Making Maternal Mortality in Nigeria Compelling Enough

Over 36,000 women in Nigeria die each year due to post-delivery complications. Dawn Sinclair Shapiro discusses documentary, "The Edge of Joy" which focuses on the pregnancy of several Nigerian women, with MediaGlobal.

Below, Director Dawn Sinclair Shapiro discusses her documentary with MediaGlobal. "The Edge of Joy" focuses on the pregnancy of several Nigerian women the day they go into labor. Find the article excerpted below.

Over 36,000 women in Nigeria die each year due to post-delivery complications. In her documentary, "The Edge of Joy," Dawn Sinclair Shapiro focuses on the pregnancy of several Nigerian women — following them, their families, and medical staff on the day they go into labor.

"I started researching the project two years ago," Shapiro said in an interview with MediaGlobal, "I wanted to look at the technology available to these women and how it made their experience different from women giving birth in a hospital in the US"

Nigeria has the second highest rate of maternal mortality in the world. At present, 1 in every 18 women die giving birth verses 1 in 4,800 in the US.

"I don't think anyone would compare Chicago to Nigeria in terms of the experience and scale of the problem, but you can see in both environments the disadvantages of access for mothers giving birth in low-resource settings," said Shapiro.

Beginning her career as a journalist working for CBS News Sunday Morning, Shapiro has since worked for Tribune Broadcasting, CNBC, MSNBC, Dateline NBC, and Chicago Public Radio. Over the years, she has seen how poverty, both in the developed and developing world, can affect maternal health.