A: You need to find someone you can work with … A lot of people don’t realize this, but midwives do everything an OBGYN does (pap smears, etc.) … OBGYNs and doctors often work with midwives. It depends on the woman … Some OBGYNs operate like midwives. My advice is don’t wait until you’re pregnant. Go to a midwife sooner … you have to click with someone … Finding someone who has a philosophy that you’re comfortable with is important … People have misconceptions about midwives, that they’re pushy, when in fact, they’re not at all … Also, midwives can’t operate without an obstetrician … that’s getting harder because obstetricians are leaving the industry.
[Abby goes on to explain that this puts midwives in a precarious position. Also, they remember having been pushed out of the profession because they took away work from doctors historically, so they don’t protest very much.] … So as a result, midwives tend to exist just under the radar …
Q: What drew you to filmmaking after theater?
A: I’ll always love theater. But film is the storytelling medium of our time. You discover things about yourself when you change mediums … I’ve always loved documentaries … I tend to like realism, pure stripped down accidental human drama …
Q: Tell me about your experience working on Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues and the subsequent documentary you did with her [Until the Violence Stops]?
A: The film was so rare and unique … I went all around the world, Africa, Croatia, etc., meeting these unbelievable women doing amazing things with no resources … it was a huge growing experience. We normally don’t get to experience the women of the world. It just showed me that we’re all so connected …
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