Actress Ricki Lake has played many parts in her career. Her first big one, which earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead, was her starring role as Tracy Turnblad in the iconic 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. Guest starring roles on TV and in movies followed, and her popularity as a guest star eventually led to an opportunity to lead her own talk show. The Ricki Lake Show debuted in 1993 and ran for 11 seasons.

That same year, Lake married artist/illustrator Rob Sussman and went on to have two sons, Milo in 1997, and Owen in 2001. Although Ricki and Rob divorced in 2003, it was the birth of her children that led Lake to her latest role as an advocate for greater birthing choices for women. She's put her passion for the topic into a documentary called The Business of Being Born, which debuted at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. Now available on DVD, it's an intimate look at the business of being born in the USA.

In America, Lake says, birth is a business and the parents' preferences are often disregarded. In addition, the choices that are made by the medical establishment may not always be the best for the health of either Mother or Baby.

"America has the second worst infant mortality rate in the developed world," Lake says. "Women don't realize that there are choices for them when it comes to giving birth, and they should be informed and be able to give birth on their own terms."

Lake says that the hospital birth of her first child, Owen, "was actually a great experience. I had a lot of things go right," Lake says. "I was able to give birth vaginally and I had a lot of skin-to-skin contact right away. It wasn't terrible or anything."

But in hindsight, Lake got to thinking. There had been a lot of interventions that she hadn't needed, such as the administration of Pitocin and regular dilation checks by nurses. While these interventions are common, there's a growing grassroots movement that is questioning their safety. Is it really necessary to speed up labor with Pitocin except in extreme cases? Do regular vaginal exams lead to a greater risk of infection? These were the kinds of questions that nagged at Lake and led her to choose a different path for the birth of her second child. For that labor, she chose a water birth at home, and it was a transcendental experience.

"I had done a ton of research and I was so informed and completely trusted my body," Lake says. "I also had a midwife to provide care and had the people I wanted by my side. It was so gentle; it was like night and day from my first birth experience."

Afterwards, Lake felt a sense of elation that she realized came from a sense of accomplishment. As she says, "I realized: I did this." She also came to the sobering conclusion that birthing on one's own terms isn't always an option.

While birth plans aren't uncommon, one of the things on Lake's labor to-do list was to document her child's birth. At the time, it was merely for her private files, but then she realized that there was a need to disseminate what she'd learned about the different ways of giving birth in America.

"My intent was not, and is not, to say that one way is right and one is wrong," Lake says. "Any choice that a woman makes is the right choice for her. My intent was to point out that we should have choices and those choices should be honored. The availability of birth alternatives outside the hospital setting is shrinking at an alarming rate, and this is not happening because it's best for the woman or the child, but because it's best for those who run this business."

Lake also is quick to note that her documentary is heavily slanted toward midwives, but she's unapologetic, saying that every pregnant woman should have access to a midwife if she chooses.

"In my research I found that much of the information regarding birth is fear-driven, meant to scare the woman into thinking the worst is going to happen," Lake says. "I thought it was important to balance that out and show births that were approached naturally and with knowledge and without fear."

This is Lake's first gig as a producer, and she says she's been completely overwhelmed at the response to this documentary, which has garnered world-wide attention. She says she's grateful to have such a strong support system for her two sons, now 11 and 6, when she's busy with work.

Her ex-husband, Rob, is very involved in the kids' lives and Lake says he's a great dad. She also says she believes that it does take a village to raise a child, and she's lucky enough to be surrounded by a variety of people who care deeply for her children, from their father, to the nanny, to their music teachers.

"My kids have many role models in their lives and it's helped create a consistency and a constant flow of different personalities and ideas," Lake says. "I've always had the best job of a working mom, but this film is particularly fulfilling for me because it stems from my children coming into the world."