Frida Espinosa

Dissertation title: Birthworker-led advocacy and training in Arizona and beyond: Uplifting the knowledge and practices of community-rooted birthworkers through an Indigenous feminist lens

In this critical study, I center indigenous epistemologies as an act of decolonization and explore the foundational understanding of childbirth within the realm of medical anthropology. Specifically, I focus on the contemporary manifestation of traumatic childbirth and its deeply interwoven connection with the perpetuation of white settler colonialism and heteropatriarchy. Within this overarching discourse, I highlight the pivotal role played by community-rooted birthworkers in serving as agents of disruption within these prevailing systems of power.

A significant aspect of the analysis revolves around the enduring hierarchies of knowledge and culture that continue to characterize the Westernized biomedical field. This field, which underpins much of the research and practice in modern obstetrics, continues to marginalize the cultural plurality, spirituality, and the rich ancestral heritage that is emblematic of BIPOC communities in the United States. Consequently, individuals whose cultural practices, traditions, intuitive wisdom, and embodied knowledge are imperiled within the biomedical context remain at grave risk of experiencing traumatic birth events or pregnancy-related mortality.

Over centuries, birth companions have played an instrumental role in amplifying the voices of women and all birthing individuals, advocating for their rights and well-being both inside and outside the birthing environment. In this regard, my research strives to discern and elucidate the presence of indigenous feminist principles in contemporary advocacy endeavors and doula training programs in the state of Arizona. These findings will aid in the construction of a culturally-restorative framework, one that can inform and shape birth equity policies and practices.

A deeply personal dimension is inherent in this research, as I, the investigator, am a transterritorial mother of mestiza Mexican heritage, formerly undocumented, and raised along the Tohono O'odham borderlands. This positioning affords me the privilege of engaging in a reflexive research process and fostering the development of my own indigenous feminist practice. As a scholar and a member of my home communities in Central Mexico, Tucson, and Phoenix, I stand committed to the reclamation and revitalization of indigenous knowledge systems and practices in the realm of childbirth, thereby contributing to the broader discourse on equitable and culturally sensitive perinatal care.

Dissertation committee: Dr. Roseanne Schuster (co-Chair); Dr. Jonathan Maupin (co-Chair); Dr. Rosalynn A. Vega (Member, University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley); Dr. Myla Vicenti Carpio (Member, Arizona State University & University of New Mexico).