Give Light Film: Stories from Indigenous Midwives

GIVE LIGHT: Stories from Indigenous Midwives is a new documentary that brings the voice
of Indigenous Midwives to the maternity care dialogue in partnership with Northampton
Community College (NCC) will be hosting an in-person screening on November 9th from 11-1
pm in the Northampton Community College (NCC), College Center 220. An incredible panel
discussion will follow the screening.
In GIVE LIGHT, filmmaker Steph Smith criss-crosses the globe posing the question “why are
the benefits of the traditional midwife practice absent in most modern care?”
GIVE LIGHT explores the maternity care crisis worldwide and moves audiences towards
bridging the gap between traditional wisdom and modern technology. With over 90% of women
birthing in hospitals, the US has the highest maternal and infant mortality rates among
comparable developed countries and extreme racial disparity in mortality rates (from the
Center for American Progress 2019). Midwives have been proven to decrease risk of
unnecessary interventions, and increase satisfaction with quality of care. Yet, less than 10% of
births are attended by midwives in the United States and lower in other countries. Why?
Through unique access to interviews with Indigenous Midwives from five continents, GIVE
LIGHT examines the benefits and challenges to the profession of midwifery