First Advisor

Maura Kelly

Term of Graduation

Spring 2019

Date of Publication

6-5-2019

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Sociology

Department

Sociology

Language

English

Subjects

Doulas -- Attitudes, Reproductive rights

DOI

10.15760/etd.7370

Physical Description

1 online resource (vii, 90 pages)

Abstract

This study, based on in-depth interviews with 30 self-identified radical doulas working in the US, describes the radical practices, positionality, and orientation towards reproductive justice that distinguish these care workers from mainstream doulas. Radical doulas provide nonjudgmental support in a full-spectrum of reproductive experiences from menarche to menopause according to the needs of their clients. As non-medically trained care workers, they provide informational, emotional, and physical support during abortion, birth and postpartum, fetal loss, adoption, or surrogacy, enacting individualized skill sets across settings from homes to hospitals and clinics. Radical doulas are paid professionals, but often offer a sliding-scale for fees, or volunteer their services in specific instances, like abortion or loss. Their willingness to serve pregnant people regardless of the outcome (i.e. abortion, birth, loss), or the context (i.e. medicated or non-medicated, in a hospital, or at home), and with attention to the mechanisms of social oppression and marginalization, make radical doulas unique care workers who defy the institutional logics of medicalized reproductive healthcare.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/33450

Download

Included in

Sociology Commons

Share

COinS