The Chicago Maternity Center Story

The Chicago Maternity Center Story
Directed byGordon Quinn
Jerry Blumenthal
Produced byGordon Quinn
Jerry Blumenthal
Release date
  • 1976 (1976)
Running time
60 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Chicago Maternity Center Story is a 1976 feature-length documentary film produced by Kartemquin Films. It tells the story of The Chicago Maternity Center as it fights to stay open despite declining funding. The center had been open for 75 years, but was forced to close in light of modern medicine's changing attitude toward home birth and subsequent lack of resources.[1]

The film is structured in two parts. It first follows the story of Scharene Miller, who was one of the last mothers to use the Maternity Center's home birthing services. The backdrop to this personal story is provided in the broader context of the rise of corporate medicine and the current barriers for the poor in accessing quality medical care.[2] The work of the Center's director, Beatrice Tucker, and other staff are highlighted throughout, as are the demonstrations that attempted to keep the work going.[3]

References

  1. ^ "The Chicago Maternity Center Story". Chicago Reader. 28 February 1985. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  2. ^ "The Chicago Maternity Center Story". PopMatters. 19 April 2011. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  3. ^ "Dr Beatrice Tucker: Home Birth for Chicago's Working Class". CWLU Herstory Project. Chicago Women's Liberation Union. Retrieved April 11, 2022.


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