[Giving Birth: Margaret Mead 3]

Raw footage of an interview with anthropologist Margaret Mead for the documentary Giving Birth: Four Portraits.

01:00Copy video clip URL Discussion of the “rituals” of the American method of birth, which Mead doesn’t consider to be rituals because there is no passing down of inherited wisdom about birth.

03:35Copy video clip URL The “ideal birth” in contemporary America.

05:16Copy video clip URL The possibility of reintroducing midwives into the birthing process. 

06:42Copy video clip URL The elimination of emotional support in the birthing process in the replacement of female midwives by male obstetricians. 

08:38Copy video clip URL A discussion of Fredric Leboyer’s natural childbirth methods, and the ways that it might distract from the most important aspect of birth: the relationship between the mother and the baby.

10:15Copy video clip URL End of interview. 

12:12Copy video clip URL John Reilly and Julie Gustafson on camera re-recording questions asked of Dr. Mead during the interview.