Tactics or production of subjectivities? Analyzing the activist documentary film for the humanization of childbirth

Abstract

In the 1940s a North American nurse showed the first movie that was recorded about childbirth in the Americas. Inspired by the theories of the English obstetrician Grantly Dick-Read that claimed the deconstruction needed “the horrible images on childbirth” Margaret Gamer opened a field of actions during the 1990s and 2000s when cinema became the key to fight for childbirth humanization: the documentary film. Investigating the history of what is known as “Movement for the humanization of childbirth assistance” we can see a narrow joint between an advance in politics and research and a boom in childbirth films. In this speech, we will deeply analyze in depth the speeches on childbirth humanization in four films that were famous in different Countries [Orgasmic Birth (USA, 2008) Debra Pascali-Bonaro, Le Premier Cri (France, 2007) by Gilles Maistre, Freedom for Birth (UK, 2013) Toni Harman and Alex Wakeford and finally O Renascimento do Parto (Brasil, 2013) Erica de Paula and Eduardo Chauvet] in order to try to explain the key function of this cultural production to satisfy a demand through an intense production of subjectivity.