ARREST THE MIDWIFE to Premiere on POV Ahead of PBS Broadcast
Elaine Epstein and Robin Hessman's film centers on midwife Elizabeth Catlin's felony case in Yates County.
POV, the multi-Emmy and Peabody Award-winning independent nonfiction film series, presents Arrest the Midwife, directed by POV alum Elaine Epstein (State of Denial), and produced by Epstein and fellow POV alum Robin Hessman (My Perestroika). Co-produced with ITVS, the film chronicles the arrest of trusted midwives serving Amish and Mennonite families in rural New York and the unexpected response it ignites. As access to the care they have long relied upon is threatened, women from these communities step beyond traditional roles and emerge as advocates for reproductive justice and their right to choose how, where and with whom they give birth.
Called 'an intimate portrait and an inspiring call to action,' by The Austin Chronicle's Jessi Cape, Arrest the Midwife will make its national broadcast premiere on POV nationwide Monday, August 31, 2026 at 10pm/9C on PBS Television (check local listings) as part of the series' 39th season. The film will be available to stream on the PBS App through November 29, 2026. For nearly four decades, POV has been America's longest-running nonfiction series, and a home for independent documentaries bringing award-winning stories that challenge assumptions, deepen understanding and inspire meaningful conversation.
With rare access to a community seldom seen on screen, Epstein chronicles the arrest of community midwife Elizabeth Catlin in Yates County, New York, a Certified Professional Midwife whose credential is not recognized for licensure in the state. Catlin was indicted on 95 felony counts, including unauthorized practice of midwifery, setting off a years-long legal battle and a strong response from the Amish and Mennonite families who relied on her care. She ultimately pleaded guilty to one felony count of unauthorized practice of midwifery, with the remaining charges dropped as part of a plea agreement.
Within these communities, midwives are not simply an alternative to conventional medical care. They are trusted practitioners embedded in the community, providing maternity services rooted in longstanding relationships, and a deep understanding of the women and families they support. When that care is threatened, women whose religious and cultural traditions generally keep them outside public and political life begin organizing. They attend meetings, travel to Albany, engage lawmakers and advocate for changes to New York's midwifery laws.
Their story unfolds against a national maternal health crisis as access to maternity care becomes increasingly limited in parts of the United States. The film focuses on laws that criminalize some forms of midwifery, systemic pressures midwives face from the medical establishment, and restrictions that can limit midwife-led and community-based care. As maternity wards close and midwifery models of care become less available — including within hospitals — women in many communities are confronting fewer options for where and with whom they give birth.
In Arrest the Midwife director, Elaine Epstein is careful not to advocate for home birth over hospital birth, or one model of care over another. Instead, the film probes what it means for women to feel heard and respected throughout pregnancy and childbirth, and what an empowered birthing experience can look like within a healthcare system that supports informed choice.
'I came to Arrest the Midwife through my own deeply personal journey of having children and discovering the midwifery model of care,' said Elaine Epstein, director of Arrest the Midwife. 'What I experienced was a model rooted in trust—one that gives women agency and empowers them to be active participants in their own birthing journey. I believe every woman deserves that kind of care, regardless of where or how she chooses to give birth.'
The issues at the heart of the film are inseparable from the broader maternal health and reproductive justice crisis. Black and Brown women continue to bear a disproportionate burden of maternal health inequities, making access to safe and culturally responsive care an urgent equity issue. Arrest the Midwife also places birth choice within a broader conversation about women's rights: the ability of every woman, regardless of race, geography, income or faith, to participate fully in decisions about her body and her maternity care. In that sense, Catlin's story and the experiences of the families at the center of the film reach well beyond one community or one approach to childbirth.
'The power of Arrest the Midwife comes from the women at the center of the story and the choices they face when the care they trust is threatened,' said Chris White, Executive Producer of POV. 'Elaine Epstein transforms an intimate, deeply local story into a powerful examination of maternal health, reproductive justice and every woman's right to have a voice in how and where she gives birth.'
Arrest the Midwife had its world premiere at SXSW (2025) and was an official selection of DC/DOX (2025), DOC NYC (2025), Mill Valley Film Festival (2025) and the Woodstock Film Festival (2025).
Arrest the Midwife is a co-production of Underdog Films, Inc, American Documentary | POV and the Independent Television Service (ITVS), in association with the Harnisch Foundation and Global Neighborhood, with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Elaine Epstein is the director. Epstein and Robin Hessman are the producers. Naiti Gámez and Tyson VanSkiver are the cinematographers, and Rachel Shuman is the editor. Allyson Newman is the composer. The executive producers are Ruth Ann Harnisch, Patty Quillin, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Carrie Lozano for ITVS, and Erika Dilday and Chris White for American Documentary | POV.
Credits
Director: Elaine Epstein
Producers: Elaine Epstein, Robin Hessman
Participants/Cast: Elizabeth Catlin, Melissa Carman, Lissa Horning, Linda Schutt, Susan Derby
Cinematographer: Naiti Gámez, Tyson VanSkiver
Editor: Rachel Shuman
Composer: Allyson Newman
Executive Producers: Ruth Ann Harnisch, Patty Quillin, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Carrie Lozano, Erika Dilday, Chris White
Country: USA
Language: English
Year: 2025
Arrest the Midwife will be available for streaming concurrently with broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS Video App, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO. PBS station members can view many series, documentaries and specials via PBS Passport. For more information about PBS Passport, visit the PBS Passport FAQ website. In addition to standard closed captioning for the film, POV, in partnership with audio description service DiCapta, provides real-time audio interpretations for audiences with sensory disabilities.
About the Filmmakers
Elaine Epstein, Director, Producer, Editor, Arrest the Midwife
Elaine Epstein is a South African-born filmmaker who divides her time between Brooklyn and Cape Town. Her work focuses on intimate, character-driven stories that reveal larger systemic issues.
Elaine's acclaimed debut feature, State of Denial, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, aired on PBS's POV, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Coverage of a Current Issue – Long Form. Examining the devastating human consequences of the HIV/AIDS crisis during South Africa's Mbeki administration, the film won the Special Jury Award at Hot Docs and helped shape broader conversations around health equity, political accountability, and access to care. She has also produced numerous documentary series and specials for HBO, MTV, PBS, LOGO, and Discovery.
In 2008, Elaine founded Underdog Films, a creative studio specializing in documentary storytelling, branded content, and social impact campaigns. Through Underdog, she has directed and produced work for AT&T, Microsoft, UBS, Honda, Snapchat, and a wide range of nonprofit organizations, bringing a cinematic and character-driven approach to stories across platforms.
After years working in short-form storytelling, Elaine returned to feature documentaries as cinematographer on Nothing Without Us: The Women Who Will End AIDS (2018), which follows women activists at the forefront of the global fight against HIV/AIDS, and Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened, about the infamous 1981 Broadway flop Merrily We Roll Along by Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince. Her latest feature, Arrest the Midwife, premiered at SXSW and will broadcast nationally on PBS's POV. Beginning with the arrest of a community midwife in rural New York, the film expands into a larger exploration of reproductive rights, bodily autonomy, and who gets to make decisions about birth in America.
Elaine's work has received support from ITVS, the Ford Foundation, The International Documentary Association, the Harnisch Foundation, Meadow Fund, Perspective Fund, and numerous other organizations committed to independent documentary filmmaking and social impact.
Robin Hessman, Producer, Arrest the Midwife
Robin Hessman is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and creative producer. Her film, Arrest the Midwife (SXSW 2025, dir: Elaine Epstein) will broadcast nationally on PBS' POV. She is currently producing Sister Senators (dir: Emily Harrold) and Survival Floating (dir: Tracy Heather Strain.) She recently produced Simple As Water (HBOMax, dir: Megan Mylan) which was shortlisted for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature and nominated for Peabody, Emmy, IDA and Producer Guild Awards in 2022. Previously Robin directed and produced the critically-acclaimed My Perestroika (Sundance 2010) which was a NY Times Critics Pick released in over 30 countries. She co-produced several PBS films including the Peabody Award-winning Tupperware! and the American Masters biography of Julia Child. During a decade living in Russia, she produced Ulitsa Sezam, the Russian co-production of Sesame Street and was the documentary curator of Amfest Moscow. In 2024 she founded Global Neighborhood to produce films by women filmmakers telling important global and local stories of our times. Robin is a member of the Documentary Branch of AMPAS, the Council on Foreign Relations, the PGA, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the DPA, and is VP and a founding board member of the Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship.
Rachel Shuman, Editor, Arrest the Midwife
Rachel Shuman is an award-winning documentary editor and director whose work bridges lyrical and journalistic storytelling. Her films have screened at major festivals around the world like Tribeca, SXSW, and Full Frame and have aired on platforms such as POV, Independent Lens, and international broadcast stations. Her recent editing credits include the Emmy and Peabody-nominated Storm Lake, a timely portrait of local journalism's fight for survival; Omara, a tribute to the legendary Cuban singer Omara Portuondo; and Five Seasons, a visually stunning meditation on landscape designer Piet Oudolf. Currently, she is co-directing and editing Snow Globe, a feature documentary that explores the science, symbolism, and shifting reality of snow in the age of climate change. A graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York and longtime board member of the Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship, Rachel is dedicated to nonfiction films that delve into the cultural, political, and poetic dimensions of everyday life.
Naiti Gámez, Cinematographer, Arrest the Midwife
Naiti Gámez is an award-winning director and cinematographer whose work spans acclaimed films and television series. Her debut short, Love, Sadie, premiered at the Festival de Cannes Short Film Corner, marking the start of a career defined by bold storytelling and visual precision.
Most recently, she directed episodes of Monster Factory (Apple TV+), which won the Grierson Award for Best Constructed or Formatted Documentary Series and earned an Emmy nomination. As a cinematographer, Naiti has shot a diverse range of celebrated documentaries that have screened at major international festivals including Sundance, Berlinale, TIFF, Camerimage, Tribeca, SXSW, Paris Cinema, IDFA, BFI London, and Hot Docs. Her feature credits include Listening to Kenny G (HBO Max), Ailey (Neon), Through the Night (PBS POV), Hail Satan? (Magnolia Pictures), and Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart (HBO/Sky Atlantic), among many others.
Beyond filmmaking, Naiti has worked extensively with nonprofit organizations and as an educator, mentoring the next generation of storytellers. She holds a B.A. in Latin American Studies from Smith College and an M.F.A. in Film Production from the University of Texas at Austin.
About POV
Building on five 2026 News & Documentary Emmy nominations, POV remains one of the most highly-acclaimed documentary series in broadcast and streaming. Recent honors include a 2026 Emmy win for The Ride Ahead (POV Season 38), a 2024 Emmy win for Eat Your Catfish (POV Season 37), a 2023 Emmy win for The Last Out (POV Season 36), and a Peabody Award for While We Watched (POV Season 36), marking the eleventh consecutive year a POV film has been nominated for a Peabody and its 28th win. Additional recognition includes an IDA Documentary Award win for Best Curated Series in 2022 and nominations in that category for three consecutive years (2023, 2024, 2025) and the inclusion of seven POV films in Indiewire's 'The 50 Best Documentaries of the 21st Century': Faya Dayi (2021), The Mole Agent (2020), Minding The Gap (2018), Cameraperson (2016), The Look of Silence (2015), The Act of Killing (2013) and After Tiller (2013). Across its history, POV films and projects have garnered more than 108 News & Documentary Emmy nominations and won 53 Emmy Awards, 29 Peabody Awards, 17 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, three Academy Awards and the first-ever George Polk Documentary Film.
Produced by American Documentary, POV is the longest-running independent documentary showcase on American television presenting films on PBS since 1988 that capture the full spectrum of the human experience, with a long commitment to centering women and people of color in front of and behind the camera. The series has introduced generations of viewers to groundbreaking work from filmmakers including Laura Poitras, Jonathan Demme, Nanfu Wang, Frederick Wiseman, Emiko Omori, Janus Metz Pedersen and Ava DuVernay, and to landmark films such as Tongues Untied (1989), Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1992), Rabbit in the Room (1999), Of Civil Wrongs & Rights: The Fred Korematsu Story (2001), Made in L.A. (2007), American Promise (2013), Not Going Quietly (2021), A House Made of Splinters (2022) and the mini-series And She Could be Next (2020). Since its launch in 2018, POV Shorts has expanded the series' commitment to short-form storytelling, with films including A Broken House recognized on the Academy Award shortlist. Extending beyond broadcast, POV engages audiences through streaming on PBS platforms, free educational resources and a nationwide community network that sparks dialogue around urgent social issues. Learn more at pbs.org/pov and follow @povdocs on social media.
About American Documentary, Inc.
American Documentary, Inc. (AmDoc) is a multimedia organization dedicated to creating, identifying and presenting contemporary stories that express opinions and perspectives rarely featured in mainstream media outlets. A catalyst for public culture, AmDoc develops collaborative strategic engagement initiatives around socially relevant content across television, digital platforms and in community settings, from dialogue and feedback to educational opportunities and civic participation. AmDoc's programming includes its multi–Emmy, Oscar, and Peabody Award–winning flagship series POV, the Oscar and Emmy winning POV Shorts, and America ReFramed. As part of its ongoing digital expansion, AmDoc is extending the reach of its work through expanded documentary programming on YouTube, connecting independent documentary storytelling with broader audiences and evolving how public media reaches viewers today. Follow @americandocumentary on social media.
Major funding for POV is provided by the Open Society Foundations, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation, Acton Family Giving, Park Foundation, and Perspective Fund. Additional funding comes from PBS, the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and public television viewers. POV is presented by a consortium of public television stations, including KQED San Francisco, WGBH Boston and THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG.
