All language subtitles for T C S01E03 1080p WEB h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

We have parents starving
to feed their children.

Enough is enough.

Salmon farming is a fucking
environmental catastrophe.

If we don't stand together, we
cannot have this country we
want.

[people chanting]

NARRATOR: In today's world,
everybody wants their voice to
be heard.

Do not think this will not
affect you.

NARRATOR: But when the
people in power don't
listen...

The laws that are being put out
now is purely out of hatred.

...you need to come together
to make real change.

But don't walk past here
with your noses up.

In this global series, we will
follow a team of
international activists.

We have to speak out.
You have to use your voice,

you have to be courageous,
and you have to be brave.

Nobody should be abandoned to
die.

[speaking Spanish]

We can save many lives if we
act not through hatred,
violence, or division.

These activists will
inspire and revolutionize

the work of local
campaigners...

Now we face a threat extinction

of everything we know and love.

...who are struggling to make
a difference in their own
communities...

[shouting]

It is Black people who are
being murdered by a system

that doesn't care enough about
them.

Y'all ready? Y'all ready?

...as they work together to
see if they can shine a light
on injustice

and transform their lives for
good.

This work is, like, super
important. It's really life or
death.

So... good luck.

Stand up, fight back!

♪♪

[gentle orchestral music
playing]

♪♪

[baby fussing]

Since you're just so cozy on
the scale, I'm gonna go ahead
and do your assessment.

My name is Jamarah Amani. I am
a midwife.

Can I listen to your heart?
And your lungs? It's okay?

NARRATOR: Jamarah is a
midwife

who works exclusively in
people's homes and birthing
centers.

JAMARAH: Midwives are
the oldest profession.

We've been around
since the beginning of time.

We've kept communities alive
and safe.

Yeah.

To be invited into the most
intimate spaces in people's
lives,

to be invited into their homes,

to care for them at a really
vulnerable time in their lives,

it's absolutely an honor.

Okay. Perfect.

[birds chirping]

Okay, now I need to open her
chart...

NARRATOR: Jamarah's activism
focuses on providing support

to Black and brown
communities who lack access
to healthcare.

- JAMARAH: Are you having any
pain today? - PATIENT: No.

JAMARAH: Midwives, you know,
take a lot of time with our
clients.

Because of the communities that
we're working in and working
with,

there's lots of layers.

It's not just about showing up
and having a good birth.

It's really about supporting
them in nutrition,

access to foods, emotional
health.

So we're trying to look at
a person's entire life.

Anything uncomfortable here?

- PATIENT: No.
- JAMARAH: Okay.

It's very different than a
visit with an obstetrician or a
doctor,

where usually the visits are
pretty quick.

So you have a very mild
separation.

- PATIENT: Mm-hmm.
- It's very minor.

So it's about building
a wraparound support system

so that they can feel like they
always have someone to go to.

And that's what it actually is
gonna take to address these
health disparities.

NARRATOR: In a recent study,
71% of Black and brown women
age 18-49,

reported negative experiences
within the US healthcare
system.

Because of this, more Black
and brown mothers are opting

for births away from the
hospital setting.

For Jamarah, a traumatic
incident in hospital during

the birth of her second child
motivated her to become a
community midwife.

JAMARAH: My second birth
was transformational

because I didn't have a
midwife.

I was subject to the care
of the white nursing staff,

and there was a nurse who told
me that if I didn't stop moving
around

and stay in the bed,
then my baby could die.

All I wanted to do was walk
and squat and change positions

the way that my body felt
naturally to do.

She actually came in at one
point and said, "You're gonna
kill your baby."

Which wasn't true. It was a
lie.

I was angry in labor, and I
didn't wanna labor in that way.

There's just so much fear-based
care in the hospital,

and I said to myself
after that experience,

"I will never give birth
in the hospital again."

And I said, "I really need to
become a midwife,

"because there need to be
more providers in the community

"that can provide
compassionate, respectful, and
dignified care."

♪♪

NARRATOR: Data from the
Maternity Mortality Review
Committee

has revealed that the
majority of maternal deaths

are preventable
with the right intervention.

Jamarah leads a nonprofit
organization

with the aim of
providing that intervention.

I am the executive director
of a nonprofit organization

known as Southern Birth Justice
Network,

and we are doing a lot of work
to build the birth justice
movement,

everything from
policy advocacy to education,

building the workforce of birth
workers,

who can provide excellent and
quality care to marginalized
communities.

NARRATOR: Their mission is to
build a network of Black
community midwives.

But funding is scarce.

JAMARAH:So many of us are doing
it unpaid.

Many of us are doing it from
our hearts.

Many of us are sacrificing our
families,

because there just
aren't enough resources.

Black women are really
trying to save our communities

by literally taking the threads
out of our shoestrings

and trying to build something.

NARRATOR: Jamarah wants to
amplify the work of the SBJN

to attract more funding and
to reach more vulnerable
women.

And Dr. Waheed Arian
from the Changemakers team

has been drafted in
to collaborate with her.

WAHEED: A lot of the people
who go on to bring a change,

they start with a simple
action.

They inspire others around
them, and that's how a movement
is born.

NARRATOR: Waheed is an
internationally-renowned

humanitarian and activist.

He's also leading physician
who works closely with

powerful health organizations
across the globe.

WAHEED: This will give me a
purpose,

to give to others in need,
through my voice,

to reduce healthcare
inequalities for everyone,

regardless of their race,
background, or religion.

NARRATOR: As a teenager,
Waheed fled war-torn
Afghanistan

and became a refugee in the
UK.

Fifteen years later,
he combined his profession

with his passion for
technology

to develop an award-winning
digital platform,

which has helped hundreds of
thousands of people

without access to healthcare.

WAHEED: So I'm interested in
innovation, which is
understanding that people

who are experiencing a problem,
and then coming up with an
efficient solution.

NARRATOR: His global reach
could help shine a light

on the injustice Jamarah is
fighting.

Where there is injustice, where
there is healthcare inequality,

I want to do something about
it.

WAHEED: Hi, Flavia, hi, Sean,
hi, Trinice!

NARRATOR: Before he meets
Jamarah in person,

Waheed wants to check in
with the Changemakers team.

What do you think are the
confounding factors, or factors
contributing to

maternal mortality
amongst Black women?

At the bottom of this,
Waheed, is racism and
patriarchy. Right?

Just two weeks ago, there was
a woman-- she was 31 years
old--

went into a hospital in
California,

complaining that she could
not feel her legs after
getting a C-section.

Five hours later, she died.

Because hospitals, right,
and nurses and doctors,

don't listen to Black women.

It's because you do not care
about Black women,
historically.

What does it mean to just
have to take what you're
given

because that's all you can
access in your community?

So I think it's really
important for you, as a
medically trained doctor,

to be thinking about that.

Because we don't trust you
already, right?

You're not a Black doctor
that's talking to Black
women.

So this work is, like,
super important, right?

And it's really--
it's really life or death.

So... good luck.

♪♪

NARRATOR: This morning,
Waheed is meeting Jamarah

for the first time at her
clinic in North Miami...

JAMARAH: Hey!

Another one of my babies.

NARRATOR: ...where she's
hosting a support group for
new Black mothers

who've lost faith in the
hospital system.

I know that the Changemaker
is a cisgender man,

and also is someone who is a
doctor.

I have some thoughts about
that.

We have a very strong critique
of misogyny and obstetric
violence.

I don't know how open-minded he
might be around what
specifically

Black people in this country,
in this social context, are
experiencing.

WAHEED: I'm nervous for various
reasons.

One, that I'm brown, going into
this Black community,

Black woman's world.

I'm also a physician.

How do I start that
conversation?

How do I build a relationship?

How do I try to find out more
about the problems without
causing offense?

JAMARAH: Hi!

Hi, Jamarah.

- JAMARAH: Hey! I'm cold.
[laughs] - So lovely to see
you.

Usually we do these groups
just to encourage bonding

and sharing of stories.

So people will talk about their
experiences of pregnancy and
giving birth,

some challenges they may have
faced, fears, and...

and then talk about the future,
what they envision.

All right, y'all!

- Welcome.
- MOTHER: Hello.

- WAHEED: Hello.
- This is Dr. Waheed Arian.

- Just Waheed. - WAHEED:
Waheed, please, Waheed.

- Nice to meet you.
- MOTHER: Nice to meet you.

NARRATOR: Also joining the
group today is mum-to-be
Lisa.

I'm Lisa. This is my first
pregnancy. I'm 34 weeks
pregnant.

And this my first time here.
[giggles]

- Wow!
- LISA: Yes.

- Very nice to meet you, Lisa.
- LISA: You too.

- WAHEED: You must be very
excited. - LISA: Yes.

NARRATOR: Lisa has already
decided to avoid a hospital
birth at all costs.

LISA: I've seen the stories,
especially of women of color.

The complications in the
hospitals are, like, super
high.

- Mm-hmm.
- LISA: Either I do it at home,

or I find a birthing center to
do it at, but I wouldn't--

My first option wouldn't be a
hospital.

- Because you're scared
about... - Exactly.

- ...what you've heard.
- Yeah.

So it's not necessarily my
experience.

It's like, I know someone that
knows someone that shares the
story.

Yeah, it's, like, word of
mouth.

JAMARAH: There is a fear
among Black birthing people

that, "I'm gonna go to the
hospital, and they're not going
to believe me.

"They're not gonna listen to
me. They're gonna ignore me,

"and I'm not gonna get the care
that I need, and that could
cost me my life."

And there's a very valid fear.

Tam, Anna, and Carmen,
all of you have had--

and myself too--
hospital birth experiences.

So, she's a memorable
experience.

NARRATOR: Before finding
Jamarah,

mother of four Tam
had two hospital births.

TAM: I had a lot of issues
throughout the pregnancy.

So I was on special care
with specialists,

and, um, when I-- when it
finally became time for me to
have the baby,

I got into triage, and I had my
birthing ball with me,

and, um... all the nurses start
laughing,

and they go, "Oh, you got a
birthing ball with you?

"What's that ball gonna do for
you? It's gonna help you out,
huh?

"All right, well, you let us
know."

They just heckled me
all the way down the hallway.

When you're having a baby,
you wanna be in a safe space.

I wasn't in a safe space. I
wasn't with people that I felt
cared at all.

So, for sure, I knew with the
next babies,

I would not subject myself to
that unless I really had to.

- Carmen, did you want to share
a story? - CARMEN: Sure.

Every hospital birth I had,
it wad, um, chaotic.

Not much was explained to me,
especially with my first.

Um, I was told when I was in
triage to shut up, because I
was screaming.

It was my first baby, so I
didn't ex-- didn't understand.
Yeah, unfortunately.

So it gave me that trauma of
being told to shut up when I
went with my next one.

And that's my experience.

ANNA: My second baby,
we went for a birthing center,

but it ended up being that we
had to transfer to a hospital.

They were kind of, like,
pinging the baby back and forth

between the emergency room and
the NICU,

and the thing that they were
saying at the NICU was that

"We cannot take her, she's a
dirty baby."

There's always that question,
like... are they being racist?

The two times that I've
encountered it, both were Black
moms.

But the way the term was
explained to me, both by a
doctor and a nurse,

was that it doesn't refer to
race,

that it refers to, literally,
they gave birth outside of the
hospital.

Obviously it has those
derogatory

- implications to it, yeah.
- Yes.

Everything other than our race
would've been, like,

completely and absolutely
obvious to them, you know?

So we use the word "dirty" to
describe wounds, mainly,
actually.

So "dirty" meaning that it's
contaminated

and that it could be a
life-threatening situation so
we act on it quickly,

when many times that patient
needs to be taken to the
theater for something

- called "deep washing," as
well. - JAMARAH: Well, that
makes sense.

- That makes sense.
- That makes more sense.

Yes. But I haven't come across
it calling a human dirty, in
that sense.

- JAMARAH: Yeah.
- So that is very degrading.

I'm really sorry. I have to
apologize on behalf of,
actually, the medical community

for using that for a newborn
baby.

It's-- it's not the word
that should be used.

[pensive music playing]

[Waheed exhales]

WAHEED: I do think that the way
that Jamarah's going about

building a community is very
important.

There's accumulation of fear of
going to a hospital, seeing a
doctor.

But in talking about
these stories, openly,

and how much they're playing a
part in creating that anxiety
as well?

First-time-mum Lisa,
she had decided beforehand

that she didn't want to go to
hospital.

She decided that she wanted
to go to a birthing place.

And when I asked her
where's that fear coming from,

she said, "Oh, it's a lot of
word of mouth."

So I'm actually concerned at
how much it adds to the
animosity

against the medical world,

how much of a distance
it creates in itself.

'Cause I don't know.

NARRATOR: A systematic review
published in Academic
Emergency Medicine

revealed that the majority
of white physicians in the US

harbor unconscious racial
biases,

which can lead to
substandard communication

and poor clinical outcomes
for the Black and brown
population.

This in turn has nurtured a
deep-rooted mistrust of the
healthcare system.

[tense music playing]

NARRATOR: Having heard the
experiences of Jamarah's
mothers' group,

Waheed wants to meet a fellow
physician to get a deeper
understanding of the issues.

WAHEED: As a physician,
we look for evidence.

I don't think I'm gonna
get all the answers,

but I really want to verify
that some of the suggestions

which are linking medical
practice, and also racism
directly,

to high mortality amongst Black
women.

- DR. MAGLOIRE: Hi!
- WAHEED: Good morning.

DR. MAGLOIRE: Good morning,
good morning.

- WAHEED: Hello.
- How are you?

I've been looking forward to
meeting you.

Oh, nice to meet you too.

- WAHEED: Thank you so much for
having me. - Oh, of course.
Have a seat, take a seat.

NARRATOR: Dr. Christ-Ann
Magloire is a leading
physician

who has worked in Miami
hospitals for over 20 years.

WAHEED: Dr. Magloire,
I have so many questions.

Oh, wow.

I've been educated on the
various levels of racism that
exist...

- DR. MAGLOIRE: Right.
- ...and how that impacts

- maternal health for Black
women. - Right.

Before coming here, I was
looking at stats, I was looking
at data.

- Okay. - But it was not making
sense to me.

Racism is a form of chronic
stress.

So these women have been
impacted by this chronic stress
from birth.

In terms of having differences
in schools, differences in
education, employment.

They're getting lower pay. They
lack access to proper
nutrition.

Difference in access to
healthcare, access to housing.

Every turn, there's something
causing an obstacle

where they're not able to
reach their potential, right?

And because of that, that
chronic stress causes
physiologic changes in the
body.

Whether it be hypertension,
high blood pressure,

whether it be diabetes.

That is one of the reasons why
they also have a higher
mortality.

I can see there's a vicious
cycle that the more they're
stressed,

the more they're malnourished,

the less they will be able to
do well in their education...

- Right.
- ...at work.

- So you can see that impact
sort of... - Full circle.

...going all around, in full
circle.

Another aspect, some of the
information that I got from
Jamarah.

She's a midwife, she's
advocating for Black maternal
health.

And she has mentioned
how underlying medical care,

there's an institutional
racism.

Well, institutional racism,
again, is more like an implicit
bias, right?

So a woman walks into a medical
office,

you know, where maybe she
doesn't see the people that
look like her.

They go into the room, and
sometimes maybe the doctor's
talking to her,

but not really talking to her.
They're looking on their
computer,

doing all these things, and not
really engaged with the person,

and not listening to see what
is happening with that woman.

There's other things going on
in her life that impacts

- what's goin' on with her
care. - Of course.

Then, the woman, now,
if she feels discouraged,

she's not gonna go to the
office as much.

She might start missing out
her prenatal visits.

So it's not necessarily an
overt racism.

It's just the aspects of how
everything goes into, like,
this domino effect.

And unfortunately, that last
domino

- is where the woman possibly
can die. - Mm-hmm.

Even me, as a physician,
the care was very compromised,

very different, at the
hospital.

And since then, I remember at
one time, when I was 35, 36
weeks,

and my physician, you know, she
was doing my blood pressure,

and she said, "Oh, your blood
pressure's normal."

I'm like, "Yeah, it's normal.
It's always normal."

"Oh, I know, I just-- Are you
taking antihypertensives?

"Are you taking any medications
for high blood pressure?"

I said, "No, why would I be
taking

- "medication for high blood
pressure?" - That was an
assumption.

- Yes.
- That you would be expected to

- have a high blood pressure.
- Yeah, I'm supposed to have

- high blood pressure, right. -
As a pregnant woman, or is it a
Black--

Well, exactly. As a Black
pregnant woman,

she assumed that I should
have high blood pressure.

And since I'm a doctor,

I should have access to the
medications to control that,

she accused me of taking
blood pressure medication.

I mean, that's crazy.

- WAHEED: How did that make you
feel? - Oh, terrible. Of
course.

I was like, "Wow."

So, in that regard,

that implicit bias, that
racism,

is where they get the
difference in level of care.

♪♪

I wanted to find out from a
medic who's working with
hospitals,

just to really highlight
some of the disparities

that Jamarah pointed out, that
how they're contributing to
higher mortality.

DR. MAGLOIRE: Miss Joseph?

WAHEED: And I thought that's
what I got from Dr. Magloire,

who has been subject
of that system herself.

I think that really confirms
everything that Jamarah's been
talking about.

I like your jacket.

- This is Casheous.
- Thank you.

[both laughing]

Usually, in my professional
life as a global health
activist,

I have an idea about the
community, of other problems
they're working on.

DR. MAGLOIRE: You haven't been
to the hospital recently? You
have not?

- MISS JOSEPH: Not.
- DR. MAGLOIRE: Okay.

Coming here, to Jamarah's
world,

I do feel that I am out of my
depth here.

And because there are so many
factors into play, it's--

the situation is so complex,
and I don't know what the
solution is.

DR. MAGLOIRE: Wonderful.

Now I'm going to listen
to the baby's heartbeat.

I think my vulnerabilities are
exposed.

My lack of understanding is
exposed.

My lack of knowledge is exposed
here.

But I embrace that
as a global health activist.

DR. MAGLOIRE: You know
you're at the end of the road,

- so baby will be coming soon.
- MISS JOSEPH: Very soon.

[both laughing]

♪♪

NARRATOR: It's Waheed's third
day in Miami.

To enlighten him on the
history of racism within the
US healthcare system,

Jamarah has invited him
to do the one-to-one class

that she gives to all new
coworkers.

♪♪

JAMARAH: I feel there are parts
of our work that Waheed gets,

but I don't know that he
understands,

kind of, the roots of it.

So we're gonna do Birth Justice
101,

which is the foundation of
everything we do at Southern
Birth Justice Network.

- Hi!
- Hello, Jamarah.

Has my student arrived?

I think if he gets it, then
he'll be a little shaken up by
it,

because it's gonna challenge
probably

some of his foundational
premise of the way he was
trained.

♪♪

We're gonna talk about some
things that might be difficult
to hear.

When I am giving this workshop
in a group full of people,

I will encourage them to
step away if they need to,

because sometimes this
information is, like, really
heavy.

It is challenging to talk about
how we fix the healthcare
system

without considering the entire
context that that healthcare
system exists in.

Well, I'm gonna give you
the full experience,

so we'll do our little
meditation.

We got here because

my ancestors were forcibly
brought to this country.

We got here because Indigenous
people had their land stolen
from them.

We got here because white men
thought that they were better
than everyone,

and that they should create an
entire country to serve their
needs.

In order to really fix the
problem,

we have to repair the harms
that were done throughout
history.

This is the pyramid of white
supremacy,

which is really the foundation
of America.

We think about it as the
extreme, right?

The gunman that comes in
and shoots up the Black church,

or burning crosses, or the KKK.

But white supremacy also shows
up in a lot more subtle ways

in terms of our ability
to recognize and analyze them.

And in the United States, how
we got here has a lot to do
with

the racist roots of gynecology.

- Right.
- Many of the procedures,

techniques, and even the
philosophies of obstetrics and
gynecology

is based on the torture
of enslaved Black women.

There is a doctor who's known
as the Father of Gynecology,

he innovated some of the
techniques that are still used
today for deliveries.

But the way that he developed
those

was really by forcing these
Black women to utilize their
bodies for his research.

- Oh, my God.
- JAMARAH: That's him.

[solemn music playing]

There used to be a statue of
him in Central Park in New
York,

but they took that down.

These three women
are the names that we know.

Anarcha, Betsy, and Lucy.

He operated on dozens of Black
women,

but these are the names that
were documented in his
journals.

And what would he do?

What does the history--

Enslaved people
were forcibly malnourished,

and also bred, as, like--
Bred like animals.

The white men who owned them
wanted them to keep breeding,

so they would pay J. Marion
Sims

to develop a cure for fistulas

so that this property that they
owned could keep on having
babies.

- WAHEED: This is clearly
racist torture. - JAMARAH:
Yeah.

I would describe it in that
way. That's accurate. Yeah.

As a student, on my gynecology
ward,

a lot of the medical equipments
they use, the techniques that
have been developed,

I didn't know they'd been
trialed on pregnant Black
slaves.

It's absolutely horrifying.

I think that it's a hard thing
to hear, but I think it's
necessary,

and I think he was
impacted by just examining

kind of his own training, um,

and his understanding
of obstetric violence,

and just medical violence in
general.

NARRATOR: This afternoon,
Jamarah wants to show Waheed

the centerpiece in her plan
to expand her midwifery
service.

JAMARAH: Welcome to my home.
This is my partner, K.

- K: Hi!
- Hi. I'm Waheed.

- Nice to meet you. Pleasure,
pleasure. - So nice to meet
you.

- WAHEED: You have a chihuahua.
- K: My chi-chi.

- JAMARAH: She's a chiweenie. -
Oh, my God. We have a
chihuahua.

- JAMARAH: She's so spoiled.
- We have a chihuahua.

- Do you?
- JAMARAH: Look at that.

- Something in common.
- Hello.

JAMARAH: So we wanna show you
what's in the backyard.

This is our neighbor's dog,
Lula.

- K: Hey, Lula.
- [Lula barking]

JAMARAH: Check out our newest
venture.

Wow! What do we have here?

JAMARAH: This is the ambulance.

♪♪

So we're actually gonna be
delivering midwifery care

into the community
by turning this ambulance

into a mobile clinic, launching
this week!

NARRATOR: With no proper
funding, K has been working
behind the scenes

for the past 18 months to
get the ambulance up and
running.

- K: You ready?
- I'm ready.

K: This is the inside.

- JAMARAH: Welcome to the
ambulance! - WAHEED: Nice. That
is amazing.

JAMARAH: Part of our mission is
to make midwifery care
accessible

to marginalized people.

There's a chair there
for the midwife to sit.

We have our blood draw station
over here.

We also want to, through our
network,

be able to distribute
blood pressure cuffs,

Dopplers, and ways for people
to assess their own health

with the guidance of a
provider.

So we want to put the power of
healthcare back into people's
hands.

Basically what will happen is
we'll have two tents outside,

so people will have their
intake process, and then
they'll be brought back here

to have their prenatal
assessments, or postpartum.

We can do all of that right
here, do their labs,

and then they will go and meet
with the doulas to create a
care plan.

That sounds amazing.

I think the mobile midwifery
idea that Jamarah has is
fantastic.

You know, there is a problem.
This is a solution.

Take the solution to the
problem. I love that.

♪♪

[sirens wailing in distance]

[gentle music playing]

Right. I should be looking for
supplies, 'cause we actually...
[chuckles]

You're gonna be in charge of
opening mail until we find
something to do.

[both laugh]

NARRATOR: In less than 24
hours,

Jamarah and Waheed will be
taking the mobile midwifery
ambulance

on its maiden voyage into the
community.

We are going to practice
how we do a newborn exam.

NARRATOR: In preparation,

Jamarah wants to give some
last-minute training to
Catherine,

one her apprentice midwives.

So, usually at a home birth,

we do the newborn exam
about an hour after the birth.

- CATHERINE: Okay.
- We're not in a rush.

We don't cut the cord right
away.

The baby goes to
the birthing parent's chest,

and they're able to latch on
usually within the first hour
after birth.

Okay.

There's a lot of gatekeeping
that happens in healthcare,

and I think one of our
fundamental theories of change

at Southern Birth Justice
Network is how do we put that
healthcare

and the power of that knowledge
back into everyday people's
hands?

And you'll learn that there are
nine signs that we look for

that newborns do in the first
hour.

Because that's how it used to
be.

Everybody's auntie, mama,
grandma, cousin was a midwife.

And if they weren't a midwife,
they were supporting the
midwife.

They knew what was in her bag,
and how to boil the things

and prepare the instruments,
and this was community
knowledge.

This is community knowledge.

NARRATOR: Until the late 19th
century,

98% of midwives in the US
were Black or Indigenous.

ANNOUNCER: Thousands of
mother midwives all over the
South

have dedicated their lives to
the birthing of healthy
babies.

Black midwives have literally
birthed this country.

That cannot be overstated.

Most of your US presidents
were caught by Black midwives.

NARRATOR: At the turn of the
20th century,

physicians pushed for the
elimination of skilled Black
midwives,

smearing generations of
knowledge.

Something wasn't clean.

Maybe the midwife
didn't wash her hands well.

NARRATOR: At the time, Black
midwives represented a threat

to white male gynecology,

which viewed itself
as an elite profession,

utilizing modern tools such as
forceps.

- Get that cone shape. Okay?
- Mm-hmm.

When Black midwives were
systematically removed from the
healthcare system,

a lot of that knowledge and
expertise went with those
midwives.

I check reflexes here. Make
sure that there's good startle
reflex.

But part of our work

and how we are addressing
systemic racism through
midwifery

is by restoring Black midwives
to the communities

that they have traditionally
served,

and bringing back all of that
wisdom and wealth of knowledge.

It's good. And that's how we do
measurements.

CATHERINE: Okay.

♪ Oh

♪ Get a little peace in your
soul ♪

♪ Oh

Wow!

NARRATOR: It's launch day
for Jamarah's mobile midwifery
service.

NARRATOR: Also battling the
torrential rain

to offer Jamarah his support
is Waheed.

WAHEED: Nervous for Jamarah.
I'm nervous for her team.

I'm hoping that the people
who signed up to come,

they won't be put off by the
rain.

'Cause this is not just a
launch of the mobile midwifery
services.

For her, it's part of her--
the big vision.

I think she will be
under tremendous pressure

to show that actually, it is
working.

- Morning!
- WAHEED: Jamarah! You made it.

- JAMARAH: It's official.
- K: Yeah.

Oh, my God.

NARRATOR: The ambulance
will be posted fortnightly

to serve the community of
Liberty City,

one of the poorest
neighborhoods in the whole of
the United States.

It's the first day of the
mobile midwife clinic here in
Liberty City.

We are out here with our team.
Team, say good morning to the
peoples!

- Say good morning to the
peoples. - ALL: Hey!

If you need midwifery care
on 55th and 7th

in the heart of Liberty City,
come see us. We're gonna be out
here.

It's a rain-or-shine clinic,
baby.

WAHEED: On the sideline, I just
don't know how I can be
helpful,

so I'm doing whatever she wants
me to do so I can still be
allowed into her world.

That is crucial to
building a relationship.

NARRATOR: Jamarah has
four clients booked in today,

and is hoping others will
respond to her social media
promotion.

The unknown factor which
could affect attendance
numbers

is the weather.

WAHEED: How is everything
going?

It's okay? Everything is okay,
but--

- JAMARAH:
- Yeah?

The-- You look a bit stressed.

Armand, if we need to use this
space...

I've seen Jamarah. She's--
Doesn't seem her usual self.

- STAFF MEMBER: There was a red
one. - There were, like, 20 in
that bag.

I think she is masking that
there is something going on.

I don't think it's just the
rain.

Um, I can see that there's a
lot of stress boiling,

but she's very good
at hiding her emotions.

So it'd be difficult to find
out exactly what's happening.

NARRATOR: For now, a break
in the rain comes just at the
right time.

JAMARAH: Care coordinator's
ready.

- [staff chattering]
- 11:30's here.

STAFF MEMBER: What are you
taking, love?

- JAMARAH: Okay. I am Jamarah.
- Hi, Jamarah.

JAMARAH: One of the midwives
here.

- Hello.
- JAMARAH: What's your name?

- Marie.
- Marie, nice to meet you.

- MARIE: Nice to meet you too.
- So I'm gonna show you to the
restroom.

- Okay. Oh, it's my time to
pee. - WAHEED: What brings you
here today?

Uh, well, my girlfriend, she
was having, um, trouble finding
a midwife that,

you know, she liked,
and that took her insurance.

- Has she been to the hospital?
- No.

She's trying to avoid that
place like the plague.

- She-- she is avoiding
completely? - JABARI: Mm-hmm.

So for you, this is, like,
one of the only solutions.

Yeah.

SHEILA: Jamarah has introduced
us. So, she's the other
midwife.

- Jamarah. - JAMARAH: Hi, nice
to meet you.

I didn't get a chance to meet
you.

- Jabari.
- Nice to meet you, Jabari.

SHEILA: Maybe just share
a little bit about your needs.

MARIE: Yeah,
I think our biggest needs are,

like, I would like to have a
home birth, and probably some
postpartum support.

- Awesome.
- SHEILA: Mm-hmm.

We can definitely get you
on the right path.

- SHEILA: You came to the right
place. - I prefer someone that
looks like me.

- SHEILA: Mm-hmm.
- We got to open that.

- Yes. She was very clear. -
MARIE: I was very, very clear.

Let's see...

I've come to understand
how much mistrust there is

against the medical community.

- SHEILA: Do you know the
gender? - MARIE: It's a girl.

- Been picking out names?
- MARIE: Oh, she has a name.

- What's--
- Amarna.

- SHEILA: Amarna.
- Yeah.

It all starts from not being
listened to. It all starts from
being rejected.

- [heartbeat thumping over
ultrasound] - SHEILA: Hear
that, Dad?

[Marie chuckles]

- Oh, that's beatin'.
- SHEILA: Mm-hmm.

"Concerns are not observed.
I wasn't listened to."

That builds up and more over
time,

leads up to even a lot of the
complications that are missed.

She sounds happy.

My colleagues are not
doing the best they should be,

and that's very disheartening
for me.

- SHEILA: Mmm.
- MARIE: Thank you, thank you.

SHEILA: You're welcome,
welcome, welcome.

So far, we've seen three
people. The more we're here,
people will be coming in more.

I am Sheila, one of the
midwives,

- and this is Tanya, the other
midwife. - PATIENT: Hi, Sheila.

People just need to know
there's a safety net they can
go to.

And once it's there and
established, they'll show up.

NARRATOR: The mobile
midwifery service is proving a
success.

However, the cancellation of
one client booking

has cast a shadow
over the day for Jamarah.

One of our clients that was
supposed to come in today,

she lost her baby last night.

- Mm-hmm.
- Oh, my God.

She was dismissed at a
hospital, and then when she
described her symptoms to me

last night, I told her, "Go
back!"

What were her symptoms?

She was having constipation.

Um, it's-- That's what they
told her.

She was also, you know,
started leaking fluids.

I was up last night,
you know, worried about her,

and she called me in the middle
of the night, and...

um, told me that she lost the
baby, and...

- Yeah. - Oh, I'm so sorry to
hear that.

JAMARAH: And it happens too
often. It happens all the time
to-- to

Black women in particular,
where they're just dismissed
and not listened to

and not taken seriously, and
that leads to really
detrimental health
consequences.

So, it just shows that-- why
you exist.

Most people are not connected
to a midwife or a doula,

and that's how people
end up bleeding out at home,

or, you know,
having even worse consequences,

because, um, they didn't have
anyone to call.

[gentle piano music playing]

WAHEED: Does it-- where does it
go?

JAMARAH: Um, I think--
I think that's the tent.

- That's-- - JAMARAH: The
second. The second tent.

One of the other most important
aspect that I've realized

is that just how much trauma
there is.

I'm talking about emotional
trauma.

Collectively, in the community,
but also individually,

that needs addressing.

JAMARAH: Teamwork!

- Yes, it's all about teamwork.
- JAMARAH: Thanks for...

This type of support that they
need is trauma-informed,

expert-led, well, culturally
sensitive.

And that's something that's
missing.

And that's something that
inspires me to come up with a
solution

that nobody else is bringing
up.

Thank you! I got ya.

STAFF MEMBER: Thank you!

[upbeat music playing]

NARRATOR: Waheed is a
specialist

in delivering care
to people in remote areas,

or who have marginalized
access to healthcare.

My main interest is
telemedicine.

I've founded two organizations,
one is Teleheal,

that connects medics from the
National Health Service in the
UK

and across the world,
virtually,

to medics in low-resources
countries, to help them on
emergencies.

The second platform is Arian
Wellbeing,

which connects clinical
psychologists and therapists to
people who need them.

So my technological platforms
can really help somebody like
Jamarah.

- JAMARAH: Waheed!
- Hi, Jamarah!

- JAMARAH: Good to see you.
- You are a lot more relaxed.

JAMARAH:[laughs] More relaxed
today, yes.

- Oh, how are you today?
- I'm doing well, thank you.

WAHEED: Uh-huh?

This is our prep for the next
mobile midwife clinic day.

- I'd love to help you with
that. - JAMARAH: Awesome.

WAHEED: Yes.

JAMARAH: What I'm doing is
taking these self-care
supplies,

there's face mask and face
wipes, and I'm putting it in
these bags.

WAHEED: Uh-huh.

JAMARAH: And then you're gonna
take the menstrual pads and
tampons.

And you're gonna put it in
those bags, to distribute out
at our clinic.

Got it.

WAHEED: How do you think the
launch went?

JAMARAH: I think
all of it went pretty smooth.

I was really pleased.

- So you thought it went pretty
well? - I did. I did.

I was very, very impressed by
the seamless coordination.

Mmm.

That there was a coordination
team, then you had the
midwifery team,

and then you had the doulas'
station.

I also thought that the need
was immediately obvious.

- I was just saying this
morning... - Yeah.

...to the team
when we were doing our debrief,

and I said, "I'm gonna have to
really think about

how we're gonna be sustainable,
because it takes so much."

Exactly. Yes.

To, like, bring that operation
in to the...

Yeah, yeah.

...physically into the
community, so I was like,

"I don't know if we can do
every weekend."

WAHEED: I was thinking about
your expansion,

in terms of the follow-up of
the clients that you'll be
seeing.

- Mm-hmm.
- And in my head,

I thought that it would be
amazing if you used a video
call.

You could really filter the
clients.

These are the ones we follow up
through telehealth.

- Yeah. - And the other ones
who need to be seen,

instead of going
all the way to the community

- for the second or third
visit. - I love that.

So, you just gave me my pitch,
because I was thinking, like,

"What am I gonna say to our
funders, and our sponsors,

if we-- if we pull back
and do every other weekend,

instead of every weekend?"

But this is the pitch!

One other element, I think,
is really important to that,

is the mental health support.

You do come across a lot of
trauma through your work,

and sometimes they can bring
that trauma onto you.

- JAMARAH: Yeah.
- WAHEED: Onto your staff.

And the more your network
grows, I think you will need
more support.

- Yeah.
- More training, at least,

for your doulas, for the
midwives, how to look after
themselves.

Perhaps how to, maybe,
triage trauma better.

So that's another thing that
I would love to offer,

through our Arian Wellbeing.

- I love it.
- WAHEED: You love it?

I love it. It's brilliant.

I'm glad that we found our
partnership.

- Yeah! [laughs]
- Whoo! Did it.

Waheed's suggestion just made
total sense.

It's a way to bring in
collaborative providers,

such as physicians,
mental health providers,

and I think, building more
infrastructure and capacity

behind the telehealth aspect of
our work

would make everything more
sustainable, and accessible.

- Bye, Jamarah.
- Take care! [chuckles]

WAHEED: From the launch, it was
very clear that it is a very,

very exhausting process.

Hence, I do think that, to
sustain this,

and then to grow it,

they have to look outside the
box

to find ways that can solve
that solution, and telehealth
is one of them.

NARRATOR: Having agreed a
partnership to help grow her
services,

before Waheed heads back to
Britain, Jamarah wants his
support

to fulfill her dream of
promoting birth justice
through a public mural.

Hi, Flavia. Hi, Sean. Hi,
Trinice.

NARRATOR: But artivism is
not Waheed's area of
expertise.

WAHEED: Jamarah is planning to
launch a mural to celebrate

and to expand her work beyond
the community that she lives
in.

The question that I had
was about the mural itself.

It is a call to action.

A call to action-- and I would
love to understand that more
from Jamarah,

but I wonder what your thoughts
are, what the call to action
could be.

So, a couple of things.

I think that the mural is
really important to Miami's
history,

and the art scene.

Miami's a place where
artists, Black and brown
artists,

have always thrived.

Right? In terms of social
justice.

Building awareness, and I
think that

something that's really
important for everyone to
understand,

and something that Jamarah
knows, is that Black women

are pioneers in this field,
in Miami in particular.

Right, so what does it look
like to honor those women,

and birthing people, in that
mural, to tell the story?

Because I'm sure there's many
people who do not know that.

Right? So when little girls,
and little gender-expansive
people

and little boys, are wanting
to become nurses and midwives,

how amazing would it be for
there to be a mural

that could teach them about
the litany of Black women

who have been doing this
work?

That feels like a really
relevant part of the call to
action, surely.

- How are we paying homage...
- Incredible.

...to the people that have,
like, led and done this
work,

and how are we educating our
community?

That, like, we're actually
not new to this,

we're true to this, and we
will continue to reclaim,

and teach Black and brown
folks, like, how to get into
this field,

'cause it feels like that's
also her call to action.

And I wonder who is going to
paint the mural,

if it's an artist from the
community.

I think this is very
important.

I'm so grateful for everything
you've said, Trinice, Sean,
Flavia.

Artivism. I love that.

NARRATOR: Inspired by
the other Changemakers,

Waheed wants to catch up with
Jamarah,

who is on her way to meet the
artist she's found to paint
the mural.

- Hi, Jamarah!
- JAMARAH: Hi!

The panel of Changemakers
suggested that perhaps maybe we
could use

one of the heroes, or the
heroines, deep in the history.

You know, in the Black
community.

JAMARAH: That's a wonderful
idea.

A lot of what we do at
Southern Birth Justice
Network...

is about honoring the past
and reclaiming our legacy.

These are just ideas.

We are here to be of service to
you,

and the community,
if we can be in any way.

JAMARAH: I think just having
your energy and your
thoughts,

for the success of this
project, that goes a long way
to move this forward.

NARRATOR: Motivated by
the Changemakers' ideas,

Jamarah has enlisted the
help of local artist Lisa Lee

to create a mural, which
will be a legacy for the
community.

It is really, really important
to me to make sure that

this is community
representation,

and that it feels authentic
to our mission.

LISA: This is what I sketched
last night.

Oh. Oh, I love the hands.

Those are midwife hands.

You know, they're kinda holding
everything together...

JAMARAH: Mm-hmm.

...and supporting this young
lady, during her experience,
you know.

JAMARAH: Love it.

NARRATOR: But before
any public art goes ahead,

the city council needs to
approve Jamarah's
application.

The next challenge for the
mural is finding a place to put
the mural,

but I'm a little nervous about
not having that solidified.

It's gonna be a sprint.

But that's what we do, at SBJN,
we sprint.

[choral pop song playing]

NARRATOR: Waheed and Jamarah
have applied for wall space

in Overtown, one of Miami's
oldest Black neighborhoods,

synonymous with political
street art and Black
history.

Right here is actually one that
was done recently

to honor the longshoremen.

Wow. That is art.

WAHEED: What does it say, the
hashtag?

JAMARAH: #OvertownMiami. Yeah.

Have you thought about the
hashtag for your mural?

- Or-- or, um... - We have not
thought yet about a hashtag.

- That's a good idea. - WAHEED:
Like your organization.

It's really good to have an
expert who,

you know, thinks about things
from a global standpoint.

JAMARAH: Oh, wouldn't this be
perfect. This little...

- WAHEED: Yeah. What-- what
about... - This little cutout
here.

WAHEED: Yes.

Thinking about how we scale up
what we're doing,

how we invite new people in.

Wow.

I can see that that is how
Waheed thinks, and that's super
cool.

NARRATOR: After a day of
searching, Waheed and
Jamarah

may have finally
found the perfect blank wall.

JAMARAH: Zoom out a little bit.
Okay.

NARRATOR: Steeped in history,

on the side of the offices
of Miami's first Black
attorney.

JAMARAH: This is amazing.
I'm actually blown away.

I can get this angle. Okay. Got
it.

♪♪

NARRATOR: It's been several
days

since Waheed and Jamarah
applied for wall space in
Overtown.

After receiving approval
from the authorities,

work can now begin on the
mural.

It's also Waheed's last day in
Miami.

He's usually more at ease
with a stethoscope than a
paintbrush,

but he's been tasked with a
vital job.

How can I help you today?

WAHEED: I'm after some, uh,
paintbrushes.

I am a fish out of the water.
I've got no idea what I'm
looking for.

She needed poster board.

- PRODUCER: What is poster
board? - [sighs]

This is more stressful than
working A&E.

JAMARAH: I'm very excited
about the mural today.

I can't wait to see.

And I've been thinking about
this for days now.

Wow.

- Hey!
- JAMARAH: Hey. How you doing?

- Good. - JAMARAH: Now you're
all full of paint.

- LISA: You know me, yes.
- [Jamarah laughs]

The first thing I thought of
when I walked up was,

this reminds me of myself in
labor.

I didn't have the opportunity
to do this, but I wish I would
have.

- Mmm.
- Literally. So, yeah.

Well, you're doing it now.

- Yeah, well. [laughs] - You're
giving birth to a mural!

NARRATOR: Jamarah has invited
her entire midwifery team

to come along and be part of
the occasion.

How are you doing on time?

We have, um, the folks coming
in an hour.

It's a...

Well, it's gonna be close.
Okay. Is there anything you
need?

Can I help with anything?

Nope. We're just keeping it
moving.

JAMARAH: Okay.
I don't want to interrupt you.

Um, yeah. Okay.

- [car horn honks]
- JAMARAH: Oh, look who's here!

- Waheed's here!
- WAHEED: Hi, Jamarah.

- Good to see you again.
- Hi. Good to see you, too.

- How are you?
- JAMARAH: I'm good.

Look at what we're doing out
here, it's amazing.

MELISSA: Oh, it's beautiful,
yeah.

WAHEED: I didn't know that you
will have something that
massive.

- JAMARAH: I love this, man.
- That is beautiful.

MELISSA: I love this.

NARRATOR: With the team
assembled, the race is on to
prepare

Jamarah's finishing touches
to help make the mural

an authentic tribute to the
community.

Melissa, the artist, is
sketching up a group of symbols

that have really important
meanings.

They represent the African
diaspora, and we're gonna cut
those out,

so everyone will have a chance
to put a symbol on the mural.

NARRATOR: But time is of the
essence.

Jamarah has given a deadline
that we have to finish it
today.

She has invited
a number of midwives and doulas

to celebrate the launch, but
we're really against the time.

We've got, actually,
two hours of daylight.

[gentle music playing]

WAHEED: Yeah. Okay, come in.

Come in, come in.

- We have everybody?
- Everybody's here, whoo-hoo!

WAHEED: We got the children?

- WOMAN 1: We've been waiting
to see this! - WAHEED: And my
other friends.

[laughter]

We've got the entire team.

[car horn honking]

WAHEED: Yes!

Yes.

Okay! Oh, my God! Yes!

Our amazing artist, Lisa.

[cheering]

This is Curtis.

Without him, this baby wouldn't
have happened!

WOMAN 2: Your mural. Your
mural.

- So--
- Look at her face.

WAHEED: Yes.

Look at that-- it just says it
all. It says it all.

But one of the things she asked
last week, and I said that she
should be upright.

- WOMAN 3: Yes!
- And-- yeah.

- Yeah.
- WAHEED: She is.

- She should be-- Yes. Yes.
- WOMAN 4: Yeah.

Upright birth.

Yes, she's definitely
strong and upright, and...

WAHEED: What does it stand for?
Jamarah, please, explain to us.

WOMAN 5: Birth freedom is what
I see.

Birth freedom, birth awareness.

Like, this midwife is in this
waterbearing position,

and I love that.

- WOMAN 6: I love that, so
much. - I love that.

It's human, it's Earth.

Like, everything is supporting
her in her delivery.

WOMAN 7: That's great.

Yeah, awesome.

[crowd cheering]

My mum used to say that...

even when I was a child,
that when I grew up,

I'd be doing good.

Now, ankh represents the womb,
her core, where life is
created.

And I think sometimes, when I
dig deep,

the motivation is
to make her proud, you know.

And I think that's something
that these women do.

But they want to make their
parents proud, their ancestors
proud.

It's beautiful.

[swelling orchestral music
playing]

WAHEED: In a way, it just
brings it home.

Sorry, just...

My grandmother was a doula to
somebody, whether she knew it
or not.

She was a midwife to someone,
whether she knew it not.

This is our culture.

This isn't a trend,
this isn't an aesthetic,

this is our truth.

This is our history.

This is our goal,
and this is our birthright,

so that's what I have to say
about that.

We're raising a glass
to the Black mamas of Overtown.

This is the birthplace of birth
justice, so when you see birth
justice out there,

getting the glow-up,
just know where the roots are.

They're planted right here in
Miami, with all of you amazing
Black doulas.

Midwives. Doctors. Activists.

We deserve to have our lives,
we deserve to have sacredness
in our births,

we deserve to have consensual
pregnancies, and we deserve to
have the support

that we need, and that's what
this represents.

So thank you, everyone.

[group cheering]

JAMARAH: I'm toasting, I'm
toasting.

Pull it up, pull it up!

[gentle string music playing]

[speaking indistinctly]

♪♪

[gentle orchestral music
playing]

♪♪

[baby fussing]

Since you're just so cozy on
the scale, I'm gonna go ahead
and do your assessment.

My name is Jamarah Amani. I am
a midwife.

Can I listen to your heart?
And your lungs? It's okay?

NARRATOR: Jamarah is a
midwife

who works exclusively in
people's homes and birthing
centers.

JAMARAH: Midwives are
the oldest profession.

We've been around
since the beginning of time.

We've kept communities alive
and safe.

Yeah.

To be invited into the most
intimate spaces in people's
lives,

to be invited into their homes,

to care for them at a really
vulnerable time in their lives,

it's absolutely an honor.

Okay. Perfect.

[birds chirping]

Okay, now I need to open her
chart...

NARRATOR: Jamarah's activism
focuses on providing support

to Black and brown
communities who lack access
to healthcare.

- JAMARAH: Are you having any
pain today? - PATIENT: No.

JAMARAH: Midwives, you know,
take a lot of time with our
clients.

Because of the communities that
we're working in and working
with,

there's lots of layers.

It's not just about showing up
and having a good birth.

It's really about supporting
them in nutrition,

access to foods, emotional
health.

So we're trying to look at
a person's entire life.

Anything uncomfortable here?

- PATIENT: No.
- JAMARAH: Okay.

It's very different than a
visit with an obstetrician or a
doctor,

where usually the visits are
pretty quick.

So you have a very mild
separation.

- PATIENT: Mm-hmm.
- It's very minor.

So it's about building
a wraparound support system

so that they can feel like they
always have someone to go to.

And that's what it actually is
gonna take to address these
health disparities.

NARRATOR: In a recent study,
71% of Black and brown women
age 18-49,

reported negative experiences
within the US healthcare
system.

Because of this, more Black
and brown mothers are opting

for births away from the
hospital setting.

For Jamarah, a traumatic
incident in hospital during

the birth of her second child
motivated her to become a
community midwife.

JAMARAH: My second birth
was transformational

because I didn't have a
midwife.

I was subject to the care
of the white nursing staff,

and there was a nurse who told
me that if I didn't stop moving
around

and stay in the bed,
then my baby could die.

All I wanted to do was walk
and squat and change positions

the way that my body felt
naturally to do.

She actually came in at one
point and said, "You're gonna
kill your baby."

Which wasn't true. It was a
lie.

I was angry in labor, and I
didn't wanna labor in that way.

There's just so much fear-based
care in the hospital,

and I said to myself
after that experience,

"I will never give birth
in the hospital again."

And I said, "I really need to
become a midwife,

"because there need to be
more providers in the community

"that can provide
compassionate, respectful, and
dignified care."

♪♪

NARRATOR: Data from the
Maternity Mortality Review
Committee

has revealed that the
majority of maternal deaths

are preventable
with the right intervention.

Jamarah leads a nonprofit
organization

with the aim of
providing that intervention.

I am the executive director
of a nonprofit organization

known as Southern Birth Justice
Network,

and we are doing a lot of work
to build the birth justice
movement,

everything from
policy advocacy to education,

building the workforce of birth
workers,

who can provide excellent and
quality care to marginalized
communities.

NARRATOR: Their mission is to
build a network of Black
community midwives.

But funding is scarce.

JAMARAH:So many of us are doing
it unpaid.

Many of us are doing it from
our hearts.

Many of us are sacrificing our
families,

because there just
aren't enough resources.

Black women are really
trying to save our communities

by literally taking the threads
out of our shoestrings

and trying to build something.

NARRATOR: Jamarah wants to
amplify the work of the SBJN

to attract more funding and
to reach more vulnerable
women.

And Dr. Waheed Arian
from the Changemakers team

has been drafted in
to collaborate with her.

WAHEED: A lot of the people
who go on to bring a change,

they start with a simple
action.

They inspire others around
them, and that's how a movement
is born.

NARRATOR: Waheed is an
internationally-renowned

humanitarian and activist.

He's also leading physician
who works closely with

powerful health organizations
across the globe.

WAHEED: This will give me a
purpose,

to give to others in need,
through my voice,

to reduce healthcare
inequalities for everyone,

regardless of their race,
background, or religion.

NARRATOR: As a teenager,
Waheed fled war-torn
Afghanistan

and became a refugee in the
UK.

Fifteen years later,
he combined his profession

with his passion for
technology

to develop an award-winning
digital platform,

which has helped hundreds of
thousands of people

without access to healthcare.

WAHEED: So I'm interested in
innovation, which is
understanding that people

who are experiencing a problem,
and then coming up with an
efficient solution.

NARRATOR: His global reach
could help shine a light

on the injustice Jamarah is
fighting.

Where there is injustice, where
there is healthcare inequality,

I want to do something about
it.

WAHEED: Hi, Flavia, hi, Sean,
hi, Trinice!

NARRATOR: Before he meets
Jamarah in person,

Waheed wants to check in
with the Changemakers team.

What do you think are the
confounding factors, or factors
contributing to

maternal mortality
amongst Black women?

At the bottom of this,
Waheed, is racism and
patriarchy. Right?

Just two weeks ago, there was
a woman-- she was 31 years
old--

went into a hospital in
California,

complaining that she could
not feel her legs after
getting a C-section.

Five hours later, she died.

Because hospitals, right,
and nurses and doctors,

don't listen to Black women.

It's because you do not care
about Black women,
historically.

What does it mean to just
have to take what you're
given

because that's all you can
access in your community?

So I think it's really
important for you, as a
medically trained doctor,

to be thinking about that.

Because we don't trust you
already, right?

You're not a Black doctor
that's talking to Black
women.

So this work is, like,
super important, right?

And it's really--
it's really life or death.

So... good luck.

♪♪

NARRATOR: This morning,
Waheed is meeting Jamarah

for the first time at her
clinic in North Miami...

JAMARAH: Hey!

Another one of my babies.

NARRATOR: ...where she's
hosting a support group for
new Black mothers

who've lost faith in the
hospital system.

I know that the Changemaker
is a cisgender man,

and also is someone who is a
doctor.

I have some thoughts about
that.

We have a very strong critique
of misogyny and obstetric
violence.

I don't know how open-minded he
might be around what
specifically

Black people in this country,
in this social context, are
experiencing.

WAHEED: I'm nervous for various
reasons.

One, that I'm brown, going into
this Black community,

Black woman's world.

I'm also a physician.

How do I start that
conversation?

How do I build a relationship?

How do I try to find out more
about the problems without
causing offense?

JAMARAH: Hi!

Hi, Jamarah.

- JAMARAH: Hey! I'm cold.
[laughs] - So lovely to see
you.

Usually we do these groups
just to encourage bonding

and sharing of stories.

So people will talk about their
experiences of pregnancy and
giving birth,

some challenges they may have
faced, fears, and...

and then talk about the future,
what they envision.

All right, y'all!

- Welcome.
- MOTHER: Hello.

- WAHEED: Hello.
- This is Dr. Waheed Arian.

- Just Waheed. - WAHEED:
Waheed, please, Waheed.

- Nice to meet you.
- MOTHER: Nice to meet you.

NARRATOR: Also joining the
group today is mum-to-be
Lisa.

I'm Lisa. This is my first
pregnancy. I'm 34 weeks
pregnant.

And this my first time here.
[giggles]

- Wow!
- LISA: Yes.

- Very nice to meet you, Lisa.
- LISA: You too.

- WAHEED: You must be very
excited. - LISA: Yes.

NARRATOR: Lisa has already
decided to avoid a hospital
birth at all costs.

LISA: I've seen the stories,
especially of women of color.

The complications in the
hospitals are, like, super
high.

- Mm-hmm.
- LISA: Either I do it at home,

or I find a birthing center to
do it at, but I wouldn't--

My first option wouldn't be a
hospital.

- Because you're scared
about... - Exactly.

- ...what you've heard.
- Yeah.

So it's not necessarily my
experience.

It's like, I know someone that
knows someone that shares the
story.

Yeah, it's, like, word of
mouth.

JAMARAH: There is a fear
among Black birthing people

that, "I'm gonna go to the
hospital, and they're not going
to believe me.

"They're not gonna listen to
me. They're gonna ignore me,

"and I'm not gonna get the care
that I need, and that could
cost me my life."

And there's a very valid fear.

Tam, Anna, and Carmen,
all of you have had--

and myself too--
hospital birth experiences.

So, she's a memorable
experience.

NARRATOR: Before finding
Jamarah,

mother of four Tam
had two hospital births.

TAM: I had a lot of issues
throughout the pregnancy.

So I was on special care
with specialists,

and, um, when I-- when it
finally became time for me to
have the baby,

I got into triage, and I had my
birthing ball with me,

and, um... all the nurses start
laughing,

and they go, "Oh, you got a
birthing ball with you?

"What's that ball gonna do for
you? It's gonna help you out,
huh?

"All right, well, you let us
know."

They just heckled me
all the way down the hallway.

When you're having a baby,
you wanna be in a safe space.

I wasn't in a safe space. I
wasn't with people that I felt
cared at all.

So, for sure, I knew with the
next babies,

I would not subject myself to
that unless I really had to.

- Carmen, did you want to share
a story? - CARMEN: Sure.

Every hospital birth I had,
it wad, um, chaotic.

Not much was explained to me,
especially with my first.

Um, I was told when I was in
triage to shut up, because I
was screaming.

It was my first baby, so I
didn't ex-- didn't understand.
Yeah, unfortunately.

So it gave me that trauma of
being told to shut up when I
went with my next one.

And that's my experience.

ANNA: My second baby,
we went for a birthing center,

but it ended up being that we
had to transfer to a hospital.

They were kind of, like,
pinging the baby back and forth

between the emergency room and
the NICU,

and the thing that they were
saying at the NICU was that

"We cannot take her, she's a
dirty baby."

There's always that question,
like... are they being racist?

The two times that I've
encountered it, both were Black
moms.

But the way the term was
explained to me, both by a
doctor and a nurse,

was that it doesn't refer to
race,

that it refers to, literally,
they gave birth outside of the
hospital.

Obviously it has those
derogatory

- implications to it, yeah.
- Yes.

Everything other than our race
would've been, like,

completely and absolutely
obvious to them, you know?

So we use the word "dirty" to
describe wounds, mainly,
actually.

So "dirty" meaning that it's
contaminated

and that it could be a
life-threatening situation so
we act on it quickly,

when many times that patient
needs to be taken to the
theater for something

- called "deep washing," as
well. - JAMARAH: Well, that
makes sense.

- That makes sense.
- That makes more sense.

Yes. But I haven't come across
it calling a human dirty, in
that sense.

- JAMARAH: Yeah.
- So that is very degrading.

I'm really sorry. I have to
apologize on behalf of,
actually, the medical community

for using that for a newborn
baby.

It's-- it's not the word
that should be used.

[pensive music playing]

[Waheed exhales]

WAHEED: I do think that the way
that Jamarah's going about

building a community is very
important.

There's accumulation of fear of
going to a hospital, seeing a
doctor.

But in talking about
these stories, openly,

and how much they're playing a
part in creating that anxiety
as well?

First-time-mum Lisa,
she had decided beforehand

that she didn't want to go to
hospital.

She decided that she wanted
to go to a birthing place.

And when I asked her
where's that fear coming from,

she said, "Oh, it's a lot of
word of mouth."

So I'm actually concerned at
how much it adds to the
animosity

against the medical world,

how much of a distance
it creates in itself.

'Cause I don't know.

NARRATOR: A systematic review
published in Academic
Emergency Medicine

revealed that the majority
of white physicians in the US

harbor unconscious racial
biases,

which can lead to
substandard communication

and poor clinical outcomes
for the Black and brown
population.

This in turn has nurtured a
deep-rooted mistrust of the
healthcare system.

[tense music playing]

NARRATOR: Having heard the
experiences of Jamarah's
mothers' group,

Waheed wants to meet a fellow
physician to get a deeper
understanding of the issues.

WAHEED: As a physician,
we look for evidence.

I don't think I'm gonna
get all the answers,

but I really want to verify
that some of the suggestions

which are linking medical
practice, and also racism
directly,

to high mortality amongst Black
women.

- DR. MAGLOIRE: Hi!
- WAHEED: Good morning.

DR. MAGLOIRE: Good morning,
good morning.

- WAHEED: Hello.
- How are you?

I've been looking forward to
meeting you.

Oh, nice to meet you too.

- WAHEED: Thank you so much for
having me. - Oh, of course.
Have a seat, take a seat.

NARRATOR: Dr. Christ-Ann
Magloire is a leading
physician

who has worked in Miami
hospitals for over 20 years.

WAHEED: Dr. Magloire,
I have so many questions.

Oh, wow.

I've been educated on the
various levels of racism that
exist...

- DR. MAGLOIRE: Right.
- ...and how that impacts

- maternal health for Black
women. - Right.

Before coming here, I was
looking at stats, I was looking
at data.

- Okay. - But it was not making
sense to me.

Racism is a form of chronic
stress.

So these women have been
impacted by this chronic stress
from birth.

In terms of having differences
in schools, differences in
education, employment.

They're getting lower pay. They
lack access to proper
nutrition.

Difference in access to
healthcare, access to housing.

Every turn, there's something
causing an obstacle

where they're not able to
reach their potential, right?

And because of that, that
chronic stress causes
physiologic changes in the
body.

Whether it be hypertension,
high blood pressure,

whether it be diabetes.

That is one of the reasons why
they also have a higher
mortality.

I can see there's a vicious
cycle that the more they're
stressed,

the more they're malnourished,

the less they will be able to
do well in their education...

- Right.
- ...at work.

- So you can see that impact
sort of... - Full circle.

...going all around, in full
circle.

Another aspect, some of the
information that I got from
Jamarah.

She's a midwife, she's
advocating for Black maternal
health.

And she has mentioned
how underlying medical care,

there's an institutional
racism.

Well, institutional racism,
again, is more like an implicit
bias, right?

So a woman walks into a medical
office,

you know, where maybe she
doesn't see the people that
look like her.

They go into the room, and
sometimes maybe the doctor's
talking to her,

but not really talking to her.
They're looking on their
computer,

doing all these things, and not
really engaged with the person,

and not listening to see what
is happening with that woman.

There's other things going on
in her life that impacts

- what's goin' on with her
care. - Of course.

Then, the woman, now,
if she feels discouraged,

she's not gonna go to the
office as much.

She might start missing out
her prenatal visits.

So it's not necessarily an
overt racism.

It's just the aspects of how
everything goes into, like,
this domino effect.

And unfortunately, that last
domino

- is where the woman possibly
can die. - Mm-hmm.

Even me, as a physician,
the care was very compromised,

very different, at the
hospital.

And since then, I remember at
one time, when I was 35, 36
weeks,

and my physician, you know, she
was doing my blood pressure,

and she said, "Oh, your blood
pressure's normal."

I'm like, "Yeah, it's normal.
It's always normal."

"Oh, I know, I just-- Are you
taking antihypertensives?

"Are you taking any medications
for high blood pressure?"

I said, "No, why would I be
taking

- "medication for high blood
pressure?" - That was an
assumption.

- Yes.
- That you would be expected to

- have a high blood pressure.
- Yeah, I'm supposed to have

- high blood pressure, right. -
As a pregnant woman, or is it a
Black--

Well, exactly. As a Black
pregnant woman,

she assumed that I should
have high blood pressure.

And since I'm a doctor,

I should have access to the
medications to control that,

she accused me of taking
blood pressure medication.

I mean, that's crazy.

- WAHEED: How did that make you
feel? - Oh, terrible. Of
course.

I was like, "Wow."

So, in that regard,

that implicit bias, that
racism,

is where they get the
difference in level of care.

♪♪

I wanted to find out from a
medic who's working with
hospitals,

just to really highlight
some of the disparities

that Jamarah pointed out, that
how they're contributing to
higher mortality.

DR. MAGLOIRE: Miss Joseph?

WAHEED: And I thought that's
what I got from Dr. Magloire,

who has been subject
of that system herself.

I think that really confirms
everything that Jamarah's been
talking about.

I like your jacket.

- This is Casheous.
- Thank you.

[both laughing]

Usually, in my professional
life as a global health
activist,

I have an idea about the
community, of other problems
they're working on.

DR. MAGLOIRE: You haven't been
to the hospital recently? You
have not?

- MISS JOSEPH: Not.
- DR. MAGLOIRE: Okay.

Coming here, to Jamarah's
world,

I do feel that I am out of my
depth here.

And because there are so many
factors into play, it's--

the situation is so complex,
and I don't know what the
solution is.

DR. MAGLOIRE: Wonderful.

Now I'm going to listen
to the baby's heartbeat.

I think my vulnerabilities are
exposed.

My lack of understanding is
exposed.

My lack of knowledge is exposed
here.

But I embrace that
as a global health activist.

DR. MAGLOIRE: You know
you're at the end of the road,

- so baby will be coming soon.
- MISS JOSEPH: Very soon.

[both laughing]

♪♪

NARRATOR: It's Waheed's third
day in Miami.

To enlighten him on the
history of racism within the
US healthcare system,

Jamarah has invited him
to do the one-to-one class

that she gives to all new
coworkers.

♪♪

JAMARAH: I feel there are parts
of our work that Waheed gets,

but I don't know that he
understands,

kind of, the roots of it.

So we're gonna do Birth Justice
101,

which is the foundation of
everything we do at Southern
Birth Justice Network.

- Hi!
- Hello, Jamarah.

Has my student arrived?

I think if he gets it, then
he'll be a little shaken up by
it,

because it's gonna challenge
probably

some of his foundational
premise of the way he was
trained.

♪♪

We're gonna talk about some
things that might be difficult
to hear.

When I am giving this workshop
in a group full of people,

I will encourage them to
step away if they need to,

because sometimes this
information is, like, really
heavy.

It is challenging to talk about
how we fix the healthcare
system

without considering the entire
context that that healthcare
system exists in.

Well, I'm gonna give you
the full experience,

so we'll do our little
meditation.

We got here because

my ancestors were forcibly
brought to this country.

We got here because Indigenous
people had their land stolen
from them.

We got here because white men
thought that they were better
than everyone,

and that they should create an
entire country to serve their
needs.

In order to really fix the
problem,

we have to repair the harms
that were done throughout
history.

This is the pyramid of white
supremacy,

which is really the foundation
of America.

We think about it as the
extreme, right?

The gunman that comes in
and shoots up the Black church,

or burning crosses, or the KKK.

But white supremacy also shows
up in a lot more subtle ways

in terms of our ability
to recognize and analyze them.

And in the United States, how
we got here has a lot to do
with

the racist roots of gynecology.

- Right.
- Many of the procedures,

techniques, and even the
philosophies of obstetrics and
gynecology

is based on the torture
of enslaved Black women.

There is a doctor who's known
as the Father of Gynecology,

he innovated some of the
techniques that are still used
today for deliveries.

But the way that he developed
those

was really by forcing these
Black women to utilize their
bodies for his research.

- Oh, my God.
- JAMARAH: That's him.

[solemn music playing]

There used to be a statue of
him in Central Park in New
York,

but they took that down.

These three women
are the names that we know.

Anarcha, Betsy, and Lucy.

He operated on dozens of Black
women,

but these are the names that
were documented in his
journals.

And what would he do?

What does the history--

Enslaved people
were forcibly malnourished,

and also bred, as, like--
Bred like animals.

The white men who owned them
wanted them to keep breeding,

so they would pay J. Marion
Sims

to develop a cure for fistulas

so that this property that they
owned could keep on having
babies.

- WAHEED: This is clearly
racist torture. - JAMARAH:
Yeah.

I would describe it in that
way. That's accurate. Yeah.

As a student, on my gynecology
ward,

a lot of the medical equipments
they use, the techniques that
have been developed,

I didn't know they'd been
trialed on pregnant Black
slaves.

It's absolutely horrifying.

I think that it's a hard thing
to hear, but I think it's
necessary,

and I think he was
impacted by just examining

kind of his own training, um,

and his understanding
of obstetric violence,

and just medical violence in
general.

NARRATOR: This afternoon,
Jamarah wants to show Waheed

the centerpiece in her plan
to expand her midwifery
service.

JAMARAH: Welcome to my home.
This is my partner, K.

- K: Hi!
- Hi. I'm Waheed.

- Nice to meet you. Pleasure,
pleasure. - So nice to meet
you.

- WAHEED: You have a chihuahua.
- K: My chi-chi.

- JAMARAH: She's a chiweenie. -
Oh, my God. We have a
chihuahua.

- JAMARAH: She's so spoiled.
- We have a chihuahua.

- Do you?
- JAMARAH: Look at that.

- Something in common.
- Hello.

JAMARAH: So we wanna show you
what's in the backyard.

This is our neighbor's dog,
Lula.

- K: Hey, Lula.
- [Lula barking]

JAMARAH: Check out our newest
venture.

Wow! What do we have here?

JAMARAH: This is the ambulance.

♪♪

So we're actually gonna be
delivering midwifery care

into the community
by turning this ambulance

into a mobile clinic, launching
this week!

NARRATOR: With no proper
funding, K has been working
behind the scenes

for the past 18 months to
get the ambulance up and
running.

- K: You ready?
- I'm ready.

K: This is the inside.

- JAMARAH: Welcome to the
ambulance! - WAHEED: Nice. That
is amazing.

JAMARAH: Part of our mission is
to make midwifery care
accessible

to marginalized people.

There's a chair there
for the midwife to sit.

We have our blood draw station
over here.

We also want to, through our
network,

be able to distribute
blood pressure cuffs,

Dopplers, and ways for people
to assess their own health

with the guidance of a
provider.

So we want to put the power of
healthcare back into people's
hands.

Basically what will happen is
we'll have two tents outside,

so people will have their
intake process, and then
they'll be brought back here

to have their prenatal
assessments, or postpartum.

We can do all of that right
here, do their labs,

and then they will go and meet
with the doulas to create a
care plan.

That sounds amazing.

I think the mobile midwifery
idea that Jamarah has is
fantastic.

You know, there is a problem.
This is a solution.

Take the solution to the
problem. I love that.

♪♪

[sirens wailing in distance]

[gentle music playing]

Right. I should be looking for
supplies, 'cause we actually...
[chuckles]

You're gonna be in charge of
opening mail until we find
something to do.

[both laugh]

NARRATOR: In less than 24
hours,

Jamarah and Waheed will be
taking the mobile midwifery
ambulance

on its maiden voyage into the
community.

We are going to practice
how we do a newborn exam.

NARRATOR: In preparation,

Jamarah wants to give some
last-minute training to
Catherine,

one her apprentice midwives.

So, usually at a home birth,

we do the newborn exam
about an hour after the birth.

- CATHERINE: Okay.
- We're not in a rush.

We don't cut the cord right
away.

The baby goes to
the birthing parent's chest,

and they're able to latch on
usually within the first hour
after birth.

Okay.

There's a lot of gatekeeping
that happens in healthcare,

and I think one of our
fundamental theories of change

at Southern Birth Justice
Network is how do we put that
healthcare

and the power of that knowledge
back into everyday people's
hands?

And you'll learn that there are
nine signs that we look for

that newborns do in the first
hour.

Because that's how it used to
be.

Everybody's auntie, mama,
grandma, cousin was a midwife.

And if they weren't a midwife,
they were supporting the
midwife.

They knew what was in her bag,
and how to boil the things

and prepare the instruments,
and this was community
knowledge.

This is community knowledge.

NARRATOR: Until the late 19th
century,

98% of midwives in the US
were Black or Indigenous.

ANNOUNCER: Thousands of
mother midwives all over the
South

have dedicated their lives to
the birthing of healthy
babies.

Black midwives have literally
birthed this country.

That cannot be overstated.

Most of your US presidents
were caught by Black midwives.

NARRATOR: At the turn of the
20th century,

physicians pushed for the
elimination of skilled Black
midwives,

smearing generations of
knowledge.

Something wasn't clean.

Maybe the midwife
didn't wash her hands well.

NARRATOR: At the time, Black
midwives represented a threat

to white male gynecology,

which viewed itself
as an elite profession,

utilizing modern tools such as
forceps.

- Get that cone shape. Okay?
- Mm-hmm.

When Black midwives were
systematically removed from the
healthcare system,

a lot of that knowledge and
expertise went with those
midwives.

I check reflexes here. Make
sure that there's good startle
reflex.

But part of our work

and how we are addressing
systemic racism through
midwifery

is by restoring Black midwives
to the communities

that they have traditionally
served,

and bringing back all of that
wisdom and wealth of knowledge.

It's good. And that's how we do
measurements.

CATHERINE: Okay.

♪ Oh

♪ Get a little peace in your
soul ♪

♪ Oh

Wow!

NARRATOR: It's launch day
for Jamarah's mobile midwifery
service.

NARRATOR: Also battling the
torrential rain

to offer Jamarah his support
is Waheed.

WAHEED: Nervous for Jamarah.
I'm nervous for her team.

I'm hoping that the people
who signed up to come,

they won't be put off by the
rain.

'Cause this is not just a
launch of the mobile midwifery
services.

For her, it's part of her--
the big vision.

I think she will be
under tremendous pressure

to show that actually, it is
working.

- Morning!
- WAHEED: Jamarah! You made it.

- JAMARAH: It's official.
- K: Yeah.

Oh, my God.

NARRATOR: The ambulance
will be posted fortnightly

to serve the community of
Liberty City,

one of the poorest
neighborhoods in the whole of
the United States.

It's the first day of the
mobile midwife clinic here in
Liberty City.

We are out here with our team.
Team, say good morning to the
peoples!

- Say good morning to the
peoples. - ALL: Hey!

If you need midwifery care
on 55th and 7th

in the heart of Liberty City,
come see us. We're gonna be out
here.

It's a rain-or-shine clinic,
baby.

WAHEED: On the sideline, I just
don't know how I can be
helpful,

so I'm doing whatever she wants
me to do so I can still be
allowed into her world.

That is crucial to
building a relationship.

NARRATOR: Jamarah has
four clients booked in today,

and is hoping others will
respond to her social media
promotion.

The unknown factor which
could affect attendance
numbers

is the weather.

WAHEED: How is everything
going?

It's okay? Everything is okay,
but--

- JAMARAH:
- Yeah?

The-- You look a bit stressed.

Armand, if we need to use this
space...

I've seen Jamarah. She's--
Doesn't seem her usual self.

- STAFF MEMBER: There was a red
one. - There were, like, 20 in
that bag.

I think she is masking that
there is something going on.

I don't think it's just the
rain.

Um, I can see that there's a
lot of stress boiling,

but she's very good
at hiding her emotions.

So it'd be difficult to find
out exactly what's happening.

NARRATOR: For now, a break
in the rain comes just at the
right time.

JAMARAH: Care coordinator's
ready.

- [staff chattering]
- 11:30's here.

STAFF MEMBER: What are you
taking, love?

- JAMARAH: Okay. I am Jamarah.
- Hi, Jamarah.

JAMARAH: One of the midwives
here.

- Hello.
- JAMARAH: What's your name?

- Marie.
- Marie, nice to meet you.

- MARIE: Nice to meet you too.
- So I'm gonna show you to the
restroom.

- Okay. Oh, it's my time to
pee. - WAHEED: What brings you
here today?

Uh, well, my girlfriend, she
was having, um, trouble finding
a midwife that,

you know, she liked,
and that took her insurance.

- Has she been to the hospital?
- No.

She's trying to avoid that
place like the plague.

- She-- she is avoiding
completely? - JABARI: Mm-hmm.

So for you, this is, like,
one of the only solutions.

Yeah.

SHEILA: Jamarah has introduced
us. So, she's the other
midwife.

- Jamarah. - JAMARAH: Hi, nice
to meet you.

I didn't get a chance to meet
you.

- Jabari.
- Nice to meet you, Jabari.

SHEILA: Maybe just share
a little bit about your needs.

MARIE: Yeah,
I think our biggest needs are,

like, I would like to have a
home birth, and probably some
postpartum support.

- Awesome.
- SHEILA: Mm-hmm.

We can definitely get you
on the right path.

- SHEILA: You came to the right
place. - I prefer someone that
looks like me.

- SHEILA: Mm-hmm.
- We got to open that.

- Yes. She was very clear. -
MARIE: I was very, very clear.

Let's see...

I've come to understand
how much mistrust there is

against the medical community.

- SHEILA: Do you know the
gender? - MARIE: It's a girl.

- Been picking out names?
- MARIE: Oh, she has a name.

- What's--
- Amarna.

- SHEILA: Amarna.
- Yeah.

It all starts from not being
listened to. It all starts from
being rejected.

- [heartbeat thumping over
ultrasound] - SHEILA: Hear
that, Dad?

[Marie chuckles]

- Oh, that's beatin'.
- SHEILA: Mm-hmm.

"Concerns are not observed.
I wasn't listened to."

That builds up and more over
time,

leads up to even a lot of the
complications that are missed.

She sounds happy.

My colleagues are not
doing the best they should be,

and that's very disheartening
for me.

- SHEILA: Mmm.
- MARIE: Thank you, thank you.

SHEILA: You're welcome,
welcome, welcome.

So far, we've seen three
people. The more we're here,
people will be coming in more.

I am Sheila, one of the
midwives,

- and this is Tanya, the other
midwife. - PATIENT: Hi, Sheila.

People just need to know
there's a safety net they can
go to.

And once it's there and
established, they'll show up.

NARRATOR: The mobile
midwifery service is proving a
success.

However, the cancellation of
one client booking

has cast a shadow
over the day for Jamarah.

One of our clients that was
supposed to come in today,

she lost her baby last night.

- Mm-hmm.
- Oh, my God.

She was dismissed at a
hospital, and then when she
described her symptoms to me

last night, I told her, "Go
back!"

What were her symptoms?

She was having constipation.

Um, it's-- That's what they
told her.

She was also, you know,
started leaking fluids.

I was up last night,
you know, worried about her,

and she called me in the middle
of the night, and...

um, told me that she lost the
baby, and...

- Yeah. - Oh, I'm so sorry to
hear that.

JAMARAH: And it happens too
often. It happens all the time
to-- to

Black women in particular,
where they're just dismissed
and not listened to

and not taken seriously, and
that leads to really
detrimental health
consequences.

So, it just shows that-- why
you exist.

Most people are not connected
to a midwife or a doula,

and that's how people
end up bleeding out at home,

or, you know,
having even worse consequences,

because, um, they didn't have
anyone to call.

[gentle piano music playing]

WAHEED: Does it-- where does it
go?

JAMARAH: Um, I think--
I think that's the tent.

- That's-- - JAMARAH: The
second. The second tent.

One of the other most important
aspect that I've realized

is that just how much trauma
there is.

I'm talking about emotional
trauma.

Collectively, in the community,
but also individually,

that needs addressing.

JAMARAH: Teamwork!

- Yes, it's all about teamwork.
- JAMARAH: Thanks for...

This type of support that they
need is trauma-informed,

expert-led, well, culturally
sensitive.

And that's something that's
missing.

And that's something that
inspires me to come up with a
solution

that nobody else is bringing
up.

Thank you! I got ya.

STAFF MEMBER: Thank you!

[upbeat music playing]

NARRATOR: Waheed is a
specialist

in delivering care
to people in remote areas,

or who have marginalized
access to healthcare.

My main interest is
telemedicine.

I've founded two organizations,
one is Teleheal,

that connects medics from the
National Health Service in the
UK

and across the world,
virtually,

to medics in low-resources
countries, to help them on
emergencies.

The second platform is Arian
Wellbeing,

which connects clinical
psychologists and therapists to
people who need them.

So my technological platforms
can really help somebody like
Jamarah.

- JAMARAH: Waheed!
- Hi, Jamarah!

- JAMARAH: Good to see you.
- You are a lot more relaxed.

JAMARAH:[laughs] More relaxed
today, yes.

- Oh, how are you today?
- I'm doing well, thank you.

WAHEED: Uh-huh?

This is our prep for the next
mobile midwife clinic day.

- I'd love to help you with
that. - JAMARAH: Awesome.

WAHEED: Yes.

JAMARAH: What I'm doing is
taking these self-care
supplies,

there's face mask and face
wipes, and I'm putting it in
these bags.

WAHEED: Uh-huh.

JAMARAH: And then you're gonna
take the menstrual pads and
tampons.

And you're gonna put it in
those bags, to distribute out
at our clinic.

Got it.

WAHEED: How do you think the
launch went?

JAMARAH: I think
all of it went pretty smooth.

I was really pleased.

- So you thought it went pretty
well? - I did. I did.

I was very, very impressed by
the seamless coordination.

Mmm.

That there was a coordination
team, then you had the
midwifery team,

and then you had the doulas'
station.

I also thought that the need
was immediately obvious.

- I was just saying this
morning... - Yeah.

...to the team
when we were doing our debrief,

and I said, "I'm gonna have to
really think about

how we're gonna be sustainable,
because it takes so much."

Exactly. Yes.

To, like, bring that operation
in to the...

Yeah, yeah.

...physically into the
community, so I was like,

"I don't know if we can do
every weekend."

WAHEED: I was thinking about
your expansion,

in terms of the follow-up of
the clients that you'll be
seeing.

- Mm-hmm.
- And in my head,

I thought that it would be
amazing if you used a video
call.

You could really filter the
clients.

These are the ones we follow up
through telehealth.

- Yeah. - And the other ones
who need to be seen,

instead of going
all the way to the community

- for the second or third
visit. - I love that.

So, you just gave me my pitch,
because I was thinking, like,

"What am I gonna say to our
funders, and our sponsors,

if we-- if we pull back
and do every other weekend,

instead of every weekend?"

But this is the pitch!

One other element, I think,
is really important to that,

is the mental health support.

You do come across a lot of
trauma through your work,

and sometimes they can bring
that trauma onto you.

- JAMARAH: Yeah.
- WAHEED: Onto your staff.

And the more your network
grows, I think you will need
more support.

- Yeah.
- More training, at least,

for your doulas, for the
midwives, how to look after
themselves.

Perhaps how to, maybe,
triage trauma better.

So that's another thing that
I would love to offer,

through our Arian Wellbeing.

- I love it.
- WAHEED: You love it?

I love it. It's brilliant.

I'm glad that we found our
partnership.

- Yeah! [laughs]
- Whoo! Did it.

Waheed's suggestion just made
total sense.

It's a way to bring in
collaborative providers,

such as physicians,
mental health providers,

and I think, building more
infrastructure and capacity

behind the telehealth aspect of
our work

would make everything more
sustainable, and accessible.

- Bye, Jamarah.
- Take care! [chuckles]

WAHEED: From the launch, it was
very clear that it is a very,

very exhausting process.

Hence, I do think that, to
sustain this,

and then to grow it,

they have to look outside the
box

to find ways that can solve
that solution, and telehealth
is one of them.

NARRATOR: Having agreed a
partnership to help grow her
services,

before Waheed heads back to
Britain, Jamarah wants his
support

to fulfill her dream of
promoting birth justice
through a public mural.

Hi, Flavia. Hi, Sean. Hi,
Trinice.

NARRATOR: But artivism is
not Waheed's area of
expertise.

WAHEED: Jamarah is planning to
launch a mural to celebrate

and to expand her work beyond
the community that she lives
in.

The question that I had
was about the mural itself.

It is a call to action.

A call to action-- and I would
love to understand that more
from Jamarah,

but I wonder what your thoughts
are, what the call to action
could be.

So, a couple of things.

I think that the mural is
really important to Miami's
history,

and the art scene.

Miami's a place where
artists, Black and brown
artists,

have always thrived.

Right? In terms of social
justice.

Building awareness, and I
think that

something that's really
important for everyone to
understand,

and something that Jamarah
knows, is that Black women

are pioneers in this field,
in Miami in particular.

Right, so what does it look
like to honor those women,

and birthing people, in that
mural, to tell the story?

Because I'm sure there's many
people who do not know that.

Right? So when little girls,
and little gender-expansive
people

and little boys, are wanting
to become nurses and midwives,

how amazing would it be for
there to be a mural

that could teach them about
the litany of Black women

who have been doing this
work?

That feels like a really
relevant part of the call to
action, surely.

- How are we paying homage...
- Incredible.

...to the people that have,
like, led and done this
work,

and how are we educating our
community?

That, like, we're actually
not new to this,

we're true to this, and we
will continue to reclaim,

and teach Black and brown
folks, like, how to get into
this field,

'cause it feels like that's
also her call to action.

And I wonder who is going to
paint the mural,

if it's an artist from the
community.

I think this is very
important.

I'm so grateful for everything
you've said, Trinice, Sean,
Flavia.

Artivism. I love that.

NARRATOR: Inspired by
the other Changemakers,

Waheed wants to catch up with
Jamarah,

who is on her way to meet the
artist she's found to paint
the mural.

- Hi, Jamarah!
- JAMARAH: Hi!

The panel of Changemakers
suggested that perhaps maybe we
could use

one of the heroes, or the
heroines, deep in the history.

You know, in the Black
community.

JAMARAH: That's a wonderful
idea.

A lot of what we do at
Southern Birth Justice
Network...

is about honoring the past
and reclaiming our legacy.

These are just ideas.

We are here to be of service to
you,

and the community,
if we can be in any way.

JAMARAH: I think just having
your energy and your
thoughts,

for the success of this
project, that goes a long way
to move this forward.

NARRATOR: Motivated by
the Changemakers' ideas,

Jamarah has enlisted the
help of local artist Lisa Lee

to create a mural, which
will be a legacy for the
community.

It is really, really important
to me to make sure that

this is community
representation,

and that it feels authentic
to our mission.

LISA: This is what I sketched
last night.

Oh. Oh, I love the hands.

Those are midwife hands.

You know, they're kinda holding
everything together...

JAMARAH: Mm-hmm.

...and supporting this young
lady, during her experience,
you know.

JAMARAH: Love it.

NARRATOR: But before
any public art goes ahead,

the city council needs to
approve Jamarah's
application.

The next challenge for the
mural is finding a place to put
the mural,

but I'm a little nervous about
not having that solidified.

It's gonna be a sprint.

But that's what we do, at SBJN,
we sprint.

[choral pop song playing]

NARRATOR: Waheed and Jamarah
have applied for wall space

in Overtown, one of Miami's
oldest Black neighborhoods,

synonymous with political
street art and Black
history.

Right here is actually one that
was done recently

to honor the longshoremen.

Wow. That is art.

WAHEED: What does it say, the
hashtag?

JAMARAH: #OvertownMiami. Yeah.

Have you thought about the
hashtag for your mural?

- Or-- or, um... - We have not
thought yet about a hashtag.

- That's a good idea. - WAHEED:
Like your organization.

It's really good to have an
expert who,

you know, thinks about things
from a global standpoint.

JAMARAH: Oh, wouldn't this be
perfect. This little...

- WAHEED: Yeah. What-- what
about... - This little cutout
here.

WAHEED: Yes.

Thinking about how we scale up
what we're doing,

how we invite new people in.

Wow.

I can see that that is how
Waheed thinks, and that's super
cool.

NARRATOR: After a day of
searching, Waheed and
Jamarah

may have finally
found the perfect blank wall.

JAMARAH: Zoom out a little bit.
Okay.

NARRATOR: Steeped in history,

on the side of the offices
of Miami's first Black
attorney.

JAMARAH: This is amazing.
I'm actually blown away.

I can get this angle. Okay. Got
it.

♪♪

NARRATOR: It's been several
days

since Waheed and Jamarah
applied for wall space in
Overtown.

After receiving approval
from the authorities,

work can now begin on the
mural.

It's also Waheed's last day in
Miami.

He's usually more at ease
with a stethoscope than a
paintbrush,

but he's been tasked with a
vital job.

How can I help you today?

WAHEED: I'm after some, uh,
paintbrushes.

I am a fish out of the water.
I've got no idea what I'm
looking for.

She needed poster board.

- PRODUCER: What is poster
board? - [sighs]

This is more stressful than
working A&E.

JAMARAH: I'm very excited
about the mural today.

I can't wait to see.

And I've been thinking about
this for days now.

Wow.

- Hey!
- JAMARAH: Hey. How you doing?

- Good. - JAMARAH: Now you're
all full of paint.

- LISA: You know me, yes.
- [Jamarah laughs]

The first thing I thought of
when I walked up was,

this reminds me of myself in
labor.

I didn't have the opportunity
to do this, but I wish I would
have.

- Mmm.
- Literally. So, yeah.

Well, you're doing it now.

- Yeah, well. [laughs] - You're
giving birth to a mural!

NARRATOR: Jamarah has invited
her entire midwifery team

to come along and be part of
the occasion.

How are you doing on time?

We have, um, the folks coming
in an hour.

It's a...

Well, it's gonna be close.
Okay. Is there anything you
need?

Can I help with anything?

Nope. We're just keeping it
moving.

JAMARAH: Okay.
I don't want to interrupt you.

Um, yeah. Okay.

- [car horn honks]
- JAMARAH: Oh, look who's here!

- Waheed's here!
- WAHEED: Hi, Jamarah.

- Good to see you again.
- Hi. Good to see you, too.

- How are you?
- JAMARAH: I'm good.

Look at what we're doing out
here, it's amazing.

MELISSA: Oh, it's beautiful,
yeah.

WAHEED: I didn't know that you
will have something that
massive.

- JAMARAH: I love this, man.
- That is beautiful.

MELISSA: I love this.

NARRATOR: With the team
assembled, the race is on to
prepare

Jamarah's finishing touches
to help make the mural

an authentic tribute to the
community.

Melissa, the artist, is
sketching up a group of symbols

that have really important
meanings.

They represent the African
diaspora, and we're gonna cut
those out,

so everyone will have a chance
to put a symbol on the mural.

NARRATOR: But time is of the
essence.

Jamarah has given a deadline
that we have to finish it
today.

She has invited
a number of midwives and doulas

to celebrate the launch, but
we're really against the time.

We've got, actually,
two hours of daylight.

[gentle music playing]

WAHEED: Yeah. Okay, come in.

Come in, come in.

- We have everybody?
- Everybody's here, whoo-hoo!

WAHEED: We got the children?

- WOMAN 1: We've been waiting
to see this! - WAHEED: And my
other friends.

[laughter]

We've got the entire team.

[car horn honking]

WAHEED: Yes!

Yes.

Okay! Oh, my God! Yes!

Our amazing artist, Lisa.

[cheering]

This is Curtis.

Without him, this baby wouldn't
have happened!

WOMAN 2: Your mural. Your
mural.

- So--
- Look at her face.

WAHEED: Yes.

Look at that-- it just says it
all. It says it all.

But one of the things she asked
last week, and I said that she
should be upright.

- WOMAN 3: Yes!
- And-- yeah.

- Yeah.
- WAHEED: She is.

- She should be-- Yes. Yes.
- WOMAN 4: Yeah.

Upright birth.

Yes, she's definitely
strong and upright, and...

WAHEED: What does it stand for?
Jamarah, please, explain to us.

WOMAN 5: Birth freedom is what
I see.

Birth freedom, birth awareness.

Like, this midwife is in this
waterbearing position,

and I love that.

- WOMAN 6: I love that, so
much. - I love that.

It's human, it's Earth.

Like, everything is supporting
her in her delivery.

WOMAN 7: That's great.

Yeah, awesome.

[crowd cheering]

My mum used to say that...

even when I was a child,
that when I grew up,

I'd be doing good.

Now, ankh represents the womb,
her core, where life is
created.

And I think sometimes, when I
dig deep,

the motivation is
to make her proud, you know.

And I think that's something
that these women do.

But they want to make their
parents proud, their ancestors
proud.

It's beautiful.

[swelling orchestral music
playing]

WAHEED: In a way, it just
brings it home.

Sorry, just...

My grandmother was a doula to
somebody, whether she knew it
or not.

She was a midwife to someone,
whether she knew it not.

This is our culture.

This isn't a trend,
this isn't an aesthetic,

this is our truth.

This is our history.

This is our goal,
and this is our birthright,

so that's what I have to say
about that.

We're raising a glass
to the Black mamas of Overtown.

This is the birthplace of birth
justice, so when you see birth
justice out there,

getting the glow-up,
just know where the roots are.

They're planted right here in
Miami, with all of you amazing
Black doulas.

Midwives. Doctors. Activists.

We deserve to have our lives,
we deserve to have sacredness
in our births,

we deserve to have consensual
pregnancies, and we deserve to
have the support

that we need, and that's what
this represents.

So thank you, everyone.

[group cheering]

JAMARAH: I'm toasting, I'm
toasting.

Pull it up, pull it up!

[gentle string music playing]

[speaking indistinctly]

♪♪