Alyssa Crawford ’17, an Elon College Fellow who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in public health studies, collaborated with Professor Cynthia Fair, the Watts-Thompson professor and chair of the Department of Public Health Studies, Vicki Latham, a certified nurse midwife based in Greensboro, and alumna Bethany Houpt ’15.

While completing her research during the SURE 2016 program at Elon, Crawford studied the birth experiences of 23 women who had planned a waterbirth. Research questions explored how participants decided to pursue a waterbirth, sources of information accessed, support systems, resistance and their overall birth experiences.

Although all participants used the tub during labor, five did not give birth in the water. Analyses revealed that a belief in their body’s ability to give birth along with the desire for limited medical interventions were the primary reasons for choosing waterbirth. Previous positive and negative experiences with birth also shaped participants’ decision-making processes. The researchers found that women actively sought information about waterbirths from the internet and friends. One-third of participants decided to pursue a waterbirth later in pregnancy and changed provider practices in order to have access to waterbirth.

Midwives and doulas were viewed as critical supporters of participants’ waterbirth decision. Most participants experienced some form of resistance toward their decision from others including family, friends, coworkers, and strangers. The overwhelming majority of participants were positive about their experience and indicated they felt empowered, even if they were unable to give birth in the water, and encouraged other women to consider waterbirth. Most indicated they wanted to have a waterbirth in the future.

The article titled ” ‘After having a waterbirth, I feel like it’s the only way people should deliver babies’: The decision making process of women who plan a waterbirth” was published in .

Crawford is currently completing her master’s degree in public health at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro.

Model United Nations is hosting a screening of Michael Moore’s newest documentary, “Where to Invade Next,” on Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. The film lasts two hours.

Afterwards, Model United Nations members will host a reflection to discuss the topics mentioned in the documentary. Model United Nations is a club that simulates real negotiation and diplomacy found at the United Nations by giving its members role-play scenarios as different countries responding to real-world issues. This documentary relates to the club as it highlights global issues from the American perspective.

From , the summary for the documentary is as follows:

“Academy Award®-winning director Michael Moore is back with WHERE TO INVADE NEXT: a provocative and hilarious comedy in which Moore will stop at nothing to figure out how to actually make America great again. Just in time for election season, America’s favorite political provocateur, Michael Moore, is back with his new film, WHERE TO INVADE NEXT. Honored by festivals and critics groups alike, WHERE TO INVADE NEXT is an expansive, hilarious, and subversive comedy in which the Academy Award®-winning director confronts the most pressing issues facing America today and finds solutions in the most unlikely places. The creator of FAHRENHEIT 9/11 and BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE has returned with an epic movie that’s unlike anything he has done before—an eye-opening call to arms to capture the American Dream and restore it in, of all places, America.”

For more information about Model United Nations, contact Benjamin Lutz (blutz3@elon.edu).