Episode 10: Allowed to Birth — Filming a Global Midwife with Jacinta Lagos
- Aug 10
- 2 min read
Jacinta Lagos | Director, Allowed to Birth: The Journey of a Global Midwife | Filmmaker, Videographer & Birth Photographer
Jacinta Lagos is an Argentinian-born filmmaker, birth photographer and videographer now based in the United States. She started out as a wedding videographer, then documented her own two pregnancies and discovered birth photography as its own genre, before training as a doula because she refused to just be “a fly on the wall.”
Allowed to Birth: The Journey of a Global Midwife is her debut as a feature filmmaker. It follows midwife Kristine Lauria, who has attended over 5,000 births across more than 25 countries, including war zones and refugee camps, and explores how birth is supported, and sometimes constrained, across very different healthcare systems.
This isn't a film that sets out to be anti-hospital or pro-home birth. It's about respectful care, and about the idea that birth can be a magical rite of passage in any setting, including a caesarean, if a woman feels safe, secure and respected. In this conversation, Jacinta talks about what called her to make the film after years spent behind the camera at births, the biggest revelations that came out of filming across such different cultures and healthcare systems, and what she wants women, wherever they're giving birth, to take from it.
SHOW NOTES
00:00 - Introduction to Jacinta Lagos and her filmmaking journey
00:24 - Jacinta’s transition from wedding videography to birth documentation
00:49 - The inspiration behind "Allowed to Birth" and witnessing obstetric violence
01:15 - Jacinta’s early work and focus on normalizing birth through media
02:34 - Meeting Christine Laurier and the story of creating the documentary
03:12 - The global perspective on birth practices and cultural influences
03:51 - The meaning behind the film's title and its implications for women’s rights
04:21 - How the film aims to change perceptions on individual and systemic levels
11:28 - Barriers for first-time mothers engaging with birth knowledge
12:55 - Challenging misconceptions about hospital birth and medicalization
14:08 - The importance of respecting bodily autonomy and informed consent
16:39 - The societal normalization of intervention and trauma in birth systems
17:36 - The power of personal stories and first-person experiences in transforming attitudes
19:13 - The inclusivity of the film and its non-graphic approach to birth imagery
22:26 - The serendipity and harmony observed during Jacinta's filmmaking process
27:45 - The transformational power of birth and its significance as a rite of passage
28:45 - Reframing birth as a sacred, culturally meaningful experience
32:45 - How respectful and safe environments enable women to have positive birth experiences
36:38 - Obstetric system challenges: training gaps and misconceptions about risks
40:39 - Jacinta's upcoming plans and the film's reception goals
41:13 - Engaging audiences, sparking conversations, and promoting birth autonomy
CONNECT WITH JACINTA & THE FILM
Distributed by Common Ground Film Australia
Screening across Australia September–November. Canberra screening: 16 September.
Follow Common Ground Film Au, Allowed to Birth, or Jacinta's personal account on Instagram for tickets and details.
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