- Welcome to POV.
I'm Pete Schwaba, host of PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut.
Midwifery is one of the world's oldest occupations.
Studies have shown that the care midwives have provided
during the birthing process have greatly reduced mortality rates
for both moms and babies during childbirth.
But as you will see in tonight's film Arrest the Midwife,
the profession is not without controversy.
The film's lead actor is Elizabeth Catlin,
a popular certified midwife from upstate New York,
where her services were greatly appreciated
in the Mennonite community.
Catlin was not a Mennonite,
but was respected in the community
and had a great reputation among women
who are encouraged to give birth at home.
Catlin has played a part
in roughly half of the region's births for many years.
But in 2018, she transported a woman in labor to the hospital.
The baby was born, but died shortly after due to sepsis.
The family did not hold Catlin responsible,
much less want to see her prosecuted,
but she was arrested months later
and indicted on 95 felony counts,
which included criminal homicide.
These charges created an outrage in the Mennonite community,
sparking serious grassroots activism
in the form of a letter-writing campaign,
along with members of the community pulling together
to pay for Catlin's legal fees.
Arrest the Midwife is directed and produced by Elaine Epstein,
a native of South Africa who splits her time
between Cape Town and Brooklyn, New York.
The director prides herself on telling stories of those
whose voices are underrepresented.
You'd expect nothing less
from someone who founded a company called Underdog Films.
Epstein says the project is a result
of her personal experience.
When deciding to start a family years ago,
Epstein says she and her wife followed the trad route
of using modern medicine for childbirth.
She was alarmed at how impersonal
and detached the process felt.
When a friend of the couples recommended midwifery,
the director says everything about it felt different,
adding that the couple felt listened to
and it was a much more personal process.
But when they went to have their second child,
she realized the midwife unit had been shut down
at her local hospital.
She looked into it and came to the conclusion
that it all came down to money.
Her anger was the origin of tonight's film.
The first challenge for Epstein
was to gain accessibility to the families.
So, she sat down with them for an in-depth talk
long before she brought any film equipment with her.
It proved to be a good move,
as Elaine was able to gain rare access
to this very private community.
The director contrasts the intimacy
and simplicity of home births
with the dysfunction that can happen
while trying to navigate government bureaucracies.
Epstein enhanced her visuals
with a beautifully composed, inspiring score,
showing her heroes rise up and take a stand
in a community not known for speaking up or activism.
So, let's sit back and watch this moving film
from a director who speaks up for underdogs through her films.
She's got another good one.
Arrest the Midwife starts now on PBS Wisconsin,
your home for independent film.