WAGS Screens Guerilla Midwife

This past Sunday afternoon in Twilight Hall, the program in Women’s and Gender Studies, Chellis House and Women's Resource Center held a screening of Guerrilla Midwife, a film that follows Robin Lim and her incredible experiences as a modern midwife. Lim’s business partner in Vermont, Katherine Bramhall, cited the film as being particularly important because “peace is becoming more and more imperative in our modern world.”

It was the premier presentation of the film in the northeast and Lim hopes that by showing it at the College, young people — women especially — will become more aware of the problems in the way that America handles childbirth.

Karin Hanta, director of Chellis House, wrote in an email about her impression of Lim on Sunday.

“She beautifully spoke about the connections between a gentle birth and a life dedicated to non-violence.

I wish every student on campus could have come to this film. Many of our students will have children of their own one day and it would be good for them to have some knowledge of what options are out there to provide the most humane maternal and child care.”

Hanta expressed her wish, in the context of Lim’s work and film, that the United States stop the industrialization of childbirth and reassess methods for dealing with such a life-changing event.

In 1995, Lim found the non-profit organization Bumi Sehat Foundation International to help women in need with all matters relating to pregnancy or maternal health. The program initially began in Bali where Lim set-up a birthing clinic and since then programs have also been started in Aceh and Haiti.

The Bumi Sehat Foundation International, according to its website, “is based on a foundation of three very simple principles: respect for nature, respect for culture and the wise implementation of the science of medicine.”

In 2011, Lim was named one of CNN’s “Heroes of the Year” for her humanitarian efforts for female victims of natural disasters or political unrest and her continuing global advocacy for natural births.

The film, Guerrilla Midwife, was shot over a six-year period by Lim’s daughter. Her daughter followed her as she traveled around the world helping pregnant women give birth in the most peaceful manner possible. In the film, Lim’s daughter shares her earliest memories of her mother and recalled “my mother smelled of newness.”

The film depicted Lim’s relief efforts after the tsunami in Aceh as well as her work in Bali. It also addressed the United States’ shortcomings in terms of the natural births that occur.

According to the film, in the United States only .6 percent of children are born at home, where as 70-80 percent of children are born at home in the rest of the world.

“A lot of lobbying work remains to be done: 10 states in the U.S. still prohibit midwife-assisted home births,” said Hanta.

In 2010 Amnesty International published called “Deadly Delivery: The Maternal Health Care Crisis in the USA.” The study documented that although the U.S. spends more money than any other country on health care, we rank only 41 in the world for maternal mortality rates, about the same as countries like Slovakia and Latvia. The report stated, “this is not just a matter of public health, but a human rights issue.”

Hanta called for changing the country’s policies for maternal leave to encourage births with less stress.

“In my native country, Austria, one of the parents can stay home with the newborn for up to two years, while still drawing wages and having a guarantee that they can return to their jobs,” she said.

In a question and answer session following the film, Lim said, “we must concern ourselves with marrying the medical model of care with the holistic model.”

Lim expressed the need for more awareness in our country concerning this issue. She acknowledged that while health care should be given to all, it will never be free.

“Healthcare is a human right, but it still costs money,” said Lim.