Julia Mackessy

Previous biocultural and Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) research shows that psychosocial experiences during the prenatal and postpartum periods impacts birthing parent and infant health programming through altering the stress response system, or the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. However, previous research has yet to examine the effect of the birth experience, beyond mode of delivery, on birthing parent and infant health. These effects are especially important to examine in the Appalachian region where birth outcome inequalities persist and limited healthcare access makes it harder for people to meet their perinatal care needs. Past research indicates that the birth experience is important to outcomes like postpartum mental health, but little is known about underlying physiological pathways. By collecting qualitative interviews, cortisol samples, and surveys, this project will begin to examine how the birth experience may contribute to birthing parent and infant health through HPA axis regulation and may suggest birth as another “space of vulnerability”, especially in this resource-scarce environment. This project will bring new insights to biocultural and DOHaD anthropology by using both biological and sociocultural methods to examine how the highly biocultural event of birth may affect birthing parent and infant health programming and social and economic vulnerabilities.