Why Poverty?

Episode
Four Born Every Second
Broadcast Info
2012 (59 mins)
Description
Four Born Every Second puts the spotlight on birth and infant mortality around the world. 130 million babies are born each year, but the circumstances - and country - of their birth will determine their life story. BAFTA-winning filmmaker Brian Hill travels from the UK to America, Cambodia and Sierra Leone to reveal the shocking lottery of child birth across the globe. In Sierra Leone - the worst country to be born in terms of infant mortality, where 1 in 8 women will die in childbirth - we meet Hawa, who is expecting her fifth baby. At the Gondama Referral Centre, two MSF obstetricians are working to reduce the infant and maternal mortality rate. But for some of the women arriving at the centre with complications, it will still be too late. In Cambodia, where babies are more likely to grow up malnourished than attend high school, we meet Neang, 36, and her 12-year-old son Pisey, who helps support his pregnant mother and little sister by scavenging the street for tins and plastic. In the UK - where more than 1 in 4 families are led by a single parent - we follow single mum, Lisa, 22, who is expecting her second child. She is reluctant to be a "stereotypical mum on benefits" and wants to work to provide for her children. But with her childcare costs at - £1400 per month, her options are limited. The USA has one of the worst infant mortality rates in the developed world. In San Francisco, we meet expectant mother Starr, her partner and two children. A year ago, they became homeless, making her children among the 1.6 million homeless children now living in the US. Poignant and sobering, the film features scenes of stillbirths and shocking statistics about infant mortality.
Genre
International Development; Social Work; Health and Social Care

How to cite this record

The Open University, "Why Poverty?". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ou/search/index.php/prog/83358 (Accessed 09 Jan 2025)