ARTIST STATEMENT
As a documentary filmmaker focused on women’s issues, Ana’s work explores how systems of power impact bodily autonomy. Reclaiming Birth confronts the commodification of childbirth—how it has been medicalized and controlled to prioritize profit over people. In this system, racial disparities are magnified, inequality deepens, and maternal mortality continues to rise, especially among marginalized communities. This series offers a counter-narrative. Through intimate, documentary-style images, she captures the raw, physiological process of birth revealing how the midwifery model provides safe, evidence-based care rooted in autonomy, compassion, and trust.
At the heart of this project is Sha, who chose to birth her second child outside the medical system in Puerto Rico, a U.S. commonwealth where access to midwifery care is limited and medicalized birth is the norm. Her decision was an act of reclaiming her body’s wisdom and power. On an island where C-section rates are significantly higher (over 50%), her choice to birth at home was both deeply personal and inherently political. Her images reflect the profound intimacy of community-supported care and the sovereignty of the birthing body. They offer a glimpse into a sacred, ancestral process—once guided by women, rooted in cultural memory, and passed down through generations. Reclaiming Birth is more than a photographic series—it is a call to action. These images challenge dominant narratives shaped by patriarchal and institutional systems, and invite viewers to reflect on a more just and empowering reproductive healthcare model—one that includes midwives, honors autonomy, and centers dignity, care, and community over control.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Ana María Rodríguez is a bilingual Emmy-nominated and award-winning visual storyteller and filmmaker. Her work has been published by the most prestigious media companies in the US: NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, Univision, WNYC, The Village Voice, El Diario La Prensa, among others. For the last 8 years, she focuses her work on abortion and maternal health. Her most recent documentary on obstetric violence and how midwives are a solution to this issue: “Una herida invisible” won a Gracie Award. Ana is passionate about multi-platform storytelling, women’s health and reproductive rights. She’s an IWMF fellow, New York Times Student Journalism Institute alumna and holds a master’s degree in visual and health journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York.
© Ana M Rodriguez