Communicatively making sense of doulas within the US master birth narrative: Doulas as liminal characters

HK Horstman, J Anderson, RA Kuehl - Health communication, 2017 - Taylor & Francis
Health communication, 2017Taylor & Francis
Doulas—or designated women experienced in childbirth who provide support to a birthing
mother—have been shown to improve mothers' medical outcomes, but they are relatively
underused in US births. We assert that doulas are rarely used, in part, because it is difficult
to situate them within the contemporary US master birth narrative that places family and
medical staff as expected characters in the birth story. This qualitative study uses narrative
theorizing to describe the communicatively situated position of doulas in light of the …
Abstract
Doulas—or designated women experienced in childbirth who provide support to a birthing mother—have been shown to improve mothers’ medical outcomes, but they are relatively underused in U.S. births. We assert that doulas are rarely used, in part, because it is difficult to situate them within the contemporary U.S. master birth narrative that places family and medical staff as expected characters in the birth story. This qualitative study uses narrative theorizing to describe the communicatively situated position of doulas in light of the dominant U.S. master birth narrative. Through an analysis of interviews and focus groups with mothers, expectant parents, doulas, and medical staff (= 52) at a community hospital, we explain how individuals communicatively located the doula as a character who occupied a liminal space that is (a) between borders, (b) crossing borders, and (c) outside borders. Although doulas’ liminal location enables individuals to creatively explain and promote doulas to important publics, doulas’ conceptual ambiguity in the birth narrative can also be constraining. We conclude with theoretical and practical implications.
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