many times?  Lots of women give birth in the nude, and plenty of them record it.  One of the nice things about homebirth is the freedom you have to birth in whatever way feels right to you.  

Also, I disagree with your take that it's all about her.  She talks about empowering women to know their birthing choices as a way to improve care for women.  I think she's right on the mark on that one.  As someone who had two homebirths with concurrent care with my OB, I can tell you with certainty that the prenatal care provided by my midwives at home was many times better than what I got from my doctor (who's an excellent OB, by the way).  I wish more people knew about homebirth and thought of it as something they could consider.  

Your take here just strikes me as so petty and snotty, like, "I hate her because she's different than me."  Grow up.

So, Rikki Lake is bad for talking incessantly about herself (and her physical nakedness)?  Really, is she any more self-serving/aggrandizing than, say, Baby Daddy's blog which talks incessantly about himself (and his 'emotional nakedness')?  Is this a case of Pot vs Kettle here?

PingBack from http://bittersweetmama.wordpress.com/2007/04/24/i-know-a-little-bit-about-birthin-babies/

I thought midwives and/or doulas usually clean up after a home birth? (Did Lake birth unassisted or something??)

I can't say that I would be thrilled if cleaning up afterbirth fell under my job description, but I also would not expect a mom who just gave birth to clean up after herself either.

Sarah L,

I think Stefania's point here (if I may) is that Rikki has been ALL OVER the press promoting this film, and talking more about herself, than the actual film.  She's been all "me, me, naked, my footage, naked, naked!"  Maybe she's using the fact that she's featured in the film prominently - NAKED - to get more people to see it (although that would probably deter a lot people too...), in hopes that homebirth would be something more people would become interested in.  Either way, she's talking a lot about herself.  it's kind of off putting, and I think that's what Stefania is trying to say.  Not that she hates Rikki Lake because she's different from her.

Either way, no need for personal attacks, though.  C'mon.

Kirsten Dunst's "spiritual stylist" Manny tells Jane magazine that Kiki longs for a family and is positive