Author Archives: Alice Proujansky
Mayan Abdominal Massage
Elsa Gonzalez Ayala is a traditional midwife in the small town of Chunhuhub in Quintana Roo, Mexico. She performs monthly prenatal massages for her patients, delivers babies in hammocks, and massages women in the weeks following birth to help their uteri contract. She recently adopted a baby, Juan Diego, who was born at seven months [...]
CASA Midwifery Students Intercultural Midwifery Exchange
After their presentations at the Universidad Intercultural Maya, the midwifery students went to study in Mayan villages. Ema, Angie, Carmen Susana, Abi, Lupita and Elisa stayed with traditional midwife Doña Elsa in the small town of Chunhuhub. These students range in age from 17 to 36, and come from varied backgrounds: a performance artist, a [...]
CASA Midwifery Students on a Journey
After preparing their public health presentations – including hand-sewn model pelvises, breasts and amniotic sacs – the students from CASA midwifery school boarded a run-down bus, ate American cheese and hot pepper sandwiches, and rode 32 hours from their school in San Miguel de Allende to the small city of José Maria Morelos in the [...]
CASA Midwifery School in Mexico
Here are some photos from my most recent trip for my Birth and Culture project. In this first post, students from CASA, Mexico’s only government-accredited midwifery training program, prepared for a trip to rural villages where they studied with Mayan traditional midwives. At their school in San Miguel de Allende, they practiced giving presentations on [...]
A Long Ride
I’m deep inside of editing my three-week trip to Mexico, where I photographed birth and midwives. It’s a long ride; these pictures are from a long ride I took there.
New Lower Manhattan
A few weeks ago, I spent two days walking around Lower Manhattan, taking pictures for New York Magazine of new places that have made the neighborhood more fun and liveable recently. It was a great time – I got to take real pictures in a way that was interesting to me, the light was sweet, [...]