Aftershock is an eye opening documentary that sheds a much needed light on the systematic issues with maternal care — ones that mean life or death for so many.
There are many problems in the world today, so many of which are unknown by the majority of people. One of those is the systematic racism within the healthcare industry, specific to the care of Black mothers-to-be. Aftershock explores these issues and sheds a light on something that needs to be corrected.
While the documentary mostly focuses on two young women who lost their lives due to forced C-sections and the fact that their worries and concerns about their own bodies were ignored, there are a whole lot of the same stories out there. This is a true tragedy, and something that needs to be addressed.
The men and women that share their stories are brave. Even watching them it is hard to fight back tears, so to know they relive the darkest moments of their lives over and over in order to spread the truth proves how strong they are.
Aftershock also dives into the history of midwifery and its ties to slavery. When white men realized there was something they couldn’t control, even though it has absolutely nothing to do with them and their bodies, they forced themselves into it by creating OBGYN practices. As someone who had a home birth as well as a hospital birth, this is a bit upsetting, but not surprising.
The birthing center experience is shared in a wonderful way in Aftershock. This is something that few women actually know about, and so to see it on screen in such a way that explains the risks and rewards is important.
This documentary feels all too relevant with the recent overturning of Roe V. Wade. Women are once again losing control of making their own decisions for their own bodies. After learning of the systematic racism within maternal care, it is even scarier to know that legal abortions may not be available for all. So not only are they being forced to have children, they are then putting their own lives at risk by trusting the system to take good care of them.
Hopefully Aftershock helps to spread the word about this problem, and perhaps things will change. Get loud and force change into the world. It is very much needed.
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About Aftershock
AFTERSHOCK directed by Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee, explores the urgent topic of the US maternal health crisis and follows bereaved partners Omari Maynard and Bruce McIntyre as they galvanize activists, birth-workers and physicians to reckon with one of the most pressing American crises today: the US maternal health crisis.
The film was an official selection of the U.S. Documentary Competition at 2022 Sundance Film Festival and won the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Impact for Change.
Aftershock streams on Hulu July 19th.
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.