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Nursing school faculty and alumni advise on award-winning film

By Amanda Brower

While maternal mortality rates across the globe are dropping, there is one exception: the U.S., where the rate is 10 times higher than in Europe, according to the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s even worse for women of color in the U.S., whose preterm birth rate is 54% higher than white women’s, and whose babies are more than twice as likely to die.

Amid this escalating crisis, a documentary debuted last spring to sound the alarm and bring attention to the power of nursing professionals on the frontlines.

American Delivery—which narrates the joys and fears of a diverse group of pregnant women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period—took home top honors at the Cleveland International Film Festival in April, winning best film and the coveted Roxanne T. Mueller Audience Choice Award.

Directed by Carolyn Jones and produced by Lisa Frank, American Delivery was the brainchild of a handful of faculty members at the Marian K. Shaughnessy Nurse Leadership Academy at �ǿմ�ý Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. Dean Carol Musil, PhD, RN (NUR ’79; GRS ’91, nursing) and Joyce Fitzpatrick, PhD, RN (MGT ’92), the Elizabeth Brooks Ford Professor of Nursing, as well as several alumni—Linda Q. Everett, PhD, RN (NUR ’85), Greer Glazer, PhD, RN (NUR ’79; GRS ’84, nursing), and Judith Shamian, PhD, RN (GRS ’98, nursing)—acted as advisors to the film.

The documentary intimately portrays women’s experiences giving birth in the U.S. and spotlights the role of nurses providing holistic maternal healthcare and the individuals who shape legislation and policy to change the trajectory of high infant and maternal mortality.

“American Delivery highlights the foundational role of nurses and midwives in changing maternal health outcomes,” said Fitzpatrick. “Women in America deserve better care. It’s that simple.”

Fitzpatrick believes the U.S. can draw inspiration from countries where nurse midwives play significant roles in providing care for women and are supported through systems that relies on interprofessional practice.

“This film is about possibilities for change, hope for the future of women’s health in America and globally,” said Fitzpatrick. “And importantly, for the power of nurses to make these changes.”

This article appears in the print edition of Forefront magazine, summer 2024. Find more stories from Forefront at case.edu/nursing/news-events/forefront-magazine.