The NFB is committed to respecting your privacy

We use cookies to ensure that our site works efficiently, as well as for advertising purposes.

If you do not wish to have your information used in this way, you can modify your browser settings before continuing your visit.

Learn more
Skip to content Accessibility

Pregnancy and Birth (8)

  • Discussions in Bioethics: Who Should Decide?
    Discussions in Bioethics: Who Should Decide?
    We're sorry, this content is not available in your location.
    Beverly Shaffer 1985 14 min
    One of a series of short, open-ended dramas designed to stimulate discussion of values and ethics in relation to modern medical technology. This film deals with questions arising from advances in pre-natal diagnosis. Joanne, a victim of spina bifida, discovers that her unborn child has the same disease. A decision whether to terminate the pregnancy must be reached quickly. When her husband says that all he ever wanted was "a normal baby," Joanne counters with "What is normal?"
  • Mother and Her Child
    Mother and Her Child
    Vincent Paquette 1947 1 h 0 min
    This film follows a young couple from the time they suspect pregnancy to their child's first birthday. The value of good prenatal habits and medical care is emphasized. Good tips are also provided on day-to-day baby care.
  • Moments of Life
    Moments of Life
    We're sorry, this content is not available in your location.
    Samuel-A. Caron  &  France Gallant 2020 20 min
    The phenomenon of perinatal grief has largely gone unrecognized; parents who live through the experience frequently find themselves isolated, with no resources to support them. Co-directed by Samuel-A. Caron and France Gallant, Moments of Life breaks the silence on this sensitive subject. We follow a group of bereaved parents who organize to offer support in their region, driven by a determination to reduce isolation. This film is both a conversation-starter and a source of hope and inspiration.
  • Mother-To-Be
    Mother-To-Be
    Anne Claire Poirier 1969 1 h 15 min
    Can a woman fully achieve self-realization while at the same time giving herself to the role of wife and mother? This is one question raised in this film documentary. Introspective, partly biographical, the film delves into the emotions of joy, anticipation and anxiety that a young mother experiences during the last several weeks before the birth of her second child. There is some footage from Czechoslovakia concerning maternity: a natural childbirth in a hospital delivery room and state nursery care for the children of working mothers.
  • Medicine Under the Influence
    Medicine Under the Influence
    Lina B. Moreco 2004 1 h 17 min
    This feature documentary tackles a taboo subject: the tragic effects of life-sustaining medical treatment on infants. Through the courageous testimony of a handful of doctors and therapists as well as the shocking stories told by devoted parents of disabled children, this film denounces the lack of support offered to science's little "miracles." Once saved, the children are more or less left to their fate by a medical system that does not give them the therapy needed to improve their quality of life and develop to their fullest potential.
  • Not Enough Womb for the Two of Us
    Not Enough Womb for the Two of Us
    Cameron Kletke 2024 1 min
    Cameron Kletke depicts an in utero skirmish between twins with spacious hand-drawn animation, employing watercolours and pastel to plunge us into an intimate watery universe where the umbilical cord becomes a prop in a comic battle of wills. Those little elbows can be sharp.
  • Reflections on Practice: Pregnant Users
    Reflections on Practice: Pregnant Users
    Nettie Wild 2007 1 min
    Street nurse Caroline Brunt reflects on the challenges she faces when working with pregnant women who use drugs, and the importance of not judging the mother.

    *Watch the complete documentary.
    *View all 10 educational playlists.
    *Explore the Teacher's Guide for this chapter.
  • Unexpected
    Unexpected
    2008 16 min
    This short film from the Filmmaker-in-Residence project is a provocative and transformative dialogue between homeless mothers and healthcare professionals who deliver babies.