Maternal death and living on the ‘edge of joy’
Last night, PBS NewsHour aired a clip from “Edge of Joy,” a documentary on maternal health in Nigeria by filmmaker Dawn Shapiro. The film is one of four winners from The Economist Film Project, a partnership with the NewsHour to showcase independent documentaries from around the world.
Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour.
The film takes place in a busy maternal world in Nigeria, a country that has one of the highest maternal death rates in the world. Many of the causes of death — like postpartum hemorrhage, the No. 1 killer of pregnant women — are preventable. But because of lack of blood supply for transfusions, many new moms lose their lives.
Religion adds a layer of complication to the issue. The documentary was shot in the northern Islamic state of Kano, one of the most difficult and dangerous regions in which to be a woman. As a result, the interplay of Islamic law and modern medicine make improving reproductive health a delicate process.
Watch the excerpt of “Edge of Joy” in the player above, or read the transcript here. And be sure to keep an eye out for the other three documentaries in the series. They should all be good!
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