Weekend Movie: Birth and Indigenous Identity in Ecuador

I saw this very interesting documentary at the Society for Applied Anthropology meeting in Seattle earlier this year: Cañar, Ecuador: Birth and Indigenous Identity in the 21st Century.

Ecuador is a country of extraordinary beauty and diversity, captured in this stunning film about a group of indigenous women in the Andean Highlands. Preview this documentary produced by anthropologist Suzanne Morrissey and film maker Patricia Keith. The stories of mothers, midwives, and nurses trace the complex relationships between indigenous politics, social change, and health care choices. Why in spite of a strong resurgence of native midwifery in the past decade are women like Lucinda, Veronica, and Rosa choosing to give birth in hospitals rather than at home, electing pain medications and epidurals while respecting and desiring traditional practices? How does Mama Mariana, revered midwife and Ministry of Health nurse, convince the State to allow midwives to assist in births at the public hospitals?

I'm busy this week reading and planning for a class discussion in my reproductive health anthropology class - the topic is birth and breastfeeding! More on that later :)