Doctors and nurses who attend hospital birthing yet choose to give birth themselves, at home explore risk, safety, and the experience of childbirth in America in an upcoming documentary out of Petaluma, Sonoma County.
"Why Not Home?" is a feature length documentary currently in production. Through the stories of five doctors, nurses, and hospital based midwives we get a personal look at risk, safety and the experience of childbirth in America. These women have attended hundreds, some thousands of births in the hospital, yet chose to have their children at home.
“Too often the voices you hear in the media on the topic of birth place are polarizing and dogmatic. That kind of discourse doesn’t move us forward toward the improvements we need for women, families, and society.” - Jessicca Moore, filmmaker
When Jessicca Moore became pregnant with first child in 2008, just like 99% of American women, she expected to give birth in her local hospital. During her pregnancy, however, she learned that for low-risk women such as herself, giving birth at home was a viable option. At first Jessicca explored non-hospital birth options such as freestanding birth centers, but soon began to wonder, "Why not home?"
A few months later, she delivered a healthy baby boy at home, under the care of highly-qualified birth attendants who knew her well and supported her throughout her labor and delivery.
When it came to the birth of her second child, also planned at home, she wanted to document the event and share her experience with others who may have questions and misperceptions about out of hospital birth.
So she partnered with a local filmmaker and began talking to doctors, nurses and midwives about birth:
“It wasn’t easy to get some of them to agree to be filmed at first, especially OB/GYNs. There’s a feeling that you’re turning your back on your profession or somehow casting judgement on the care your colleagues give. It took some time to get everyone on board...Ultimately, the women we interviewed decided that it was important enough to tell their story that they were willing to risk the professional fallout. They don’t dislike hospitals, but they also don’t think every birth has to happen in the hospital.”
"Why Not Home?" compassionately presents a balanced, moderate, and nuanced view of birth, the choices it invites and the personal insights this journey presents.
Jessicca Moore, lives in Petaluma, CA with her husband, two children, and two sheep where she works as a family nurse practitioner and filmmaker. You can watch a trailer for her film, “Why Not Home?” at whynothome.com
Kickstarter campaign live Sept 1-Oct 11
twitter/instagram @whynothome
facebook @ Why not Home?
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