ProPublica’s feature documentary “Before A Breath,” directed by Nadia Sussman, will have its YouTube premiere on Thursday, March 20, at 8 p.m. Eastern.

“Before a Breath” is a tender, infuriating and ultimately hopeful story of three mothers who have lost children to stillbirth and are now striving to make pregnancy safer.

The film explores an experience shared by thousands of families in the U.S., where more than 20,000 stillbirths occur each year. At least a quarter of those losses are probably preventable. 

Before the debut, you can watch the trailer and learn more about upcoming events around the film.

Margaret Flatley for ProPublica 

On a Monday last month, after a conservative Maine legislator expressed outrage on Facebook about a transgender girl winning a high school pole vaulting event, the hammer of the federal government began to swing.

By Friday of that week, Feb. 21, President Donald Trump had singled out Maine’s governor during a White House event and threatened to cut off the state’s federal funding. “See you in court,” Gov. Janet Mills shot back.

Since then, six separate federal agencies have targeted the state for investigations or halted funding; only two transgender girls are competing in Maine high school sports. 

Reporters at ProPublica and the Bangor Daily News have dug into the details and found that nearly everything about the blitz of investigations in Maine, including how they’re being carried out, is not ordinary.