Baby Factory (Bahay Bata)

Year: 2011
Country: PHILIPPINES
Run Time: 97 minutes

Dozens of babies are delivered every day at the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Manila. It's no surprise that the UN's symbolic "seven billionth person" was born there. This BABY FACTORY has a staff highly trained to meet the deluge of humanity. In a place with a 1:6 bed–to-patient ratio, the staff members do their jobs with the mechanical precision of a Formula One racing crew. Something between ER and a Frederick Wiseman documentary, this fascinating film takes on universal themes: the joy of new motherhood (many of them teenagers); the poverty in which many find themselves; the heroism of nurses and physicians in an overburdened system. One mother can't give milk after bearing her 13th child; a pregnant prisoner arrives in handcuffs. Laced through it all is the story of Sarah, a head nurse with her own share of troubles. BABY FACTORY was born in the face of the Philippines' contentious reproductive health bills, which seek universal access to birth control and maternal care. (In Tagalog with subtitles) – B.B.

• Tweet