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| Christiana MacDougall Fleming |
What is your current research project?:
“A Social Work Exploration of Distress in Childbirth” I am researching birth stories using a feminist narrative approach. I believe that this qualitative approach is underrepresented and I am happy that NSHA is adding another type of information to inform decision making. I am exploring how informed consent decisions happen (in the heat of the moment), ideas of “goodness” and how birth experiences are connected to those general ideas, how language changes our childbirth experiences and what system barriers create distress.
How did you become interested in your research topic?
I have always been interested in women’s mental health and how normal life events become pathologolized; events get attached to ideas of illness. I’ve had children myself and anecdotally heard of times where childbirth has been attached to illness. I started to explore the area and realized there was a gap in literature.
What has been unexpected about your findings so far?
Breastfeeding. I thought that delivery/labour would be the central point but it turns out breastfeeding is dominating the conversation not only in a physical sense but also in terms of the ideas of “goodness”.
What’s innovative about your research? I am the first social worker looking at this topic from a social work perspective, and also using the feminist narrative approach is relatively uncommon.
What unique tools/methods do you use to do your research? I started with ‘What are women’s adverse affects with childbirth?’, gathered stories and built from there. I am using feminist narrative inquiry and analysis, a narrative approach through a feminist lens. Interviews are recorded and then transcribed. I do a short analysis that I send back to the participants outlining their stories, my ideas and some of the common themes from the project.
One word that best describes how you work: Collaboratively
What technology can’t you live without?:
iPhone 5S, Macbook Pro, iPAD. My kids often joke that I have more spreadsheets (I use Excel) than anything else. I am also a big list maker. I love Wunderlist and I use Twitter to stay current, follow feminist blogs and keep my literature review current.
How do you envision your research benefiting the “public at large”?
I have aspirations that my research would help develop a more comprehensive approach to childbirth where we consider the mental health needs of women in concert with physical needs. I’d like to run a pilot project to have mental health professionals follow up after child birth the same way that doctors/nurses follow up post-surgery. I would ask: “Would this have any impact on post-partum suffering/depression?” We could also make some system changes with a goal to prevent adverse affects.
Note: This profile appeared in the October 2016 print edition of Research in Progress
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