Birthing Justice: Black Women, Pregnancy, and Childbirth - Paperback

by Alicia D. Bonaparte (Editor), Julia Chinyere Oparah (Editor)

The second edition of this pathbreaking, widely taught book offers six new chapters, on breastfeeding and Black infant health; Black birthing during COVID; Black doulas rethinking birthing practices; the recent buildup of a US national movement; childbirth in Zanzibar; and expanding the global movement for sexual and reproductive well-being. Other chapters are updated throughout. Birthing Justice puts Black women's voices at the center of the debate on what should be done to fix the broken maternal care system. It foregrounds Black women's agency in the birth justice movement. First published in 2016, Birthing Justice is a seminal text for those interested in maternal healthcare, reproductive justice, health equity, and intersectional racial justice, especially in courses on gender studies, Black studies, public health, and training programs for midwives and OB/GYNs. Additional resources and a reading group guide are available at www.blackwomenbirthingjustice.com.

Author Biography

Alicia D. Bonaparte is Professor of Sociology at Pitzer College and is a medical sociologist whose research examines the gendered social hierarchy within US medicine and the intersection of race and gender in healthcare practices and disparities. She contributed to The Routledge Companion to Motherhood and Black Feminist Sociology (also published by Routledge) and is completing her book manuscript, Labors of Birthing Work: The Persecution and Prosecution of Granny Midwives, 1900-1940.

Julia Chinyere Oparah ("Chinyere") is a social justice educator, activist scholar, and transformational leader. She is Professor and Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at the University of San Francisco and Professor Emerita of Ethnic Studies at Mills College. Chinyere is co-founder of Black Women Birthing Justice. She is author and editor of numerous publications, including Battling Over Birth, Birthing Justice (first edition), Global Lockdown: Race, Gender and the Prison-Industrial Complex, Activist Scholarship, and Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption. She lives in Oakland, California, with her partner and daughter.