When someone plans to have a child, should they have to worry about dying? In Georgia they do.

In Georgia, women die from pregnancy-related causes at a rate that's roughly twice the national average, and 85% of those deaths are preventable. The state has introduced waves of clinical interventions and improvements in insurance in recent years, so why have the number of deaths not budged?

Medical anthropologist Heidi Altman tells the stories of the women in Georgia who know, personally, the state of maternity care. Their problem isn't a statistical one that has a solution through insurance, hospital protocols, or public policy. As these women recount their pregnancies, deliveries, and postpartum years, what becomes clear is that the death rate is woven into the social fabric of the state, and as women's agency is chipped away, they are left without the information or will to advocate for themselves.

The Fall Line is an intimate and eye-opening work that lays bare the conditions in the American south and acts as a warning for the rest of the country.