As an academic and birth and postpartum doula, I study perinatal health and birth outcomes using an applied, biocultural anthropological approach.My research focuses on identifying the intersections between perinatal health outcomes and structural inequities.
In Puerto Rico, I conducted a mixed-methods research project on maternal perceptions of stress and timing of delivery by triangulating ethnographic research methods with structured surveys and hair cortisol sampling.
Her areas of expertise include maternal stress, preterm birth, Puerto Rico and maternity care. Dr. Horan is also a birth and postpartum doula and has additional interests in developmental origins of health and disease and health systems reform.
My additional areas of research include:
- Perinatal stress
- Doula care, collaborative maternity care
- Birth equity
- Developmental origins of health and disease
- Trauma-informed care
- Healthcare reform
- Decolonizing anthropology
Research Interests
- Applied biocultural, medical anthropology
- Decolonizing anthropology
- Syndemic Theory
- Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and Latin America
- Maternal and infant health with an emphasis on timing of delivery
- Developmental origins of health and disease and stress during the childbearing year
- Alternative models of maternity/reproductive health care
- Birth workers (doulas and midwives) and their capacity for improving health outcomes for the under/unjustly-served
- Social justice and community engaged research (CEnR)
- Health Systems Reform.
Subject Areas:
- Biocultural Medical Anthropology: life course health and development, global health, maternal/child health, nutritional anthropology, social epidemiology, health inequities, reproductive health and justice, culture and health
- Human Biology
- Applied Anthropology
- Identities and Inequalities: race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, class and status, intersectionality
- Education, Outreach, and Community Engagement
- Decolonization.
Current projects:
- Community-Led Maternal and INfant health Research needs Assessment
- ​Measuring the Impact of Community Doula Care in Central Alabama
- Surveys on Health, Needs, Barriers and Interests in Supportive Care Programs
- Scaling up doula care in alabama
- Establishing and Supporting Community Doula Care in West Alabama.
