With the need to bridge the knowledge gap around postpartum depression in Nigeria, documentary filmmaker, Nora Awolowo, has held the private screening of her latest work, “Baby Blues: The Trials of Childbirth.”
The screening, which took place at Alliance Francais’ Mike Adenuga Centre on Friday, December 17, 2021, gave viewers a firsthand look into the multiple emotions experienced by new mothers.
From Lagos to Kaduna, Awolowo traverses different states of Nigeria to gather and share the experiences of women from different strata of the society, irrespective of age and social class.
Produced by Ella Otigba, the documentary also establishes a distinction between experiencing Baby Blues and outright depression. Recounting her experience, one of the interviewees, Ese Walter recalls how she couldn’t carry her baby at birth because she felt no emotions towards the infant. However, she is not alone. Others recall experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions including loss of sleep, changes to the body and some even admit to coming close to committing infanticide.
Speaking on the inspiration behind the documentary, its director, Awolowo noted that she has always been intentional about telling human-angle stories
“I have come to enjoy working on documentaries like these because I have come to enjoy telling real human stories. For a while, I had been wanting to work on postpartum depression. I feel like people don’t talk about it in our society. In about two months, we were done filming and from the reactions we are getting, we are proud of the work we have done,” she said.
Following the successful screening, the hour-long documentary, which has Nollywood actress, Lota Chukwu, as the supervising producer, will be available for viewing on streaming platforms soon.