The former tabloid queen knows a thing or two about birthing babies, not to mention courting the paparazzi

MOTHER'S DAY A scene from Lake's new documentary, The Business of Being Born
(Photo: Courtesy of The Business of Being Born)

Ricki Lake gave birth to her second child at home in a bathtub, supervised only by a midwife and her loved ones. The former talk show queen found the experience so moving, she decided to make a movie about it. The documentary, The Business of Being Born, which opens today, is that movie. The film relies on statistics and footage of midwife led births, and makes a case against C-section-mad, lawsuit-focused hospitals. A very slim, energetic Ricki sat down with Radar to talk about the movie, the motivation for her weight loss (hint: it had more to do with landing on the cover of US Weekly than self-improvement), her weave, and TMZ.

RADAR: So, playing devil's advocate, how do you respond to someone who says having a baby at home, or with a midwife, is a "selfish decision" because it's not safest for your child?
RICKI LAKE: Well, it's statistically safer to give birth outside of a hospital. And the infant mortality rate in our country is a disgusting number. We are the second worst in the developed world. And our maternal death rate is going up. To me, people say, "You're brave to have given birth at home." I say, "You're brave to give birth at a hospital."
I love you and I love my my weave. I love my weave so much. It's my favorite ever
We are living in a society where, when a doctor is writing notes on his pregnant patient, he's more concerned about what a lawyer would say reading those notes than what he's writing for himself and his patient. That's scary to me! That changes a caregiver's priorities a lot.

Birth in popular culture is portrayed as being fairly scary—certainly very painful.
The first book I read when I was pregnant with my first child was What to Expect When You're Expecting. That's a very scary book for a newly pregnant first-time mom to read. It's all about what goes wrong, the bad things that can happen. Through this movie, Abby [Epstein, the director] and I sold a book, which will be a positive birth book. That's what we need, to balance out the fear-based information that's out there, the stereotypes about midwives, and the idea that the doctor always comes in and saves the day!

[Ricki's fuchsia-cased iPhone rings.] Hang on one second, it's my hairdresser. Hey Jamal. Jamal? Hi. I'm doing an interview. Listen, I'm going to call you later. My schedule is so nuts and I'm flying back the day before but I'm going to let you know as soon as I know. I love you and I love my hair, my weave. I love my weave so much. It's my favorite ever. I want you to come back every three weeks and do it for me. I'm telling you, I love it so much and I love you and I'll call you back. Thank you, bye.

MEDIA SAVVY "I lost weight to get attention for this movie. I'm smart," says Lake

You have a weave right now?
Can you believe it? Jamal is amazing. I fly by the seat of my pants. I did the Palm Springs Film Festival a few days ago and didn't have any hair and makeup staff, and people are really focusing on how I look right now. So I thought, "Maybe I should have hair and makeup. So I called Drew Barrymore—her producer was a friend of mine. I said, "Does she have anybody?" So Jamal called and I said, "Are you going to do my hair?" He asks, "What color's your hair?" I said, "Brown," and he said, "Do you know what color brown?" And I said, "It's like, brown—I don't know what to tell you." And look at it [she shows me her hair], you can't tell, it matches [it does]. I've never had these before and you can't even feel it.

You said that people are paying attention to how you look. Does that freak you out, or are you over it because it's been going on for so long?
I've been working hard at it. It was all to get attention for this movie.

What was?
I lost weight to get attention for this movie. I'm smart. I've been in this business forever. I know that I lost a lot of weight a long time ago and got attention for it. I have an agenda now with this movie. This movie is my baby. Not only do I feel strongly, it's my passion. But it's a little baby movie that's trying to raise awareness and I think it's an issue that needs to be out there. So I was like, "I'm going to get in great shape. I want to feel great and I want to look my best. I want to be out there." Suddenly I get magazine cover offers. The US Magazine cover actually broke records because it sold so many copies.

But also, it's not just the movie. I feel good in my skin. I like the way I look. There's a lot of hard work. I'm single and I am out there. And I want a career. It's like a good time in my life. I have the kids, I have an important film I'm proud of, and I have a body that I work hard to maintain.

Does it creep you out that it's so easy to manipulate the tabloids and our focus?
Yes. And I feel like I am implicated with America's obsession with weight. It's a mixed thing. Part of me doesn't want to be a part of that, but at the same time, I'm the consumer. I would be reading the magazine too and saying, "Holy ... I can't believe that girl looks like that now." It's a double-edged thing. But if I didn't have a movie coming out, I wouldn't be going to all of these openings and parties—I don't live that kind of life. I've been purposely doing that, to be out there, to be seen, to be ultimately getting attention for my movie.