Birth Stories of Trinidad and Tobago

Birth Stories of Trinidad and Tobago is a multi-part project:

1. a short film, Home Birth in Trinidad and Tobago screened at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival,
2. edited short films origin
3. a collection of approximately 55 interviews conducted in 2018 with parents (both mothers and fathers), midwives, obstetricians, doulas, government agency workers, etc.

The stories include births in private hospitals, public hospitals, at home, and in the country’s only midwife-run birth center, the Mamatoto Resource and Birth Center. At the time of the project’s inception, there were very few local resources on birth. The aim of the project is to generate awareness of healthcare options available to Trinidadian and Tobagonian birthing parents as well as issues to consider, and to advocate for better birth conditions. The stories are also a resource for researchers, practitioners, and advocates.

The material was created by Tammy Kremer, MA, while on an arts research Fulbright grant from the US. She is a trained doula. Her MA is from New York University in Arts and Peacebuilding and her BA is from UC Berkeley in Gender and Dance. She works in public health communications at the University of California, San Francisco. She previously worked as a multimedia specialist at Weill Cornell Medicine’s Office of External Affairs and as an arts educator.

Videos were posted on Facebook and YouTube and have received over 50k views. Tammy presented content at the 2021 International Confederation of Midwives Triennial Conference; 2020 Palm Bay Caribe Film Festival; the 2019 Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival; the 2018 Trinidad and Tobago Association of Midwives Biannual Conference, and to the TT Ministry of Women’s Health, the Institute of Gender and Development Studies at the University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine, and shown in three community screenings. The project was covered on TTT Now and in Newsday. A follow up paper was written, Decolonizing Natal Care in Trinidad and Tobago, in addition to an autoethnography.

Content is available at

• facebook.com/birthstoriesstt;
• https://www.youtube.com/@birthstoriesoftrinidadandt4882; and
• https://sites.google.com/view/tammykremerportfolio/birth-stories-of-tt?authuser=0

This project was created in collaboration with many individuals and organizations, including Mamatoto Resource and Birth Center Trinidad and Tobago, Association of Midwives of Trinidad and Tobago, the Institute for Gender and Development Studies, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, Amanda T. McIntyre, Juliette McCawley and Anushka Robinson.