{"title":"Fading into the woodwork: Doula work and hospital-based practice","authors":"Christina Young","doi":"10.1111/cars.12389","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Doulas offer emotional support to women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the early postpartum period. In hospitals, doulas support their clients without holding formal status as employees or as a regulated profession. Drawing on interviews with 26 doulas in Toronto, Canada, along with analyses of the legacy of medical dominance in maternity care, I examine how doulas accomplish their work in hospitals. I find that doulas face challenges accessing physical resources and struggle to provide their model of care in light of routine hospital procedures and interventions. In response, many doulas develop strategies to address the constraints imposed by their work contexts. These findings suggest that the medical model of birth is resistant to even minor modifications or perspectives that view birth holistically rather than solely dependent on medical intervention.</p>","PeriodicalId":51649,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Review of Sociology-Revue Canadienne De Sociologie","volume":"59 3","pages":"395-411"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1000,"publicationDate":"2022-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Canadian Review of Sociology-Revue Canadienne De Sociologie","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cars.12389","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"SOCIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Doulas offer emotional support to women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the early postpartum period. In hospitals, doulas support their clients without holding formal status as employees or as a regulated profession. Drawing on interviews with 26 doulas in Toronto, Canada, along with analyses of the legacy of medical dominance in maternity care, I examine how doulas accomplish their work in hospitals. I find that doulas face challenges accessing physical resources and struggle to provide their model of care in light of routine hospital procedures and interventions. In response, many doulas develop strategies to address the constraints imposed by their work contexts. These findings suggest that the medical model of birth is resistant to even minor modifications or perspectives that view birth holistically rather than solely dependent on medical intervention.
期刊介绍:
The Canadian Review of Sociology/ Revue canadienne de sociologie is the journal of the Canadian Sociological Association/La Société canadienne de sociologie. The CRS/RCS is committed to the dissemination of innovative ideas and research findings that are at the core of the discipline. The CRS/RCS publishes both theoretical and empirical work that reflects a wide range of methodological approaches. It is essential reading for those interested in sociological research in Canada and abroad.