Guerilla Midwife documentary & Future of Birth in Michigan discussion

Guerilla Midwife &
Future of Birth in Michigan
6 p.m. Doors. Film at 6:30 p.m.
Thursday  March 3
Wealthy Street Theater
1130 Wealthy SE, Grand Rapids
Donations to International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN) and Bumi Sehat Foundation International

Why is a film about a midwife serving the poor in the Philippines relevant to the Grand Rapids community? A community with its own Medical Mile boasting some of the most high-tech obstetric services available today?

Because birth is not about technology. It is about humanity. Not just the human infant or its immediate family, but about how we weave the very fabric of our culture. That fabric is warped, frayed, weak and unevenly woven. Getting back to humane birth—birth where the mother is empowered by her community to give birth naturally and in connection to herself and her child—is an essential piece to the sustainability of a humane human race.

While US obstetric units boast about the latest in ultrasound imagery, fetal monitoring capability, easy epidurals and a technological answer to every complication that might arise, our infant mortality rates remain embarrassingly high (second highest on the world with African American babies twice as likely to die).

Our infants grow to be preschoolers diagnosed as bi-polar and elementary students medicated for ADHD. Autism is practically an epidemic. And, when technology and prescribed medicines don’t do the trick, our teens turn to illegal drugs. As adults, we struggle not only with a host of health issues but also with dysfunction in our relationships.

What does that have to do with birth? Everything. Come and find out why—and to see the simple alternative that could start us on the path to reclaiming wellness, real community,  healthy relationships and a sustainable culture.

View the trailer: