Email: cmhayes1@unc.edu

Center of Excellence: https://sph.unc.edu/mch/center-of-excellence/

JIWC-specific areas of expertise: Reproductive Justice, Maternal and Child Health, and Human Rights

How did you get interested in working with justice-involved women and children? What makes you passionate about this work?

“I grew up with an incarcerated father. This experience drives my passion for working on behalf of families impacted by the carceral system and mass incarceration. My passion for supporting families, particularly justice involved women is further inspired by my training as a Black feminist and reproductive justice scholar in public health and social work. Over the years, I have come to understand that mass incarceration plays a major role in driving not only racial inequality, but also reproductive oppression. This fuels my passion and my commitment to ending mass incarceration through research and advocacy work committed to improving maternal and child health outcomes for incarcerated pregnant women as a reproductive justice issue.”

What research-practice collaborations would you be the most excited to work on in the next 5 years? Is there a group of individuals (i.e. community health workers, doulas) who you would especially like to work with? What are your goals for this collaboration?

“I would love to work with doulas and prison based doulas programs that have partnerships with the local university.”