About this Event
Join Us for Allowed to Birth - Documentary Screening + Live Q&A Panel!
Allowed to Birth is a powerful new documentary following midwife and educator Kristine Lauria, exploring the global maternal health crisis and what it would take to make childbirth safer, more humane, and more empowering for all. Featuring leading voices in the birth world including Dr Melanie Jackson, Dr Stu Fischbein, Kemi Johnson and more.
Join us in Newcastle for a special screening, community connection, followed by a live Q&A panel with experts;
- Helen- Experienced Private Practice Midwife
- Val- Experienced MGP Midwife
- Nichola- Experienced Doula
- Emma- local mother of two
- Sarah- Experienced Doula, Educator- Panel moderator
🎥 Event Details
📅 Date: Wedensday 28th October ,2026
⏱️ Time: 6:30pm-8:30pm
📍Location: Tower Cinema Newcastle. 183 King Street, Newcastle.
Across cultures and continents, birth is both a universal experience and a deeply personal journey, yet for millions it has become increasingly shaped by systems of control, risk, and intervention.
This documentary explores the global landscape of childbirth, revealing the growing maternal health crisis and the projound impact of the medicalization of birth.
Through intimate stories and cross-cultural perspectives, the film examines how modern obstetric practices (while often lifesaving) have transformed a natural process into a highly mangaged medical event. It questions whether this shift has always served mothers and babies, or if it has, in some cases, distanced them from safer, more holistic care.
At the heart of the film is the life and work of midwife and educator Kristine Lauria, whose approach offers a powerful alternative. Grounded in respect, physiology, and evidence-based care, her work challenges conventional models and reimagines what childbirth can look like when autonomy, trust, and continuity of care are prioritized.
By waving together global insights with one woman's mission, the documentary invites audiences to reconsider how we bring life into the world, and what it would take to make birth safer, more human, and more empowering for all.
Event venue & nearby stays
Tower Cinemas Newcastle, 183-185 King Street, Newcastle, Australia
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