Why I Do “Birth Work”

As an undergraduate student, I became interested in everyday and milestone events as mediums through which individuals and groups perform and (re)create cultural and personal identities. This interest led me to pursue research on early life rituals while studying abroad in India, research which I then expanded upon to include birth rituals and rites in the United States.

During this time of researching, observing, and interviewing women and scholars on the social and cultural performances that are centered around birth and early life milestones, as well as partaking in a number of ceremonies that are designed to support the “proper initiation” of children, mothers, and fathers into “human society” in the United States and in India, I grew to understand how important healthy maternity care systems are to the health of women, children, families, and societies, and how access to quality birth education and support greatly contributes to the health outcomes that women so greatly need and deserve.

Birth is a powerful metaphor for the processes that we undergo throughout our life; it symbolizes our transformation into new states of being, as well as our coming out of the womb of potential into our full expression as creative and constantly evolving beings.

And physical birth (which literally brings life into the world) is a process that both makes all human life possible and inspires our understanding/appreciation of all processes of transformation and creation on all levels as well.

My studies enabled me to dive deeply into intensive research on the vital phenomena/process of human birth, interviewing numerous women, birth advocates, well-known researchers, amazing doulas and midwives, and attending hours upon hours of birth classes, presentations, films, and events.

Through my studies and observations, I learned that, from the emotional to the psychological, to the physiological and social, and on every possible level of existence itself, a woman’s birth impacts her world, and the entire world, and that supporting healthy and safe births (in any capacity) is one of my passions. Birth is one of the most important processes that define who we are individually and collectively as a species. My aim is to contribute to this vital part of our human experience by expanding my work and research, and continuing to serve the cause for healthy, safe, and trauma-free births in the world.

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