Saving Maternal Health: The Racialized Labor and Burnout of Birthworkers of Color in the United States

Medicalized birth experiences are associated with poor outcomes for people of color. Nonclinical birthworkers, such as doulas, have been identified as a solution to this inequity. With this reliance on birthworkers of color to reverse racial maternal health disparities, how do these individuals experience birthwork? Drawing from interviews with 24 birthworkers of color in the United States from November 2021 through April 2024, we reveal the weight of birthwork endured by this group. We situate these individuals' experiences within scholarship on burnout, emotional labor, racialized labor, and theories on mothering to explain the concept of "racialized burnout." Racialized burnout refers to a multifaceted process borne out of unequal racialized and gendered experiences encountered by birthworkers of color. Racialized burnout also acts as a producer of racial inequity within the maternal health field; as individuals of color encounter racialized burnout, they are at increased risk of leaving maternal health work.