Ph.D., Antioch University, 2024, Antioch Seattle: Counselor Education & Supervision

This study examines the lived experience of the perinatal population to understand how they can be supported from the lens of different ecological systems and what counselors can do to better serve people with uteruses during their perinatal experience. Furthermore, this study aims to utilize an inclusive framework for capturing the perinatal experience of people with uteruses and to explore barriers and facilitators to care through an ecological systems framework. Fifteen participants who have experienced infertility, conception, pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, stillbirth, and postpartum were recruited through various means throughout the United States. Thematic analysis was used, with semi-structured interviews and photovoice, to gather and analyze participant narratives through oral and visual means in two phases. The first phase resulted in eight themes: (1) social and cultural influences, (2) navigating transitions and changes, (3) support networks and resources, (4) discrimination and stigma, (5) advocacy and empowerment, (6) mental health and well-being, (7) interactions with medical systems, and (8) impact of systems and policies. The themes identified in phase two were: (1) meaning making, (2) the emotional impact of perinatal experiences, (3) navigating roles and identities, (4) pressure and expectations, (5) advocacy and empowerment, (6) social support and community, (7) prevalence of infertility and miscarriage, and (8) challenges in healthcare. Implications of this study indicate a need for collaborative, interdisciplinary communication among providers interacting with the perinatal population and perinatal mental health competency training. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Committee: Stephanie Thorson-Olesen (Committee Member); Angela Mensink (Committee Member); Katherine Fort (Committee Chair) Subjects: Counseling Education; Counseling Psychology; Developmental Psychology; Education; Gender; Health; Health Care; Higher Education; Mental Health; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Psychology; Psychotherapy; Public Health; Public Policy; Therapy

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2014, Anthropology

This dissertation explores the everyday lives of Xhosa mothers in a township near Cape Town, South Africa. It focuses on Xhosa mothers' emotional experiences during pregnancy and after childbirth in order to demonstrate how their subjectivity is shaped by Xhosa cultural structures and values, the material scarcity and dangers of township life, and the norms and practices of mothering. It challenges the presumed universality of the diagnosis "perinatal depression" by demonstrating that only by focusing on broader realms of maternal experience in local contexts can we understand if and why perinatal depression is a meaningful illness category for a given culture. This dissertation employs longitudinal, person-centered, ethnographic methods, including structured and open-ended interviews with 38 Xhosa women, standardized psychiatric questionnaires, and observations of mothering, family activities, and community life. Xhosa women do not perceive life in the township as wholly problematic, but food insecurity, violence in public and private spaces, and the intersections of HIV and motherhood create widespread suffering. Xhosa concepts and ideals of motherhood include inimba, maternal empathy. Inimba is a complex concept at the heart of a multi-dimensional social role; it provides Xhosa women with a way of understanding a tension between the cultural imperatives of mothering all children and mothering one's own children--a tension exacerbated by poverty. Pregnancy is often joyful, but some find it fraught with anxiety about disclosure and the impending social transformation of woman to mother. Pregnant Xhosa women demonstrate an acute awareness of the liminality (in-between-ness) of pregnancy as they (re)negotiate relationships to secure social support. Xhosa mothers describe a process of "coping" with distress that involves sharing, empathizing, collectivizing, and, finally, "releasing." The process invokes Xhosa cultural concepts ubuntu and inimba. Becaus (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Eileen Anderson-Fye (Committee Chair); Atwood Gaines (Committee Member); Vanessa Hildebrand (Committee Member); Kimberly Emmons (Committee Member) Subjects: African Studies; Cultural Anthropology; Gender Studies; Mental Health; Psychology; South African Studies

Bachelor of Science, Wittenberg University, 2024, Nursing

This senior thesis paper explores the emotions and statements of nurses who work with perinatal loss in the Women's Health area. The research question that the paper explores centers around the mental health implications of nurses working with mothers who have experienced perinatal losses. To study this research question, we were able to perform a literature review and send out a survey that included qualitative and quantitative questions that spoke of nurses' experiences working with miscarriages and perinatal loss, also addressing compassion fatigue and the procurement of available mental health resources. The results revealed that many nurses do experience compassion fatigue as a result of their experiences and that many nurses do not feel that they are supported enough in the field. Nurses were able to reveal their coping skills and how they were affected by perinatal loss while working in L&D, mother baby and in the NICU or special care nurseries. The implications of this study could be used to promote available therapies and other mental health resources.

Committee: Marie Bashaw (Advisor); Jessica Johnson (Committee Member); Mary Jo Zembar (Committee Member) Subjects: Health Care; Mental Health; Nursing