Nine Months in the Bronx – Felicia’s dreams and drug tests
Felicia is 22 and pregnant. Her baby could be taken away by the New York authorities on the day she gives birth - unless she can prove she's fit to be a mother.
Her two older children are living with a relative and are under the supervision of the city's child welfare agency after an investigation of an incident involving their father.
In Nine Months in the Bronx, the BBC's Anna Bressanin follows Felicia throughout her pregnancy as she tries to navigate a child welfare system which critics argue puts unfair demands on poor and minority women.
For instance, the Administration for Children's Services in New York claims they do not routinely check hospital records to see if mothers are using drugs, but the mothers in the film say they have been drug tested during prenatal care visits or at the moment they gave birth.
This is a story about love, reproductive choices and what a mother in the Bronx has to sacrifice in order to keep her baby.
A film by Anna Bressanin
Edited by Anna Bressanin and Stephen Beard; animation by Ginevra Boni; audio post by Daniel Dzula.
16 Jun 2016
- From the section US & Canada