{"id":332,"date":"2011-05-21T16:29:02","date_gmt":"2011-05-21T16:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vandfam.net\/dev\/wordpressmu\/college\/?p=332"},"modified":"2011-05-21T16:29:02","modified_gmt":"2011-05-21T16:29:02","slug":"straddling-two-worlds-studying-women-and-childbirth-at-the-u-s-mexico-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=332","title":{"rendered":"Straddling two worlds: Studying women and childbirth at the U.S.-Mexico border"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A SURF Fellowship from the Office for Undergraduate Research led senior Kimmie Garner on a new adventure: exploring women and childbirth on the U.S.-Mexico border.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Kimmie Garner at Maternidad La Luz in El Paso, Texas.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last summer Kimberly \u201cKimmie\u201d Garner of Charlotte wrote on her blog, \u201cI feel like I am straddling two worlds with my project \u2014 one being the direct, hands-on practice of being a midwife and the other being the observer, interviewer and writer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The international studies and women\u2019s studies major was experiencing living on the cusp of two different worlds. Her internship at a birth center on the U.S.-Mexico border with the help of a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship<\/a> (SURF) was an opportunity to showcase and develop her skills further. The SURF was awarded by the Office for Undergraduate Research.<\/a><\/p>\n

Garner\u2019s interest in the birthing process could be traced to her childhood, when she enjoyed watching medical shows. She originally considered nursing as a career, but instead decided to explore becoming a midwife or doula.<\/p>\n

Both roles involve assisting women in the birthing process in a natural way without many medical interventions, although a midwife serves as the main medical care provider. A doula approaches the process a little differently, providing physical, emotional and informational encouragement during pregnancy, labor and birth.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s kind of like a labor coach,\u201d Garner said. \u201cShe is supposed to support whatever you want for your birth.\u201d<\/p>\n

A new adventure<\/strong><\/p>\n

After becoming trained as a doula and taking a class at UNC on the international politics of sexual and reproductive health with Karen Booth, Garner decided she wanted to look for summer internships that allowed her to further explore her interests.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what led her to Maternidad La Luz,<\/a> a community-based birth center and midwifery school located in El Paso, Texas, very close to the Mexican border.<\/p>\n

Her proficiency in Spanish helped her to converse with some of the clients, although it was a challenge to juggle being both a care provider and a researcher. She tried to learn why women decided to cross the border to give birth.<\/p>\n

She found that many of them came for three reasons: economical, citizenship and the desire for a natural birth.<\/p>\n

The cost of services at Maternidad was significantly less than the costs at a U.S. hospital, even though Maternidad\u2019s services are not covered by insurance. Crossing the border and having a child at the birth center also allowed the child to have U.S. or dual citizenship.<\/p>\n

A balancing act <\/strong><\/p>\n

It was a balancing act for Garner: In between interviews for her research, she worked two 24-hour shifts a week at Maternidad La Luz.<\/p>\n

She attended births as a documenter, conducted prenatal and postpartum appointments with clients, and interviews with clients, midwives and students. She also took classes at the birth center\u2019s school.<\/p>\n

Despite the fact that she loved what she was doing, the internship wasn\u2019t perfect at first.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hardest part of the experience was being lonely,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

It was the first time she had lived alone far from home, and she felt isolated at times. She had been taking field notes, and maintaining a blog for her APPLES Community-Based Research<\/a> Fellowship (CBR), but she had a hard time juggling everything.<\/p>\n

But by the second month, she gained a greater sense of independence. Her later blog entries described the people she would hang out with and were a stark contrast to her earlier posts. She was also grateful for her support system through the SURF and CBR fellowships.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really important when you go into an experience like this to have a social support network, to know what your needs are when you are away from home,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Returning to Chapel Hill<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coming back to UNC for her senior year was a weird transition, Garner said. She had to return to a normal college student\u2019s schedule, while continuing to work as a volunteer doula with UNC BirthPartners.<\/p>\n

\u201cFitting birth into routine student life is really hard,\u201d said Garner, remembering a time when a text message from a client beeped through on her cell phone while she was in class. \u201cBut I\u2019d really like to do it more often.\u201d<\/p>\n

She is continuing the doula certification process, although she\u2019s not completely sure what direction she wants to take in terms of labor support in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really love being the emotional care provider [as a doula] instead of the medical care provider, and I think it\u2019s kind of hard as a midwife to do both all the time without compromising one aspect of your job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Post-graduation plans<\/strong><\/p>\n

In June, Garner will head to Copenhagen, Denmark, for another new adventure.<\/p>\n

She received a fellowship through Humanity in Action (HIA)<\/a> to study minority rights for a five-week period. HIA, an international educational organization, engages, inspires and develops a network of students, young professionals and established leaders who are committed to protecting minorities and promoting human rights \u2014 in their own communities and around the world.<\/p>\n

Her time in Copenhagen will culminate in a three-day conference in Berlin, Germany, where present and past fellows will discuss their human rights work.<\/p>\n

Her final stop will be Hamilton, N.Y., where she\u2019ll start her new job as program assistant for Colgate University\u2019s<\/a> Center for Women\u2019s Studies.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Read Kimberly Garner\u2019s blog about Maternidad La Luz<\/strong>: http:\/\/bordermidwifery.blogspot.com<\/a><\/p>\n

[By Kristen Chavez \u201913]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kimmie Garner at Maternidad La Luz, where she did an internship last summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-carousel","category-undergraduate-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}