Award-Winning Videos About Pregnancy and Childbirth

Birth Matters Virginia has announced the winners of a video contest created to educate women about their choices and options during pregnancy and childbirth: First prize — “Prevent Cesarean Surgery,” by Ragan Cohen (California); second prize — “The Nature of Natural Birth,” by Laura Alvarez (Wisconsin); and honorable mention — “MisConception, by Becky Carey (Virginia).

Nearly 40 videos were submitted and and judged by a panel that included mothers from varied backgrounds as well as Sarah Buckley, a doctor and author, and Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein, executive producer and director, respectively, of the film “The Business of Being Born.”

The winning video, featured below, addresses the question “Why should we try to avoid unnecessary cesareans?” and uses quotes by women who have had both a cesarean and vaginal birth, as well as statistics about the rising c-section rate. The United States has one of the highest rates among developed countries — nearly 33 percent of all births, up from 4.5 percent in 1965. In some ares of the country, the rate now tops 50 percent.

The video shows a birth by c-section and is age restricted (you must be 18 or older to view it). A recent New York Times article looked at the growing trend of posting childbirth videos on YouTube and the site’s handling of graphic content:

YouTube employees regularly review graphic videos and, depending on the content, may decide to leave a video up, restrict access to those 18 and older or remove the video altogether. Explicit medical videos are among the exceptions, allowing cyberpatients and other viewers 18 and over to watch videos of colonoscopies, appendectomies and open-heart surgery. Most childbirth videos are age restricted.