Educational Media Reviews Online

This excellent documentary exposes the overuse of cesarean deliveries in Brazil, a country with cesarean rates double that recommended by the World Heath Organization. Based on the research of Kristine Hopkins, Ph.D., and The Multi-Center Prospective Study of Cesarean Delivery and Postpartum Sterilization in Brazil, this documentary is didactic as it examines the causes and implications of the high rate of cesarean births.

Filmed in Porto Alegre, Brazil, this beautiful film follows several women before, during and after cesarean or natural childbirth. Interviews with women and their doctors are interspersed with easy to understand English-language statistics. Additionally, the filmmakers vividly capture several natural childbirths and cesarean section deliveries on film.

In Brazil many medical professionals and many in society advocate for women to have a cesarean birth based on misinformed perceptions of pain avoidance, safety, and convenience. Many doctors in private hospitals strongly recommend the procedure. Many believe this is so because it is a profitable procedure as it can be scheduled in advance and takes less time than a natural birth. Accordingly, seventy percent of all births in private hospitals in Brazil are cesarean deliveries, compared with 25% of all births in public hospitals.

Born in Brazil concludes that Brazilian medical professionals must become sensitized to this problem and educated on its consequences. Additionally, the documentary aims to educate the general public by changing perceptions and creating awareness. To this end, this documentary is scheduled for presentation on Brazilian public television.

This documentary is a powerful, accessible, and gentle approach to pregnancy and childbirth that will be of interest to those who study women’s issues, sociology, parenting, medicine, South American culture, and the Portuguese language.

For more information visit the official Born in Brazil website. The excellent English language titles and subtitles, as well as the great sound and editing, complement the Portuguese (Brazilian) language interviews.

Highly recommended for high school students, college students, adult viewers, and the libraries that serve them.