Lauren Santucci
Lauren Santucci, a graduate student at Ohio University, won the Bob East Scholarship.
Accomplishments
This year, I filmed and produced a feature documentary for FRONTLINE PBS about the challenges low-income families in Ohio face during the pandemic. From the film’s initial research and development through post-production, I built and sustained relationships with several families that the film’s director and I followed for months. Over time, the access we developed with each family in the film allowed us to document their experiences with sensitivity and journalistic accuracy. The film can be viewed at the following link: www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/growing-up-poor-in-america/
Since pursuing a career in visual journalism, I’ve been extremely grateful for the awards and fellowships that have supported my work.
In 2020, two of my images were recognized by College Photographer of the Year (CPOY): Silver – Feature and Award of Excellence – Interpretive Eye.
I was a 2018 Facing Change: Documenting Detroit Fellow, 2018 New York Foundation for the Arts Immigrant Artist Mentee, and 2019 Detroit Equity Action Lab Race and Justice Reporting Fellow. My work has been published by FRONTLINE PBS, NPR, The Guardian, The Columbus Dispatch, OkayAfrica and has exhibited at Photoville and the Detroit Institute of Arts.
I received my undergraduate degree in international relations and art history from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and I’m currently pursuing a Masters in photojournalism and documentary filmmaking at Ohio University. This year, I’m honored to serve as the Vice President of NPPAOU.
Career Goals
For me, the greatest privilege of visual journalism is collaboration and the constant exchange of experiences, knowledge, and traditions. I truly believe in the ability of visual journalism to foster social change by using a collaborative approach where trust and communication is paramount.
Upon graduation this spring, I hope to complete a photo and video journalism internship to gain more hands-on experience with daily assignments and longer term projects. My long-term goal is to create in-depth visual stories as a staff photo or video journalist at a large market newspaper or freelancer for national and international media outlets. I’m also interested in pursuing opportunities as a photo editor researching, developing, and assigning visual stories. Whatever my role in the industry becomes, my goal is to employ the best medium to create work that humanizes social issues through personal stories.
Positioned amongst the rural hills of Morgan County, Ohio, the village of Chesterhill’s bright and spacious landscape differs greatly from the surrounding communities nestled in lower elevations or hollows. For those who were raised on this land, and those who moved there for its peace and refuge, there is a common appreciation for the rural landscape and the lifestyle that comes with it. “If everywhere in the world was like here, the world would be a good place to be,” lifelong resident John Singree said.
Lauren came across a book about midwifery in a public library when she was 19 years old. Contrary to the unbearable pain and suffering of women in labor portrayed in film and television dramas, she began to understand birth as a positive and empowering human experience. When she became pregnant with her first child only a few years later, she chose to give birth at home with a midwife. After two more home births and a decade of training and apprenticeships, Lauren finally opened Ohio Hills Midwifery in Athens in 2018.
Lauren sees roughly twenty clients a year, half of which are from Amish communities across southeast Ohio. A typical prenatal appointment with Lauren is an hour or longer, and much of that time is spent getting to know each other and building a relationship. “I want to know what they want out of their care,” Lauren explains. During frequent prenatal appointments, Lauren checks in with her clients’ mood and emotions and discusses nutrition and stress reduction. Prenatal appointments are also used to closely monitor clients’ vitals, “I make sure that if somebody is developing a problem, the goal is to identify it early and give them tools to get back on the path of normal, low risk, healthy pregnancy."
A relationship built on communication and trust carries into labor, where Lauren is a knowledgeable and calming force. Instead of relying on medical interventions, Lauren is hands-off during labor. If a mother is extremely uncomfortable or seeking guidance, she may suggest different birthing positions or offer physical support, such as a cool washcloth on the back of their neck. She encourages her clients to follow their intuition through labor, “I think each person who gives birth is the expert on themselves,” she describes. “I think that’s why people in general leave home birth feeling empowered, because they did it. It’s not something that happened to them.”
Throughout labor, she tracks the mother’s blood pressure and the baby’s heart rate. Lauren jumps into action as soon as the baby is close to crowning. As the baby is born, she ensures it clears its tiny lungs of fluids and is breathing consistently while also closely monitoring the mother in case of extreme bleeding or hemorrhage. Lauren is a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM), the only midwives with required training in out-of-hospital births. However, CPMs in Ohio are unable to gain licensure but are not legally prohibited, so their practices are largely unregulated by the state. Home birth provider fees are unlikely to be covered by insurance plans and are not covered by Medicaid in Ohio. Therefore, a planned home birth is unaffordable for many.
Due to poor midwife integration in the United States healthcare system, home birth rates remain low compared to other wealthy nations like The Netherlands or The United Kingdom. “It is a commonly held belief that the hospital is the safest place,” Lauren explains. “I really believe that there's benefits and risks no matter where you choose to give birth and I think everybody should know what those are and be able to make an educated decision about it.” When guidelines for hospital transfer are set beforehand, home birth has minimal to no added increase of home birth for a low-risk pregnancy. In fact, maternal outcomes are actually improved in home birth with fewer interventions and associated complications.
At the end of a long labor at home, the greatest reward for Lauren is a healthy baby and mother. “This is what we do,” Lauren explains. “Midwives are the experts in normal birth, we’re the experts in physiologic birth. I know a lot about this, I've been through this lots of times with different people.”
Videos
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Growing Up Poor in America (2020)
Growing Up Poor in America (2020) follows three children and their families in the battleground state of Ohio as the COVID-19 pandemic amplifies their struggle to stay afloat. As the country also reckons with issues of race and racism, the children share their worries and hopes about their futures.
Project role: Producer, Additional Camera