Dana Raphael

Dana Louise Raphael (January 5, 1926 – February 2, 2016) was an American medical anthropologist. She was a strong advocate of breastfeeding and promoted the movement to recruit non-medical care-givers to assist mothers during and after childbirth. She called such care-givers "doulas." The term "doula" (from Ancient Greek δούλη, a female slave) was popularized in her 1973 book The Tender Gift: Breastfeeding. She also coined the term “matrescence,” the rite of passage where “changes occur in a woman's physical state, in her status within the group, in her emotional life, in her focus of daily activity, in her own identity, and in her relationships with all those around her” through new motherhood.

Early life and education Dana Louise Raphael was born in New Britain, Connecticut, on January 5, 1926, the daughter of Louis Raphael, who owned a department store chain, and the former Naomi Kaplan. Her research was not always respected: some Columbia faculty called her “the Tit Lady.” ”I lacked the knowledge and the assistance needed to let down my milk,” she later said. “The more my hungry son screamed, the guiltier I felt.” Their research found that impoverished women were often too undernourished and stressed to breastfeed, and in these cases, formula was important and even essential.