Synopsis
A child died at birth. Four years later, in August 2012, her midwife and doctor was on trial, charged with manslaughter.On almost all of the 59 days of the proceedings, I sat in the courtroom and observed the jury trial against the colleague. In a midwifery journal, I continuously reported in detail on the trial, which lasted more than two years.
What happened in the courtroom was a real-life tragedy, that captivated me with all its facets: The emotional content, the stories of the people involved, who had to reveal a lot of intimate information in public, the professional and social issues.
In October 2014, the doctor and midwife was found guilty of manslaughter, sentenced to six and a half years in prison and banned from practicing her profession for life, although many questions remained unanswered about the cause of the baby’s death. After serving four and a half years, she is released from prison on probation. For her, nothing is as it was before.
The verdict is unprecedented in Germany in connection with an unfortunate outcome of a birth.
From the VIKTORjury statement : 'From an unpretentious and feminist standpoint, she tells the story of a progressive midwife and doctor whose life becomes a nightmare as a result of the trial. We become witnesses to a tendentious and unprecedented verdict that not only destroys an entire existence but also advances long-standing efforts to limit the work of independent midwives. With GRETAS GEBURT the filmmaker succeeds in making an essential contribution to this highly sensitive topic and impressively demonstrates the social relevance of documentary film work.'