Two days ago I had the opportunity to talk to a class of first year medical students about home birth. As part of the class, I showed them a 25 minute clip from the beginning of the film. It was the first time anyone outside our core team has had a look at what we've been working on.
I captured this response from one of the students and wanted to share it. Please forgive the lack of editing, we're spending energy on editing the film--this was just for fun.
He was responding to something Robyn, the OB/GYN in the film says about birth not being just a medical event, but a family event, a social event, and a personal transformation. He wasn't the only one that responded this way.
Many had never thought about home birth at all and were curious and open. I had them write down their views of home birth prior to the film and discussion, then asked them how their ideas had changed at the end.
Another student had this to say, "This film was one of the most well made I have seen and I loved the view from a variety of medical professionals. I'm starting to accept home birth as an option and may be leaning toward it myself."
I hope that many more medical schools and nursing schools can use this film as a teaching tool.
It's still a long way from finished, but watching the rough cut with them confirmed that we're on the right track and this is a project worth all the time and energy we're putting into it.