For Immediate Release:
Contact: Mary Lugo at 770/623-8190 ([log in to unmask])
ITVS PRESENTS "BORN IN THE U.S.A.," A PROVOCATIVE LOOK AT HAVING BABIES IN
AMERICA,
PREMIERING OCTOBER 23rd ON PBS

Each year, approximately four million babies are born in the United States,
the vast majority in a hospital with a physician in attendance.  Three out
of every four Americans becomes a parent, yet most of us know very little
about the actual process of giving birth until we actually experience it.
Until then, most of what we know is based on hearsay, misconception and TV
sitcoms.  BORN IN THE U.S.A., produced and directed by filmmakers (and
parents) Marcia Jarmel and Ken Schneider, explores the current state of
birthing in America - one that is far more medically-based than many experts
think necessary.   BORN IN THE U.S.A. will air nationally on PBS on October
23rd (check local listings) as part of the second season of the acclaimed
PBS series, "Independent Lens."  "Independent Lens" is a ten-week series
showcasing the best of contemporary independent television, including
documentaries, features and shorts.
The state of birthing in the U.S. is complex and controversial.  While we
now routinely use technology that saves countless lives that might have been
lost just ten years ago, this technology has also led to one of the highest
C-section rates in the world - one in five-and more than half of all births
involve some type of surgical or operative procedure.
Are all these procedures necessary?  How much technology is appropriate for
the average, low-risk woman?   Can this technology actually create
complications?  How does the big business of healthcare and the threat of
malpractice impact what choices are available?   If we as a nation spend
more per birth than any other country, why do we still have one of the
highest rates of infant mortality in the industrialized world?  Are the full
range of safe options - including midwife assisted births at home and in
birthing centers-available to all women?
BORN IN THE U.S.A. is the first public television documentary to provide an
in-depth look at childbirth in America.  It offers a fascinating overview of
birthing, beginning with the early days of our country when almost everyone
knew of mothers or babies who died in childbirth.  As medicine advanced,
maternal and infant mortality rates dropped radically.  Hospitals were soon
promoted as the safe, modern way to have a baby.  By the 1950's, women were
giving birth while completely knocked out, while doctors delivered their
babies with forceps.  With the 60's and the rise of the women's movement,
women began to question this practice.  Today, many traditional hospitals
and physicians are rethinking their policies, midwives are making a slow but
steady comeback, birthing centers are opening and people are finding out
that there's more than one way to give birth in America.
The film profiles three caregivers: Joanne, an obstetrician working at a
Philadelphia teaching hospital; Heike, a licensed midwife attending home
births in Seattle; and Jennifer, a certified nurse-midwife who strives to
bring the best of both traditions to a birthing center in the Bronx.
Immediate and intimate, BORN IN THE U.S.A. captures the candid reflections
of a variety of mothers, doctors and midwives, providing viewers with a
fascinating inside look into the world of birthing in America.
The film is available for purchase through FANLIGHT PRODUCTIONS,
www.fanlight.com or 1-800-937-4113. Ask if you qualify for the community
organization/independent professional discount.
* * *
About the Filmmakers
Marcia Jarmel's (Director, Co-Producer, Writer) recent film, "The Return of
Sarah's Daughters," has screened at the American Cinematheque, The
International Documentary Film Festival, Women in the Director's Chair and
festivals around the U.S., Canada, and Australia.  It won a CINE Golden
Eagle, a National Educational Media Network Gold Apple and First Place in
the Jewish Video Competition. She was co-editor and associate producer of
the Academy Award nominee "For Better or For Worse," and assistant producer
of "Berkeley in the Sixties" and "Freedom On My Mind."  She is the mother of
two boys, 4-year-old Mica and his new brother, Jaden.
Ken Schneider (Co-Producer, Editor) has edited numerous PBS documentaries,
including "Regret To Inform," "Ancestors in America, Part 2: Chinese in the
Frontier West," and "Making Peace: Rebuilding Our Communities." He was first
editor of Frontline's Columbia-DuPont winning "School Colors" and co-edited
Jarmel's "The Return of Sarah's Daughters."  He has taught video production
and editing at the City College of San Francisco.  He was sound and
assistant picture editor for the national Emmy-winning "Last Images of War"
and is Dad to the aforementioned sons, Mica and Jaden.

* * *

About the Main Characters Featured in the Film
At the time of filming, Joanne Armstrong, MPH, MD, was an Assistant Clinical
Professor at Jefferson Medical College and Thomas Jefferson University in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She taught residents and medical students, and
directed both the Obstetrical Quality Assurance program and the Family
Center, a program for drug-addicted pregnant women.  She is currently
Regional Medical Director for Women's Health, Aetna USHealthcare as well as
an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Baylor College of
Medicine, Houston, TX. She has a Master's in Public Health from the
University of Michigan, a medical degree from the University of Medicine and
Dentistry of N.J./N.J. Medical School, and she completed her residency at
the Women and Infant's Hospital at Brown University.  During medical school
she spent time in a midwife-run clinic in Tel Aviv, Israel, and delivered
babies in rural western Kenya. She has been in practice for 11 years and has
helped to deliver 2,000 babies.
Jennifer Dorhn, CNM, is Director of Midwifery Services at the Childbearing
Center of Morris Heights, the first birthing center in the United States to
serve inner-city women of diverse backgrounds. Jennifer also directs the
midwifery education program at Columbia University School of Nursing, and
works internationally, particularly in South Africa, to develop health care
options for women. She is also the mother of three wonderful children.
Heike Doyle, LM, CPM, has been a practicing midwife for eleven years.
Born in
Germany and trained in the United States, she is a graduate of the Seattle
Midwifery School and has attended over 500 births. A mother of three, Heike
maintains a private practice called Eastside Midwives in Woodenville,
Washington, where she catches babies both in client's homes and at the Puget
Sound Birthing Center. Heike is an active member of the Midwives' Alliance
of North America, has been on the board of the Midwives Association of
Washington State, and is a member of the Clinician Workgroup to Integrate
Complementary and Alternative Practitioners, a task force mandated by the
state of Washington to ensure cooperation among diverse groups of health
care providers.

LITTLE KNOWN FACTS ABOUT CHILDBIRTH IN THE U.S.

o Three out of every four Americans becomes a parent.
o Childbirth comprises 1/5th of all health care expenditures in the U.S.
o The U.S. spends more per birth than any other country, and yet, has one of
the highest rates of infant mortality in the industrialized world.
o African American babies are two to three times more likely to die in
childbirth than their white counterparts. The mortality rate for African
American mothers is four times higher than for whites.
o Today more than one out of every five U.S. babies (22%) is born by
cesarean section, despite the 15% benchmark set by the Center for Disease
Control (CDC) in 1990.  Well over half of all American births involve some
type of surgical or operative procedure-cesarean section, episiotomy, vacuum
extraction, and forceps.
o A variety of technologies have become standard procedure in American
births without being studied conclusively for efficacy or risk. For example:
electronic fetal monitoring is used in nearly all births, even though
medical trials have shown it increases the likelihood of a cesarean section
and does not improve fetal outcomes in low-risk women. Doctors cite custom
and the threat of lawsuits as reasons.
o A 1998 CDC study concluded that midwives cost less than physicians and
have at least as good, if not better, outcomes  for low-risk women. In
Western countries with better infant outcomes, midwives catch over 70% of
babies. Here in the U.S., midwives attend only 7% of all births.
o Experts suggest that between $13 and $20 billion a year could be saved in
health care costs by developing midwifery care, demedicalizing childbirth,
and encouraging breastfeeding.
o The American medical community has never supported midwifery as an
independent profession despite its exemplary track record, and has a long
and vocal history of opposition.
o In 1999, the National Organization for Women (NOW) voted for the first
time to expand its definition of reproductive rights to include choice of
birth attendant and setting. Nevertheless, the conditions of childbirth are
rarely part of the dialogue about women's health.

================++++++++++++++++++====================+++++++++
Look for the broadcast of BORN IN THE U.S.A. on PBS October 23, 2000 (check
local listings). Let us know if you'd like to help get the word out in your
community.

PatchWorks Productions
Ken Schneider and Marcia Jarmel, Producers
430 Steiner Street #8 San Francisco, CA  94117
(415) 626-9902 (voice) (415) 626-4767 (fax)
[log in to unmask]

********************************************************
Linda J. Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC
Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre
Dayton, OH USA
http://www.bflrc.com

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