Why Is Birth a Design Problem with Kim Holden

We are asking—is birth a design problem? Can rethinking and
redesigning the ways birth is approached shift the outcomes of
labor and birth experiences? Can it be instrumental in improving
our qualities of life--in our environments, in cities, and
beyond? And, as we explore how to create better cities for the
next generation to work, live and play in, should we also
consider the spaces in which that generation comes into this
world?


It’s these questions we will explore today with Kim Holden, one
of the founders of SHoP Architects, whose own birth experience
led her to become a doula herself, and is that background in
architecture that has become a lens through which she views her
new practice, Doula x Design. She is using a unique application
of design to solve something not typically seen as a design
problem, to help facilitate better birthing experiences for her
clients by advocating for creating positive environments that
support labor rather than inhibit it.


Her designer’s approach to birth focuses on everything from the
scale of the individual—anatomically and physiologically—to the
scale of the environment, to the archaic design of the tools and
instruments that play roles in a delivery room, to the triage and
post-partum hospital flows, and what those impacts look like for
the person bringing new life into the world. She is here to
remind us that women, and birthing people, are designed for this.


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Design and the City, is a podcast produced by reSITE about the
ways we can use design to make cities more livable and lovable.
reSITE is a global non-profit and platform connecting people and
ideas to improve the urban environment. We work at the
intersection of architecture, urbanism, politics, culture, and
economics, acting as a catalyst for social action and innovative
leadership. We encourage the exchange of ideas about making
cities more livable, competitive, resilient, inclusive, mobile,
and designed with humans in mind to protect and public space,
architecture, and sustainable development in cities.


Learn more at www.reSITE.org


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This episode was produced by myself, Alexandra Siebenthal with
the support of Martin Barry and Radka Ondrackova as well as Nano
Energies, the Czech Ministry of Culture and Project Syndicate. It
was recorded in the reSITE office in Prague and edited by
LittleBig Studio.