A Reproductive Justice Approach to
Maternal Mortality in Guyana

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Georgetown, Guyana: Country of birth where I spent most of my adult life. Home.

Georgetown, Guyana: My country of research. 

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Reproductive - maternal health health is a key indicator of wellbeing, and I want to contribute to healthy nations through research.

My doctoral research/dissertation research studies pregnancy and birthing experiences and maternal mortality narratives (causal stories) in relation to healthcare systems – both formal state sanctioned and informal traditional systems – in Georgetown, Guyana.  This research utilizes an ethnographic qualitative design using the methods of interview and focus group to collect pregnancy, birthing and postpartum management stories, and narratives about the beliefs, debates, politics, and interpretations of pregnancy-related deaths and injuries of Guyanese in relation to the healthcare systems around them. My research seeks to shed light on gaps, contradictions and disconnections that exist between the reproductive policy goal of reducing maternal mortality and the lived experiences and practices of Guyanese in an effort to contribute to reducing the problem of a death during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum.​

Participation in this research will help me to illustrate how experience-based storytelling can bring about awareness and better decision-making of access at the micro and meso levels), and the provision of goods and services relating to pregnancy-management healthcare.

The Research is approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the Ministry of Health in Guyana, and the IRB of the Office of Research at the University of Kansas.