Birth Freedom: Healing Architecture’s Impact on the Experience of Childbirth and Healthcare Through a Community Maternity Centre in Alberton

Abstract

This research explores the topic of childbirth and maternal health care in a community context where such facilities are lacking in focus and accessibility. The study explores the narratives of pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period through the lenses of phenomenological experience, feminist theory, and healing. Its focus lies in how these concepts can shape the design of maternal healthcare architecture. The aim is to research and design a community health care centre that focusses primarily on aspects surrounding childbirth, and secondarily, aspects of female reproductive healthcare and family planning. The intervention aims to challenge the clinical nature of healthcare, improve accessibility to quality and affordable healthcare, and give women freedom over their reproductive healthcare choices. The site of the study is within the town of Alberton, located South of Johannesburg, in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality. The goal of the research study is the development of a birthing centre model that serves as an alternative option to existing clinical birth settings which are part of larger hospitals. Research will be conducted through site analysis, contextual analysis, data analysis, theoretical and architectural research and precedent studies. This information will be used to guide the design process and develop a resolved building. This research project consists of two parts, a research report, and a set of design drawings, which will be combined into a single thesis document.