The Childbirth Archive
Donation protected
The Childbirth Archive (https://childbirtharchive.omeka.net) is a digital community archive designed to provide immediate and searchable access to archived childbirth stories. Contributions can be named or anonymous and can include oral histories, transcripts, written accounts or any combination thereof.
The Childbirth Archive was created by me, Medellee Antonioli, during the completion of my Masters in Library and Information Science at the University of Denver. The archive was inspired by my pregnancy experiences. Two weeks after the birth to my first child, I suffered an ischemic stroke which impacted my left thalamus and optic nerve. I was in occupational and physical therapy for several months and thankfully recovered much of my mobility and vision. After several tests, I was approved for a second pregnancy but unfortunately experienced complications again; my second child was born with IUGR due to undetected blood clots in the placenta and umbilical cord. Luckily both of my children survived and we are all thriving today. However, these experiences were terrifying, debilitating and life threatening.
Like most new mothers today, I spent many a late night hour researching and re-researching childbirth, pregnancy, stroke, IUGR, etc on the internet. During this process, I struggled to find information written by or even about women who experienced stroke during or after pregnancy. Currently there are no sites specifically dedicated to the collection and long term preservation of childbirth stories. Many sites that do provide some access are limited in scope, and/or not tagged or searchable. Instead they rely on users to find or post the right story at the right time. The Childbirth Archive hopes to address this issue by allowing anyone to add their story and by including advanced searchable tagging and long term preservation.
In addition to providing access, The Childbirth Archive aims to address a gender data gap by recording data about childbirth trends in United States from the mother’s point of view. Currently, the United States has the highest maternal mortality rate of any developed nation. This mortality rate is even worse for women of color. By collecting data, The Childbirth Archive hopes to provide access to and preserve information frequently ignored by the medical community. The information collected in your stories can be analyzed and may contribute to future research and knowledge. All data maintained by the archive is anonymous. Your personal information will not be sold to anyone, ever.
The collection and long term preservation of childbirth stories does require resources. All administrative work has been and will continue to be completed by volunteers. Nonetheless, physical and digital storage, website hosting, access and search optimization costs will all increase as the archive grows in size. The Childbirth Archive is also looking for any volunteer help, especially on work related to the website. If you think you might be able to lend us a bit of your time, please email us at [email redacted]. Thank you so much, we are incredibly grateful for your support.
The Childbirth Archive was created by me, Medellee Antonioli, during the completion of my Masters in Library and Information Science at the University of Denver. The archive was inspired by my pregnancy experiences. Two weeks after the birth to my first child, I suffered an ischemic stroke which impacted my left thalamus and optic nerve. I was in occupational and physical therapy for several months and thankfully recovered much of my mobility and vision. After several tests, I was approved for a second pregnancy but unfortunately experienced complications again; my second child was born with IUGR due to undetected blood clots in the placenta and umbilical cord. Luckily both of my children survived and we are all thriving today. However, these experiences were terrifying, debilitating and life threatening.
Like most new mothers today, I spent many a late night hour researching and re-researching childbirth, pregnancy, stroke, IUGR, etc on the internet. During this process, I struggled to find information written by or even about women who experienced stroke during or after pregnancy. Currently there are no sites specifically dedicated to the collection and long term preservation of childbirth stories. Many sites that do provide some access are limited in scope, and/or not tagged or searchable. Instead they rely on users to find or post the right story at the right time. The Childbirth Archive hopes to address this issue by allowing anyone to add their story and by including advanced searchable tagging and long term preservation.
In addition to providing access, The Childbirth Archive aims to address a gender data gap by recording data about childbirth trends in United States from the mother’s point of view. Currently, the United States has the highest maternal mortality rate of any developed nation. This mortality rate is even worse for women of color. By collecting data, The Childbirth Archive hopes to provide access to and preserve information frequently ignored by the medical community. The information collected in your stories can be analyzed and may contribute to future research and knowledge. All data maintained by the archive is anonymous. Your personal information will not be sold to anyone, ever.
The collection and long term preservation of childbirth stories does require resources. All administrative work has been and will continue to be completed by volunteers. Nonetheless, physical and digital storage, website hosting, access and search optimization costs will all increase as the archive grows in size. The Childbirth Archive is also looking for any volunteer help, especially on work related to the website. If you think you might be able to lend us a bit of your time, please email us at [email redacted]. Thank you so much, we are incredibly grateful for your support.
Organizer
Medellee Antonioli
Organizer
Bozeman, MT
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