Giving Birth in America: California

Description

Screening and extended conversation!

Giving Birth in America is a documentary series that examines some of the reasons for the alarming current statistics about maternal mortality rates in the US. The series is presented by Every Mother Counts, a non-profit founded by Christy Turlington Burns dedicated to making childbirth safe for women everywhere. This fifth and most recent episode, California, focuses on Dr. Cristina Gamboa, an OB-GYN in Watsonville who provides pre-natal health care to an immigrant farmworker from Mexico with a high-risk pregnancy. The screening will be followed by an in-depth discussion with McCarty, Dr. Gamboa, and midwife Kim Q. Dau, CNM, Associate Clinical Professor, Director of Nurse-Midwifery/WHNP Education Program at UCSF School of Nursing.  

“In the current political climate, we are faced with the threat of the ACA being repealed and a rollback of Medicaid expansion. The loss of critical services including free birth control, maternity care, and preventive services will hit our most vulnerable populations the hardest. The high cost of pregnancy and newborn care is already forcing some women to forgo care altogether, which can have lifelong consequences for mothers and their babies. What the stories behind these statistics are telling us is this: we could and should be doing better, America.” —Christy Turlington Burns, CNN  

“Through meeting these women, as well as the passionate doulas, midwives, and medical professionals who care for and provide emotional support for them, Giving Birth in America investigates the most common barriers to maternal health in America and what we can do to make the system safer and more accessible for expectant mothers everywhere.” —Jane Helpern, I-D / VICE

Film Details