Documentary On American Motherhood Highlights Local Issues With Childcare And Maternal Health

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The documentary “No Country for Mothers” wants to get local moms talking with each other, in person.

The film is produced by Moms First, a nonprofit founded by Reshma Saujani, a former attorney who founded the organization Girls Who Code. Moms First focuses on issues mothers face today, primarily the need for a national paid leave policy and affordable child care. The documentary zeros in on these policies and attempts to deconstruct the culture war that pits mothers against each other instead of working together for common goals that could better the lives of families all over the country.

What makes “No Country for Mothers” different is that it is not available to stream or in theaters. Instead, Moms First is organizing screenings across the country to put people in a room together to share experiences and hold discussions.

Bailey Feldman, founder of a local group called Fount & Flourish, co-hosted the event with the Maryland Chamber of Mothers and The Nanny Network. Feldman, whose organization offers a co-working space and community-building opportunities for women in Annapolis, said the in-person element was essential to creating change.

“To me, getting women in a room to create camaraderie allows us to unite together,” Feldman said. “The systems are not serving us. They’re making our lives feel so separate. We’re not spending time together and connecting on what we need or how to help each other.”

Sharing stories, she said, is a powerful way to start to create change.

Kelsey McCarthy, the program chair for the Maryland Chamber of Mothers, agreed that getting people to share their stories decreases the sense of isolation many mothers feel when they learn they’re not alone in their struggles.

“So many women think they’re in this alone, and the fact that they’re struggling is their own fault. But the system around the family unit right now is just not fair to mothers, and not how it’s supposed to be. The film helps us understand that, and the screenings make it so you can step into the room, use your voice, and help make change,” McCarthy said.

Chamber of Mothers specifically brings mothers’ testimony forward to help advocate for legislation and policy change. McCarthy said that because so much of mothers’ work is invisible, bringing women together to share their stories helps lawmakers see that they’re systemic and can be solved by policy, rather than making an assumption that someone is “just complaining.” Because no matter what people choose — whether it’s as a full-time stay-at-home parent, being self-employed, staying in the workforce, or being childfree, policies that support women and families are good for everyone.

Lisa Berglund, the county representative for Chamber of Mothers in Calvert County, said the mothers she connects with in Southern Maryland face the same issues women do all over the country. Specifically, she’s met many mothers who struggle to get quality maternity care in rural Calvert, with many of them choosing to leave the area for doctors in Annapolis and D.C.

Berglund said she loved the family-friendly atmosphere in Calvert County, and that there are people willing to help each other out and there’s so much for kids to do. But that culture has to extend to moms of young kids and the system-wide supports they need, too.

Child care is one example, Berglund said. She’s heard from numerous mothers in Calvert County about long day care waitlists and how parents need to make plans and get on lists as soon as they get pregnant. And even then, it’s not enough.

One mother called a day care provider every day until a spot opened up. Berglund herself had to extend her unpaid leave until she got her child into day care. Her manager at the time was accommodating. But your job shouldn’t be depending on your manager having empathy.

“You’d hope that no matter who your manager is or what your workplace is, you’d hope you’d have the understanding to take the time off you needed, but that’s not standard across the country right now,” Berglund said.

After the film screening in Annapolis, Feldman hosted a forum where the women in the room shared their experience navigating motherhood. So much of motherhood, they said, seemed to be built around navigating systems that were set up to intentionally cause us to stumble and fall, rather than living in a world that actually honored and supported the families who live, work, and yes, pay taxes.

“We are the economy,” one woman said. “Why can’t the system we contribute to support us instead of just taking?”

Women of all ages and walks of life had stories to share in the room about poor maternity care, the strain of caregiving responsibilities, unequal parenting expectations, husbands who need lists for their own kids and schools who refuse to call dads when a kid is at the nurse. Mothers and grandmothers talked about the rising costs of raising a child, and how to balance family life and work and being your own person when they felt like “the default button” for everything.

And, like the themes in the documentary, the women in the room came back to two sources of major financial strains on families: child care costs and the lack of paid parental leave in the United States.

The U.S. is the only developed nation that doesn’t have a federal paid leave policy for parents. The U.S. only has the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), a 12-week unpaid program that offers job protection to only 56% of the workforce. A Center for American Progress study found that only 27% of private-sector employees have access to paid leave, most of them in high-paying fields. Among the lowest 10% of earners, only one in 20 have access to any family leave at all.

One in four U.S. mothers return to work within two weeks of giving birth, well before the minimum eight weeks recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and before the six- to eight-week postpartum physical recovery time outlined by the American Pregnancy Association (APA) is up.

Several states have rolled out their own policies in the last decade. Maryland’s FAMLI Act is expected to be operational in January 2028, but the act doesn’t cover all workers. The program is based on hours worked, leaving part-time, seasonal workers and contractors vulnerable to loss of income or returning to work before it’s safe for their health.

Despite the overwhelming evidence that paid family leave is good for children and both of their parents, the U.S. has never passed a paid family leave law, due in part to the culture wars that pitted “traditional family values” against the realities of raising a family and allowing everyone the power to choose what’s best for themselves and their families — without the obstacles put in place to make those choices harder for all involved.

Or as psychologist Erica Komisar said in the documentary: “There’s no other developed nation on Earth where the fact that a government is responsible for the welfare of its citizens is even up for debate.”

And this is where the screenings come in. By bringing mothers together, Saujani’s original hope was to create a nationwide coalition to advocate for the changes all types of mothers need — it’s not about what you choose, it’s about knowing you live in a world that will honor that choice.

The women at the Annapolis screening commiserated, shared resources, and exchanged numbers. But after connecting, the hosts said, comes organizing and advocating.

“Without policy and legislation, moms and families will figure it out on their own, they’re going to make it work,” Berglund said. “But what’s the cost? There’s mental and financial stress. There are health impacts. The whole family is worse off. We need to give everyone the opportunity and access for support, and that happens through policy and legislation.”

Screenings of “No Country for Mothers” are ongoing. Anyone interested can attend a free screening in their area, or host their own in-person or virtual screening.

Learn more about the Maryland Chamber of Mothers, Fount & Flourish, The Nanny Network, and Moms First.

---