Media Alert:

One Night Only: Rhode Island Preview of the Acclaimed Documentary Film,

BIRTH STORY: INA MAY GASKIN AND THE FARM MIDWIVES

with post-screening special guest panel discussion on maternal health

&

the Premier Opening of New England Born – A Visual Sociological Examination by Lisa Gendron

at Brown University

Sarah Doyle Women's Center, the Rhode Island Friends of Midwives, and Women Students at Brown announce a special pre-release screening of BIRTH STORY and the premier of NEW ENGLAND BORN.

BIRTH STORY captures a spirited group of women who taught themselves how to deliver babies on a 1970s hippie commune, rescued modern midwifery from extinction, and changed the way a generation thought about childbirth. Today, as nearly 1/3 of all U.S. babies are born via C-section, they labor on, fighting to preserve their knowledge and pushing, once again, for the rebirth of birth. With incredible access to the midwives’ archival video collection, the film not only captures the unique sisterhood at The Farm Clinic, but shows childbirth the way most people have never seen it--unadorned, unabashed, and awe-inspiring. BIRTH STORY premiered at the 2012 LA Film Festival and won the prestigious Audience Award.

" A disarming example of documentary filmmaking that stakes out an opinion with plain-spoken, commonsensical wisdom" (Variety, Aug 6, 2012)

“...An incredible story...heart-stopping." (Matt Holzman, KCRW)

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NEW ENGLAND BORN is photo documentary project on American birth practice as it relates to cultural values and belief systems. Through images and text this works seeks to examine the ways in which systems of beliefs intersect with health care policy, and practice in human birth.

Friday, February 8, 2013

List Art Center (List 120), Brown University, 64 College St.

6pm New England Born Opening

6:45pm Birth Story Screening followed by Panel Discussion

Free and Open to the Public!

Running Time: 95 minutes birthstorymovie.com Directors: Sara Lamm & Mary Wigmore

Rhode Island Friends of Midwives’ (RIFOM) mission is to improve maternal and infant outcomes; to support birth options for the families of Rhode Island; and to work toward policy change that would license all Certified Professional Midwives. The film screening was generously co-sponsored by various Brown University offices, including the Office of Institutional Diversity, the Pembroke Center, the Division of Campus Life, the Graduate School, and the School of Public Health.