Lifetime’s new reality show is delivering some controversy before it’s even been born. The network announced Wednesday a new series titled Born in the Wild that chronicles pregnant women giving birth outdoors, unassisted by doctors. “What happens when the craziest experience of a woman’s life becomes truly wild, and soon-to-be parents decide to take on an unassisted birth in the outdoors?” asks the press release. “Born in the Wild will document the journeys of young, expectant parents who have chosen to give birth ‘in the wild.'” 
 
 It’s certainly a head-turning TV hook. But one obstetrician says we already know what happens when women give birth in the wild, and it isn’t good. “I understand everybody wants to believe we overmedicalize pregnancy and that it’s a natural process. But it’s a natural process that historically has caused an extraordinary loss of life,” says Ron Jaekle, MD, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Fetal Center. “There is not a single piece of literature that we had to read growing up that didn’t talk about somebody’s mother or wife dying in childbirth, it was part of the national vocabulary. In the 1900s, a women died for every 1,000 babies born in the United States. Today it’s .1 for every 1,000.” 
 
 The Lifetime series is taking precautions to help ensure the safety of the mother and child. No first-time mothers will be allowed to participate on the show and all participants will have a clean bill of health. A trained emergency professional will be on site. And while the couple will choose the birthing location, the production will remain within a certain radius of a hospital should complications arise. “I’m not surprised an OB-GYN would say that [but] we’re taking extreme precautions to make sure the mothers and the babies are safe,” says Eli Lehrer, Lifetime’s senior VP and head of nonfiction programming. “Our presence at these births is going to make them far safer than if they were doing it on their own.” 
 
 The series itself was inspired by a viral video showing a birth in a forest that racked up 20 million views (photo above). Lehrer says he has a personal connection to the show’s concept himself as his second child was born at home via midwife. “This isn’t [Discovery Channel’s] Naked and Afraid and we’re dropping people in the woods and saying ‘go have the baby,'” he says. “These are all people who have already had babies in hospitals who had unsatisfying experiences and who are choosing to have different experiences. This is something people are doing and we set out to document it.” 
 
 Even with the safety measures in place, however, Jaekle insists Born in the Wild “doesn’t make any sense.” He contends that even with modern medical care, just giving birth at home — let alone in a forest — is demonstrably more risky. “[The number of children impacted] is a small number — until it’s your kid,” Jaekle says of home birth complications. “They can’t possibly make it safe enough to not [eventually] have a problem that will need a medical intervention to save the day. And then [the producers] won’t interview the docs in the ICU who will say, ‘This would never have happened if she had been in a hospital.'” 
 
 Another possible concern is the show inspiring couples not protected by the production’s safety net to try this more extreme “natural” route, something that’s particularly unsafe for first-time mothers (which the show will not allow to participate). “I’m not worried this is going to spark a trend,” Lehrer says. “I truly don’t think this is something people would enter into lightly. This is a very specific subset of people doing this.” 
 
 The series was one of four new unscripted shows the network announced Wednesday. The network also ordered Girlfriend Intervention, a racial twist on Bravo’s classic Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, about “four wise, poised and stylish African American women, who, in each episode, help a white sister seeking a complete makeover to restore her confidence and inner glow.” There’s also Threads, a “competition series showcasing America’s most talented young fashion designers,” and Kosher Soul, following a stylist and comedian who converts to Judaism to please his wife. ||||| Frankly, I'm not going to get whipped up over whether a woman wants to give birth in a hospital or a swimming pool or on a pile of leaves, but I do find the premise of having an entire film crew around to document and televise the experience does somewhat undercut the whole "in the wild" thing a bit. And I definitely find Lifetime's branding of childbirth as an insistently "crazy" event spectacularly offensive. Japanese game shows are crazy. Sandy Hook truthers are crazy. Birth is actually just how human beings arrive on the planet, thanks. 
 
 But what if birthing babies in a creek isn't your idea of solid appointment television? Wait, there's more. What about "Girlfriend Intervention," a new show that's basically "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" but instead of gay men it's black women and instead of straights it's whites? Here, let Lifetime describe it for you: "Our wise, poised and stylish African American women, in each episode, help a white sister seeking a complete makeover to restore her confidence and inner glow…. Who better to teach a woman how to get that sparkle in her eye and spring back in her step?" Note street cred bestowing use of the word "sister." I guess Homer Simpson was right when he long ago observed, "It's true, it's true. We're so lame." And if you've come to Lifetime for the ethnic stereotyping, stick around for the new show "Kosher Soul," which is about an African-American guy engaged to a Jewish woman, and is converting for her sake. HILARITY TO ENSUE. There's also a "Project Runway" spinoff for teens called "Threads," which actually sounds cool. Also currently in development: shows with the self-explanatory titles "Ugly Models" and "Worst Stylist Ever," and a series that explores "the emotional and psychological journeys of people attempting to fix their lives by fixing their teeth."
– A new Lifetime reality show is raising eyebrows, especially in the medical community: Born in the Wild will feature women giving birth outdoors with no medical assistance. The network says it is taking "extreme precautions" to ensure safety, including having an emergency professional on standby and a hospital within range. First-time mothers won't be allowed to take part, but obstetricians say it still is just too risky. "I understand everybody wants to believe we overmedicalize pregnancy and that it's a natural process. But it's a natural process that historically has caused an extraordinary loss of life," a maternal-fetal medicine specialist tells Entertainment Weekly. A Lifetime exec says the network has set out to document something people are already doing. It's not as if "we're dropping people in the woods and saying 'go have the baby,'" he says. "These are all people who have already had babies in hospitals who had unsatisfying experiences and who are choosing to have different experiences." At Salon, Mary Elizabeth Williams isn't impressed by the "completely insane" concept or by Lifetime's press release describing childbirth as the "craziest experience" of a woman's life. "I'm not going to get whipped up over whether a woman wants to give birth in a hospital or a swimming pool or on a pile of leaves, but I do find the premise of having an entire film crew around to document and televise the experience does somewhat undercut the whole 'in the wild' thing a bit," she writes. "And I definitely find Lifetime’s branding of childbirth as an insistently 'crazy' event spectacularly offensive."