Looking at the Relationship Between the Female Body, Birth and Nature from the Doulas’ Perspective: A Critical Evaluation

This study aims to examine the content produced by doulas, who have emerged critically in response to the medicalization of birth and have become professionalized as part of the “natural” birth movement. The idea that doulas serve as a bridge between natural and medical birthing practices is crucial for understanding how “natural” birth is perceived in contemporary society. The study suggests that birth today has become a field shaped by various professional actors, including birth psychologists, birthing teams, and doulas, and emphasizes that access to natural birth requires a certain level of economic and cultural capital. As a method, the profiles of 11 doulas active on the social media platform Instagram were analyzed using a critical content analysis approach. The findings indicate that the content created by doulas regarding birth and the female body is constructed around the discourse of “naturalization.” In conclusion, this study argues that the content produced by doulas about the female body and birth experience standardizes women’s birthing experiences and renders the gender inequalities in this field invisible.