Welcome to the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital, where cots are lined up chock-a-block in a giant dormitory, women in labour share single beds, and nurses hand out kangaroo-like tube tops because of an incubator shortage.

For anyone who’s ever complained about not having a private room for their delivery at a western hospital, Ramona S. Diaz’s verité documentary about a Manila maternity ward is at once eye-opening, sobering, and, often, overwhelming. At some points it seems like babies are popping out everywhere you look—including one who’s the Philippines’ 100 millionth citizen. Though the resilience and humour are inspiring—both in the staff and the patients—birth isn’t always something to celebrate here. Rather, it’s another thing to endure. One husband can’t visit the young mother of his new preemie twins because he can’t afford bus fare; a woman with five children already at home skips a tubal ligation so she can get back and support her family again. A thought-provoking study of population, poverty, and female fortitude.