Allowed to Birth- CANBERRA documentary screening PLUS Live Q&A panel

Across cultures and continents, birth has become shaped by systems of control and intervention. A documentary on the maternal health crisis
About this Event

Join Us for Allowed to Birth - Documentary Screening + Live Q&A Panel!

Allowed to Birth is a powerful new documentary following midwife and educator Kristine Lauria, exploring the global maternal health crisis and what it would take to make childbirth safer, more humane, and more empowering for all. Featuring leading voices in the birth world including Dr Melanie Jackson, Dr Stu Fischbein, Kemi Johnson and more.

Join us in Canberra for a film screening followed by a live Q&A panel with;

• Dr Andrew Bisits (FRACOG) — recently retired from his role as Director of Obstetrics at the Royal Hospital for Women, Sydney, after a 40-year career in obstetrics. An Associate Professor (Conjoint) at UNSW, he's known as "the breech whisperer" for his expertise and advocacy in vaginal breech birth, and remains a respected voice for midwifery-led, collaborative maternity care.
• Catherine Bell — Catherine Bell is a leading maternity advocate, author and researcher, best known for creating The Birth Map. Her evidence-based work supports families to navigate pregnancy and birth through informed decision-making, relationships and community.
• Sasha Hopkins- Panel Host. Sasha is a private midwife and birth educator with experience across hospital, private and homebirth settings. She is a passionate advocate for physiological birth and breech birth, delivering education to health professionals across Australia while supporting families to make informed, intuitive decisions throughout pregnancy and birth.
• Monica Scott- With 22 years of experience as a midwife, including 12 years in a public Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) and as an endorsed homebirth midwife, she is passionate about supporting women to make informed decisions about their care. She believes every woman deserves access to evidence-based information, genuine choice, and respectful support to birth where and how she feels safest.

Across cultures and continents, birth is both a universal experience and a deeply personal journey, yet for millions it has become increasingly shaped by systems of control, risk, and intervention.

This documentary explores the global landscape of childbirth, revealing the growing maternal health crisis and the projound impact of the medicalization of birth.

Through intimate stories and cross-cultural perspectives, the film examines how modern obstetric practices (while often lifesaving) have transformed a natural process into a highly mangaged medical event. It questions whether this shift has always served mothers and babies, or if it has, in some cases, distanced them from safer, more holistic care.

At the heart of the film is the life and work of midwife and educator Kristine Lauria, whose approach offers a powerful alternative. Grounded in respect, physiology, and evidence-based care, her work challenges conventional models and reimagines what childbirth can look like when autonomy, trust, and continuity of care are prioritized.

By waving together global insights with one woman's mission, the documentary invites audiences to reconsider how we bring life into the world, and what it would take to make birth safer, more human, and more empowering for all.