My name is Meredith Aulds and I am an anthropologist as well as a poetry enthusiast and proud dog mom. I love Dolly Parton and Shark Week on Discovery Channel. I just recently graduated with my Masters degree in anthropology and moved states to pursue my PhD, also in anthropology. I have completed the necessary requirements to attend births as a doula through DONA International and am working towards certification.
I am thoroughly, completely fascinated by childbirth. Since I am a biological anthropologist, I will specify that I am interested in human childbirth (as opposed to chimpanzee or gorilla, although squirrel monkey birth is pretty lit, so maybe humans and squirrel monkeys). I am in love with the evolutionary complexities of childbirth, how we are able to give birth to these large-brained, helpless babies that are so different from other mammals. I love how our pelvises have changed, how our behaviors have changed, how our social structures have shifted to accommodate our beautiful and unique methods of childbirth.
But how did a childless graduate student become so interested in childbirth? And how did those biological interests shift to include the emotional and social implications of American childbirth?
I was originally studying bioarchaeology in my Masters program. Bioarchaeology is, in a nutshell, the study of the past through human remains. Archaeologists will study pots or walls or weapons. Bioarchaeologists will study skulls, or teeth, or femurs. I was focusing primarily on osteology (i.e., the study of the human skeleton) and also took classes on evolutionary theory and biology.
While all of this was happening, my cousin became pregnant with her first child. She ended up having a beautiful and healthy baby via cesarean-section. While talking to my mom about the birth of my cousin’s baby, my mother said, “She had a C-section because the baby was too big.”
That statement changed everything.
I don’t even know if that’s really what happened. I never spoke directly with my cousin about it. Maybe I should, but her answer wouldn’t change the fact that, at that time, what my mother said completely blew my mind.
Why would a mother’s body allow a baby to grow that was too big to pass through the birth canal?
To me, it made no evolutionary sense.
I spoke to my Masters advisor about it. I read as many articles as I could about the anthropology of birth. My studies and my focus completely changed because suddenly I was thrust into the dynamic and ever-so-important realm of childbirth. Furthermore, I was introduced to American perspectives of childbirth, which rely heavily on technology and interventions (such as C-sections and chemical interventions, like epidurals).
Then, another piece of mind-blowing information:
The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate of any other developed nation.
To be clear, the number is still very low. It is rare for a birthing person to not survive birth in the states. Even so, the US has the highest maternal mortality rate and this is a statistic that shouldn’t be ignored.
With this information in hand, I started to study not only the physiological and evolutionary aspects of childbirth, but also the social. I started reading about home births and the benefits of using support, such as doulas.
Once I finished my Masters, I knew that I wanted to continue my education. I wanted to continue learning about birth, but I also wanted to be hands-on and experience childbirth in person. I wanted to do research that would help American women be in the healthiest birth space, both emotionally and physically. I decided that getting a PhD in biological anthropology and working to become a doula would be the best way for me to do all of that.
So here I am: about to begin my PhD, and beginning my career as a doula.
I am blessed enough to have found my passion early in life. I could talk about childbirth for hours. I hope to have children of my own in the future, if possible. I want to work with birthing persons, and to learn as much as I can about the physiology of birth and how we, as Americans, can better provide for birthing persons and babies. Childbirth is what gets my heart pumping, what makes my ears prick in a conversation. I love hearing birth stories and talking to birthing persons about their experiences.
Birth is a journey. Birth is a winding path that can be beautiful and dynamic. Birth is a testament to how strong people can be, how we can love something so much that we are willing to go through a hard, sometimes harrowing, experience. Birth does not always go as planned. Sometimes, there is a fork in the path and birth is not a good experience. Sometimes, birth can break your heart.
Childbirth is so many things to so many different people. So many stories exist, so many different types of journeys. The path is ever winding and goes in so many different directions.
The purpose of this blog is to discuss the journey of birth, as well as my journey as a birth doula.
The more we talk, the more we share, the more we will learn and the better our experiences can be.
I am excited to talk about this journey and I hope you will be, too!
Winding Path Doula 