It's been an exciting week for New Hampshire filmmaker Allison Shigo, whose documentary A Walk to Beautiful netted an Emmy Award on Sunday night.

The film, which Shigo co-produced, aired on the PBS series NOVA and highlights the issue of obstetric fistula, a curable medical condition that primarily affects women in countries where pre- and post-natal care isn't widely available.

Shigo, who's 32 and grew up in Deerfield, said she thought the film had a good shot at winning the award but was stunned when it actually happened.

"It's one of the last awards to be announced, and we were all tired. This definitely woke us up," Shigo said. "We had such a big crew and kind of took over the center stage . . . just screaming and hugging each other."

Shigo said she hopes the award brings more attention to maternal health care and medical infrastructure in developing countries. Her next project will focus on midwifery in Ghana.

A Walk to Beautiful will be shown in the New Hampshire Film Festival, which runs Oct. 15 through 18 in Portsmouth. To learn more about the film, visit walktobeautiful.com.