Bio: Carolyn Fraker is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, NY. Born in Arlington, Virginia, Carolyn earned her PhD in Sociology from the University of Minnesota. Her research centers on social and racial inequalities, with a particular focus on doula care as an avenue to disrupt medical racism. Carolyn currently has two edited book chapters with Demeter Press: “Engineering the Good Mother: A Case Study of Opportunity NYC” and “Racism in the Birth Room: Obstetric Violence in the US Context.” Carolyn lives in NYC with her husband, Valentin, and three children: Adrian, Julian, and Lara.
Abstract:
The United States is in the midst of a national crisis in maternal health. Frequently dubbed the “Maternal Health Crisis,” the World Health Organization ranks the US 60th among member nations on maternal mortality. When examined more closely, it is clear that the US maternal health crisis disproportionately impacts poor women and women-of-color. This paper draws from my in-depth ethnography of a federally funded doula collective, “Lean on Me,” that provides free birth assistance to impoverished women-of-color in New York City. In this analysis I explore how a birth education class run by a seasoned doula with Lean on Me can work to disrupt the status quo birth practices by educating individual pregnant people on the possibilities of birth beyond the standard technomedical model. While hospitals and medical establishments frequently enlist tools of intimidation to silence and control the bodies of pregnant women-of-color, the birth education class seeks to empower these mothers, even train them to be “problematic patients,” so that they can self-advocate and demand individualized care within the hospital setting. The doulas’ honor the emotional perspective of their clients by encouraging them to voice their preference to medical personnel and by actually listening to their clients’ concerns. In a system that overwhelming ignores or undermines the feelings of patients who are people-of-color, this act of listen and amplifying the voices of minority birthing-persons is radical care.
Learning to Labor: Enlisting Childbirth Education to Disrupt Power
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