Date of Award

5-11-2025

Date Published

June 2025

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Anthropology

Advisor(s)

Robert Rubinstein

Second Advisor

Sandra Lane

Abstract

My research is focuses on the role of Black Community-Based Doulas (CBDs) and CBDs of color and the ways in which their work shifted reproductive and maternal health experiences for Black birthing people and birthing people of color in Central New York. Through ethnographic research, I concentrated on two CBD organizations in Syracuse, NY, Village Birth International (VBI) and Doula 4 a Queen (D4Q). Methodologically, I implement participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and digital ethnography to foster consideration and support the continuing efforts of community-based solutions to maternal and reproductive inequities communities of color face in the United States. I focus on CBDs who are working to transform the narrative about Black and Brown birth by centering their clients' experiences, providing access to various resources, and recognizing how larger systems of oppression influence birth. By centering doulas in the United States, this research contributes to anthropological knowledge in three aspects. First, doulas are becoming a meaningful nonmedical addition to pregnancy and childbirth support in different regions across the globe. This study illuminates the practices of CBDs, enriching anthropological understandings of the socio-cultural patterns of nonmedical labor and delivery attendant. Second, my research showcases the childbirth experiences of marginalized women to demonstrate the interaction between race, gender, class, and health care. This research is timely, as many discussions in the United States are considering ways to address maternal mortality and poor reproductive health outcomes, particularly for Black women. The findings offer insights into how CBDs function as birth workers, activists, and community organizers, and how childbirth is approached in urban United States. While social structures limit agency, resistance is found through community care for these CBDs and clients.

Access

Open Access

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