Category
Social Science
Faculty Mentor
Angela Vergara
Faculty Mentor Primary Department
Department of Psychology
Year of Presentation
2020
Project Abstract, Summary, or Creative Statement
Over the last few decades there has been a shift in believing that the only safe way to give birth is to do so at a hospital, under the watchful gaze of physicians. Rather, an increasing number of families are entrusting that care to doulas and midwives, women who provide continuous support to pregnant mothers during and after labor (Olsen, 2018). This trend may have come, in part, from the realization that the United States has a terribly high maternal mortality rate (de Brantes, 2019). This mortality rate becomes far more convoluted when racial and ethnic statistics are taken into account. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), white women have a ratio of 13.0 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, Asian mothers have a ratio of 14.1, while black mothers have reached a shocking 42.4. As it stands today, the United States holds one of the highest maternal mortality rates out of all developed nations. These numbers, when taken at face value, clearly indicate that there is a severe health disparity present in our country - a disparity that most strongly affects women of color (de Brantes, 2019). However, research shows that women who have been assisted by a doula, or otherwise reported an overall decrease in some of the negative factors most commonly linked with higher maternal mortality rates present in the United States (Uban, 2012). This study evaluates the impact community doulas have on the perinatal outcomes of women of color.
Keywords
reproduction, reproductive justice, community, doula, community doula, low income, mothers, maternal mortality rate
Included in
Community-Based Research Commons, Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons
Community Doulas' Impact on Women of Color with Low Incomes