Word: childbirth
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...latest twist in childbirth prep involves jangling sequins and hip-shaking Middle Eastern music. As the growing popularity of belly dancing ripples across the U.S.--helping many a gymgoer wiggle off unwanted pounds--the ancient art form is also being practiced by moms-to-be to stay fit and ease their way through labor. From Georgia to California, dance instructors have started tailoring classes to help pregnant women with their flexibility, strength and breathing. "As soon as we feel pain, we tense up and hold our breath," says Stefanie Masters, who teaches two free classes a week in a maternity...
...course of pregnancy runs no smoother than the course of true love, and Apatow's obstetrical observations - yes, natural childbirth devotees may well call for painkillers when labor becomes more intense than advertised - are shrewd and edgy. And Alison's hormonally induced moodiness, as well as Ben's slouching progress toward grown-up status, are craftily presented. But for all his hipness and Hollywood hotness, Apatow is, at heart, a square. He clearly believes in marriage, family, bourgeois dutifulness. Maybe his movie is a little repetitive, but that's a negligible price to pay for the careful blending of wildness...
...Life, as I see it, is R-rated," Rogen says. Then he giggles. It's so R-rated that Knocked Up--despite scenes depicting childbirth from health-class angles--is a muted version of Rogen's shtick. "We said, 'The dude gets married? That's kind of lame,'" says writing partner Goldberg. "We write stuff where the universe ends and Martians land." But Rogen says he has learned from Apatow to focus on story and emotional honesty over aliens and punch lines. "Apatow kept saying, 'Less semen. More emotion,'" says Rogen...
...Today, the relatively isolated and snowbound Minami Uonuma City is old and emptying out; the cavernous bullet train station is literally empty on the day I visit. The hospital stopped offering childbirth services in 2002, and the local economy is on life support. "The government's finances are deficit-ridden," says Saito. "We're under great pressure to control spending...
...still. Perhaps that’s why he recycles the plot three times from the perspective of different characters, and then chooses to leave things in the stylistically most awkward of places: the defensive hands of the bored reader. Constance Barton is haunted by the fear of death through childbirth, pursued by visions of ghosts and demons coming to harm her 4-year-old daughter, Angelica. Blaming her husband’s malignant intentions, she turns to the advice of a neighborhood spiritualist. The ghost story is told first from the perspective of Constance, then of spiritualist (and proto-feminist...