Join Stacey D. Stewart, President and CEO of the March of Dimes for a powerful conversation with Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee, the co-directors of Aftershock, a harrowing and galvanizing new film premiering in competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.

About the film:
"An alarmingly disproportionate number of Black women are failed every year by the U.S. maternal health system. Shamony Gibson and Amber Rose Isaac were vibrant, excited mothers-to-be whose deaths due to childbirth complications were preventable. Now, their partners and families are determined to sound a rallying cry around this chilling yet largely ignored crisis.

Directors Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee follow Gibson’s and Isaac’s bereaved partners, Omari Maynard and Bruce McIntyre, as they fight for justice and build communities of support, bonding especially with other surviving Black fathers. Their tragic, individual experiences are punctuated with condemning historical context, showing that gynecology has a long-standing history of exploiting and neglecting Black women in America. In the arresting words of mother-to-be Felicia Ellis, “A Black woman having a baby is like a Black man at a traffic stop with the police.” She emphasizes that paying attention is paramount. Aftershock brings an unsettling reality to the forefront while uplifting the families, activists, and birth workers who are striving to bring institutional change and legislative reform. These mothers will not be forgotten." -- Sundance Film Festival

Our moderator:
Stacey D. Stewart is the President and CEO at March of Dimes where she leads the organization's strategy, vision and operations. As the first Black President of the organization, she fiercely advocates for maternal and infant health for all moms and babies. In particular, she has led the March of Dimes’ focus on health equity, elevating awareness and action to ensure the health needs of moms and babies of color are addressed. Prior to joining March of Dimes, Stacey served as U.S. President of United Way Worldwide, the country’s largest nonprofit organization. March of Dimes has always been committed to serving communities in an equitable way, and Stacey proudly works hard to address disparities in health care, aiming to close the health equity gap.

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