Under Construction - UC Films

English (subtitled), 61 min, 2000, India

‘Born at Home’ observes indigenous birth practices and practitioners in parts of India — rural Rajasthan, Bihar, and an urban working class area of Delhi.

Poised between social reality and the eternal mystery of childbearing, the film presents an intricate delineation of the figure of the dai (midwife) who is almost always a low-caste, poor woman. The dais’ methods are holistic, conceiving of childbirth not as pathology but continuation of organic life.

Dais handle about 50% of the births in India. Her inherited skills, though accessible and low-cost, are continually devalued by the mainstream. The film poses a critical question – why does the state not recognise the almost one million traditional practitioners in the country?

Screened at:
The Mediawave film and video festival, Hungary, 2001;
The Margaret Mead Festival, New York, 2001, and the Mead Travelling Festival;
Film South Asia, Kathmandu, 2001, and Travelling Film South Asia;
7th International Short & Independent Film Festival, Bangladesh, 2002;
Mumbai International Film Festival, India, 2002.
The film has been shown at several other festivals in India, conferences and health/ academic/ gender forums all over the world.