Bridging birth: the Birth Sisters as an adaptation to hospital birth

Abstract

This study was designed to explore the mediated experience of supported birth in a hospital setting by examining the role of the Birth Sisters, with a focus on how the individual Birth Sisters perceived the impact of their role. The goal of my research is to understand the ways in which having a Birth Sister assist women in emerging from birth empowered and achieving better psychosocial and medical outcomes. I hope to contribute to the growing research on the role of doula support by providing a focused examination of the lived experiences of the women providing this support as part of a hospital setting. As such, this study examines the ways in which Birth Sisters act as a mitigating force to bridge the biocultural, cultural and structural aspects that emerge in a U.S. hospital birth.