Rachael Kulick

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Sociologist & Doula

Sociologist

I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota.

Areas of Specialization
  • Health and Illness
  • Gender
  • Family
  • Work
  • Qualitative Methods

Dissertation
What will I do with the placenta?: The social meanings of home birth in the United States and the Netherlands

In the United States, home birth is rare and in some states the practice of home birth midwifery is even illegal. In the Netherlands, on the other hand, birth at home is an essential component of the mainstream health care system and home birth midwifery is fully institutionalized. Using interviews with midwives and home birthing women along with fieldnotes from prenatal appointments, births, and postpartum visits, I explore what home birth means to its participants in the U.S. and the Netherlands. I pay special attention to the practices and rituals surrounding home birth and to the social institutions (e.g., insurance, professional organizations, and government health agencies) that shape it.

About the Study
For more information about the study, contact me at:

Rachael Kulick
University of Minnesota
Department of Sociology
909 Social Sciences Building
267 ~ 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455

kuli0015@umn.edu
Current CV
Doula

I trained as a doula in 2003 and worked with the Hennepin County Medical Center doula services program from 2005 to 2007. I am a certified birth doula with DONA International and have attended over 70 births.

For more information about my doula services, please contact me at:

                                rachaeldoula@yahoo.com