Janelle Azmy (Indiana University)
The rise of birth workers in the United States has been integral in combating maternal mortality/morbidity rates. Organizations that facilitate these trainings and certifications often incorporate the Mexican rebozo as a ‘tool’ that doulas can use to help laboring people. In a social media campaign, two Totonaca Indigenous birth companions have called for these organizations to remove rebozo work from their trainings, calling the misuse of it in this manner exploitative and dangerous to birthing folks. The “Reclaim the Rebozo” movement asks us to consider what appropriation contestations mean in a landscape where pregnant people are fighting for their lives.
Part of 06-12 The Body Healed, Satisfied, Stigmatized, Friday, October 14, 2:30 pm–4:30 pm