New York, January 9, 2008 - Ricki Lake was a bundle of energy at the benefit screening of The Business of Being Born, the documentary she produced and “starred” in – giving birth to her second child at home in her bathtub.  She’s only one of several brave ladies who gave birth on camera to promote midwifery, natural childbirth and home birthing.  At the post-screening party at the IFC Center, Lake told us that her kids have seen the movie.  “My movie premiered in April, and Mother’s Day was right after that”, she said.  “And my six-year-old – he was five at the time - wrote me a Mother’s Day card that said: ‘Thank you mommy for making me the star of this movie’ - of course he’s not the star, but he thinks he is – ‘and most of all, thank you for letting me be born in my bathtub.’”   She said the card is framed, hanging on the wall.

Lake slipped into the screening just as her birth scene came on; watching it now, she says, makes her feel still connected to that experience.  “It makes me want to give birth again, but I don’t want to raise more children”, the former talk-show host said.   

Keri Russell said she had a midwife at the birth of her first child seven months ago.  “I fully encourage women to do it as well.  It was a wonderful experience”, she said.  Russell also noted that raising a child is hard work, but she says her husband Shane Deary happily shares the baby duty.  “He’s really into it; like we take turns”, the Waitress star said.  “He’s genuinely great about it.”