AMERICAN DELIVERY – Review by Lois Alter Mark
In case you weren’t already outraged about the state of women’s healthcare, along comes American Delivery, a powerhouse documentary that reminds you that the United States is the most dangerous place in the affluent world to give birth.
Pregnancy and childbirth kill two women a day in the US, the only country where the maternal mortality rate is rising rather than falling. In fact, it’s 10 times higher here than in Europe, with one third of American counties considered maternity care deserts.
Rather than being a harbinger of doom and gloom, though, American Delivery shows how to change all of this. Director Carolyn Jones doesn’t shy away from presenting shocking facts and figures – they’re the only thing that may wake viewers up to the need to elect responsible officials – but she also celebrates the people who are trying to improve them: the nurses, midwives, doctors, advocates working to lower the high-risk stakes of giving birth in the United States.
Many of the women to whom she introduces us originally got involved in the field after their own negative experiences, which they share in detail, as intimately as if they’re talking to their girlfriends. “We must listen to women,” says one of them, who went back to school to become a certified nurse midwife herself following the birth of her second child. The contributions of midwives – true heroines who offer all-around support to mother and baby before, during and after birth – cannot be overstated.
Midwives are so important, they’re a big reason the maternal mortality ratio in Europe is ten times lower than ours. Nurse midwives are present at the majority of European births while only 10 to 12 percent of US births include them. Europe also provides universal healthcare and paid family leave as well as prenatal and postpartum home visits by a nurse, all of which contribute substantially to healthier moms and babies. These are real, practical solutions that would work just as well here if we would only vote to implement them.
As sobering as the numbers are, they’re even worse for women of color. We meet a couple of Black female healthcare CEOs and midwives who are making a difference in underserved communities and who are true role models. They are the helpers Mr. Rogers told us to look for in times of trouble.
Of course, the joy of the movie comes from the babies themselves. It is impossible not to be moved by these new citizens of the planet and by the miracle of their healthy arrival. This is something everyone deserves. There are happy stories and sad stories, all of which underline the importance of making pregnancy and birth safe for both women and babies.
At a time when the federal government is treating women like vessels and encouraging them to have more children, it is vital to make sure there are safeguards in place. Anyone who has the power to make decisions about women’s healthcare should be required to watch American Delivery first. Childbirth is supposed to be a celebration of new life, not a high-stakes game of life and death.
