I was excited and a little starstruck to meet Ricki Lake and director, Abby Epstein last week at a party to celebrate the release of their new book, Your Best Birth which was followed by a screening of their excellent documentary, The Business of Being Born.

Katharyne of Shinemama.com meeting Ricki Lake

The party was held at the gorgeous Babies in Bloom boutique in Vista, CA which specialises in cloth diapers (real nappies), slings and breastfeeding equipment and was attended by a crowd of San Diego birth specialists. It was a very special evening and I feel very lucky that I had the chance to meet Ricki and Abby and thank them for making such an important, eye-opening movie.

They showed that midwifery and home birth are real, plausible options for modern, intelligent women. For someone with Ricki’s status to throw herself into such a project and allow footage of her baby’s birth to be included is really incredible.

Their new website is called My Best Birth and I can’t wait to see how their community develops.