Filmmaker
Eleanor Currie is a documentary filmmaker, videographer, photographer and mother of two beautiful children, one unplanned Cesarean and one born at home. She has a passion for telling stories about the human experience.
Filmmaker
Amanda is a documentary filmmaker, producer, mother of two children, both born at home. She is an Acupuncturist based in Brisbane and a passion for advocacy and education.
Born at Home was created by Eleanor Currie and Amanda Banks. The mission behind the film was initially to create a resource for families to understand that homebirth is an option and to help them make an informed decision about their model of care and care provider. With so many questions around safety and little understanding of the practicalities of homebirth, the two creators were keen to dispel some myths and give women a glimpse into what homebirth can really be like.
As the film began to get rave reviews and popularity grew, Amanda and Eleanor realised this was much more than just a birth resource, this film, as one review puts it, “is here to return birth to it’s rightful owners, Women.”
After the empowering homebirth of her second child, Amanda began volunteering as Convenor for Homebirth QLD. She wanted to help more women understand the incredible gift that an undisturbed birth can be.
Working in the advocacy sector, Amanda was confronted with the latest maternity statistics that reported women who birthed in the system were far more likely to experience trauma then those birthing at home. Speaking with women in her community she realised birth trauma was far too common. She began to wonder why. Was it the place of birth that was the main factor? What else was gained by birthing at home?
Armed with these questions and a desire to reach a larger audience she called her dear friend and videographer, Eleanor, to join forces to create this powerful film.
The two set out to create a resource that would give woman an insight into what birthing at home could look like, something that would help women feel excited and inspired to birth. A resource that would discuss safety, what midwifery care looks like and how the environment affects the physiology. They wanted to include things they would have wanted to know during their own pregnancies.
The film was created to help more women make informed decisions about their care, to help women and their families understand that homebirth is safe, and not just for ‘unconventional hippies’. Homebirth isn’t a hospital birth at home, it is a rite of passage that significantly impacts how a women feels, parents, connects, grows and relates to the world.
With families and businesses of their own, Amanda and Eleanor created this amazing film, completely self-funded with passion in their hearts and very little sleep. All good things take time and it was certainly worth it.
The Impact
Born at Home has impacted people all over the globe.
This film showcases birth as the beautiful, powerful and transformative rite of passage that it is. It encourages women to take ownership of their pregnancy journey and birth. It shows women how sacred and transformative the energy of birth truly is and that it is our birthright to have that powerful experience undisturbed and respected.
The film also helps partners understand and witness their role in the birth space. It celebrates birthworkers and reignites the passion these women have for their work. Midwifery students have shared with us they feel renewed in their studies and excited to go in this direction with their career.
The film also touches on birth trauma. The stories that these women share help those who have had similar experiences to understand they are not alone and that what happened to them wasn’t their fault.
Continue to share the beauty of homebirth with your community to enable true decision making in childbirth.
Sharing your positive birth story is a powerful form of advocacy. If you’d like more people to know about homebirth, share our website and instagram page. Bring them along to a screening or send them the streaming link when we shift to online streaming in 2025.
Watch the Trailer
Header image by Eleanor Currie, illumina films
GET IN TOUCH
Email: admin@bornathomefilm.com.au
OTHER PAGES
