Music performance and education faced unique barriers during the COVID-19 global pandemic which made it nearly impossible to effectively implement online learning. To better understand these barriers and what improvements might be made during future pandemics that entail periods of isolation, I collected the oral histories of eight Oregon State...
Obstetric fistula is estimated to affect 1–2 million women worldwide, predominantly in low-resource countries in sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia. The primary intervention for obstetric fistula is surgery, which is described as a relatively simple surgical procedure with an extremely high psychosocial and economic benefit relative to cost. Research addressing...
About 1% of U.S. births each year are planned home births (Vital Statistics Reports 2017). Of these, roughly 10% transfer to a higher level of care during labor (Melissa Cheyney et al. 2014), yet their experiences are rarely heard. Storytelling has long been used not only as entertainment, but as...
This dissertation aims to elicit how a neo-colonial context shapes maternal and infant heath (MIH) outcomes by describing how they are socially, politically, historically, and culturally produced. Using a multi-level critical biocultural, medical anthropological research approach, the purpose of this research was to investigate maternal stress in the United States...
Queer birthing parents in the Pacific Northwestern United States have multifaceted and variable paths when it comes to conceiving a family. With the innovations in assisted reproductive technology accompanying the wider acceptance and recognition of gender and sexual difference in mainstream society, a greater number of queer birthing parents are...
The sudden and unexpected death of a seemingly healthy infant sets in motion a number of linked processes with potentially complex and far-reaching ramifications. While individuals, families and communities grapple with the shock and heartbreak associated with the loss of a young life, a chain of multidisciplinary investigative responsibilities is...
In Uganda, there are an estimated 200,000 women suffering from obstetric fistula, with
1,900 new cases expected annually. These figures, combined with a persistently high
maternal mortality rate, have led to an international discourse that claims the solution to
improving maternal health outcomes is facility-based delivery with a skilled birth...
In India, globalized flows of bio-medical discourse, practices and technologies are reshaping the field of reproductive healthcare, and the performance of childbirth more specifically. These projects aim to produce institutional delivery rooms that are "safe and modernized" by equating the utilization of westernized, obstetric techniques for managing delivery with better...
The purpose of this study is to use an integrated biocultural perspective to examine the decision-making processes of young survivors as they navigate breast cancer treatment and reproductive health care options. This retrospective study utilizes a mixed-methods approach that integrates quantitative survey data (Phase I) with interview (Phase II) and...
Females do not seek out pelvic exams routinely, which can lead to an increase in undetected pelvic cancers. While there are studies depicting women’s perspectives during gynecological exams, there are not many compilations of negative experiences during pelvic exams with individuals of other identities and recommendations for providers. This scoping...