The Australian Birth Rites is a one hour documentary that draws a powerful comparison between the birthing experiences of women living in outback Australia with those of women living in remote regions of arctic Canada. In Australia we assume that women giving birth have their choices and preferences respected. Most Australian women do not imagine that having a baby means being sent by bus or plane far from their home and families, yet this is the very experience of many Aboriginal women living in remote towns in northern and central Australia. Aboriginal culture and western medicine share an uncomfortable interface. The medical establishment has centralised hospital birth services providing the highest level of obstetric care and safety for women experiencing a potentially life-threatening event. For Aboriginal women confronted with the distress of being separated from their family and community the problem appears equally insurmountable. To circumvent the anxiety of being sent away women avoid the medical system. Inuit women in remote Northern Canada have stopped being evacuated for births because they now have a remote birth centre in their small town. Indigenous midwives have been trained locally, and they provide the benefits of both western medicine and their own culture
Credits
Director of photography, Linda Butcher ; editor, Robert Bull ; writers, Linda Rawlings, Jennifer Gherardi
Performer
Narrator, Verity James
Includes participants from the indigenous communities in Northern Canada and outback Australia
Event
Originally produced by Jag Films in 2002
Notes
First released [Sydney] : Australian Film Finance Corporation & Jag Films Pty Ltd., c2002
Closed-captioned in English for the hearing impaired