The Distance to Home Birth

In early 2019, Elizabeth Catlin was arrested on felony charges for lacking the certification to practice midwifery in New York. She covered home births for Mennonites from Canandaigua to Watkins Glen -- a 50-mile area -- for 25 years. These women who relied on her services came to her defense, but Catlin is still awaiting her trial. This left the community without a home birth midwife. For Mennonites, home birth is integral to their traditional way of life that focuses on simplicity and family. The only options left were an uncertified birth attendant or a hospital that was many miles away. Yates County called Brigette Rhody-Garrison, a certified nurse midwife in Rochester, NY, to temporarily fill the gap in maternal care services. She gathered a group of other CNMs to form Community Midwives, a clinic servicing primarily the Mennonite community around Penn Yan. “They deserve care, and they deserve really good care. They should not have to catch each other’s babies,” said Rhody-Garrison. As more women in upstate New York are demanding home births, there is still a long way to go to get equal access to quality maternity care options for everyone.

Role: Co-producer, Cinematographer