Researchers:
- Rose Espinola, student and researcher in Aleph’s Earth-Based Judaism program
- Samira Mehta, Assistant Professor of Women and Gender Studies and Jewish Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder; research advisor
The JOC Pregnancy and Postpartum Research Project explores the customs and practices of Jews of Color in the United States during pregnancy, birth, pregnancy loss, abortion, and postpartum. Using oral history methodology, which prioritizes participants’ narrations of their lived experiences, the project seeks to create an archive of the ways that Jews of Color in the US draw on traditions and spiritual practices during their experience of pregnancy, postpartum, and pregnancy loss. In preparation for the collection of oral histories from Jews of Color, the research team has already completed the most comprehensive review of secondary resources about Jewish postpartum ritual to date; the historical record is limited but still underexamined.
To participate in the JoC Pregnancy and Postpartum Research project, mail BJMHealth2022@gmail.com