Ricki Lake is a well known name, but not for documentary making. Now however this might change as she has a film out called The Business of Being Born. Well I say she, Ricki Lake is the Executive Producer and Abby Epstein is the director.

The film looks at giving birth in America and how it has become little more than a business with the women and children involved just numbers and commodities to get out the door faster and faster.

I have to admit that when I watched the trailer I was welling up at the end, but only with happy thoughts – yes, I'm a complete sap and the miracle of childbirth is something that makes me just go mushy.

You can download the trailer from the official film site in Quicktime or Windows Media Player, or you can see it below:

The film does promise to look very closely at birth, and according to the article from Reuters through Yahoo News, this doesn't look like it will pull any punches.

It also looks as though it's not going on the complete offensive and might well have a balanced look at what it is to give birth and what it means to give birth in America, mixing the Sicko scare tactics with the beauty of childbirth.

“Why does the U.S. have the second-worst newborn death rate in the developed world?
Why are more than 40% of the deliveries done in some New York hospitals all Cesarean sections?
And why, according to a study, are the peak hours for Cesarean procedures at 4 in the afternoon and 10 at night?”

These are some of the questions asked by the film, and worrying they are too. Watch that trailer and see the official site for details of screenings.