Birth of a surgeon. Empowering midwives in Mozambique

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Suffering from an acute shortage of doctors, Mozambique launched a bold grassroots initiative to combat its high maternal death rate: the training of midwives in surgical delivery-related techniques. In this program, Wide Angle reports from the region with an inspiring profile of a female midwife-in-training and tracks her progress as she learns to counter life-threatening complications of labor such as eclampsia, acute bleeding, and ruptures of the uterus and performs a C-section. Filmed in the operating room and during night shifts in the delivery ward, Birth of a Surgeon illustrates the much greater contribution to maternal and neonatal care that a surgically trained midwife can make in Mozambique. In addition, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan speaks with Aaron Brown about her pledge to give particular attention to the health of women and to healthcare in Africa.