In May 2012, the first ever Human Rights in Childbirth Conference took place at The Hague. The conference brought together lawyers, doctors, midwives, anthropologists and parents to explore the emerging topic of women’s rights in childbirth. I was there filming for our documentary FREEDOM FOR BIRTH, which articulated the issue by telling the story of Agnes Gereb, a Hungarian midwife who was then and is still now, facing criminal charges for supporting women who gave birth at home. One Hungarian mother, Anna Ternovszky, who had previously been supported in her home birth by Agnes Gereb, decided to fight for the legal right to choose how and where a mother gives birth. Ms Ternovszky took her country to the European Court of Human Rights in 2010 and won a landmark case that now gives every mother in Europe the right to choose the circumstances of her birth.

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