Ina May Gaskin

Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and The Farm Midwives captures a spirited group of women who taught themselves how to deliver babies on a 1970s hippie commune. Today as nearly one third of all US babies are born via C-section, they fight to protect their knowledge and to promote respectful, safe maternity practices all over the globe. From the backs of their technicolor school buses, these pioneers rescued American midwifery from extinction, changed the way a generation approached pregnancy, and filmed nearly everything they did. With unprecedented access to the midwives' archival video collection, as well as modern day footage of life at the alternative intentional community where they live, this documentary shows childbirth the way most people have never seen it--unadorned, unabashed, and awe-inspiring.

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A documentary that re-frames Human Rights issues as the most pressing issue in childbirth today; calling for radical change to the world's maternity systems - this is the Mothers' Revolution. In many countries around the world, women are being denied the most basic human right of autonomy over their own bodies. They cannot choose how and where to give birth. Those that persist in their desire to have a normal, physiological birth are sometimes forced by judges to surrender to surgery or threatened with having their babies taken away by child welfare services. In many countries, if a woman wants to have a home birth supported by a midwife, those midwives face criminal prosecution. Some midwives, like Ágnes Geréb in Hungary, are even imprisoned. FREEDOM FOR BIRTH calls for radical reform to the world’s maternity systems so that these Human Rights violations stop and women are afforded real choice as to how and where they give birth.

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An inspiring look at how wonderful birth can be when your right to choose how, where and with whom you give birth is respected & protected. Every woman has the right to be informed about their options in childbirth. Through an exploration of home birth, this 87 min film looks at what natural, physiological childbirth really is. Is birth a medical emergency waiting to happen or a profound, natural and physiological event that women are designed for? The most comprehensive film ever made on home birth and a voice of reason in the debate, The Face of Birth outlines the importance of education in birthing and the right of a woman to choose the best and safest birth method for her and her baby.

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