Midwives magazine: June/July 2010
Real birth stories –
three DVD box set
Alto Films Ltd 2009
ALTF 001/01, ALTF 001/02, ALTF 001/0
Reviewed by Amanda Hutcherson
This three-DVD box set claims to be ‘by parents for parents’ with ‘five honest accounts of having a baby’. Disc one covers pregnancy including symptoms and antenatal classes, disc two covers childbirth and disc three the first few weeks of a baby’s life, giving some honest views about life with a newborn, and a particularly good presentation of fathers’ viewpoints. Individual disc playing times of between 60 and 80 minutes make this quite a lengthy resource.
First-time parents may find this set to be a useful addition to face-to-face antenatal classes; however, the diverse cultural background of British society is not reflected. Sympathetic professional input, maybe in discussion form, would have helped to smooth out some of the misconceptions such as milk cravings in pregnancy indicating a deficiency in calcium.
With a few minor alterations these DVDs, designed for the use of expectant parents, could have had wider appeal to midwives and parent educators and also for midwifery education.
Have you seen this DVD? What did you think?
