First Georgetown Nursing Fulbright Recipient To Build an Archive of Indigenous Birthing Practices

(April 17, 2025) - As the first Fulbright scholar from the School of Nursing, Lexie Meger (N'24) is building an archive of Brazilian Amazonian birthing practices. She plans to capture how indigenous communities near Manaus use herbal remedies, local foods and communal ceremonies during the phases of pregnancy, birth and postpartum.

"I wanted to find communities that are strong in their practices, such as using a particular herb for a pregnancy ailment, in order to understand what has worked in these communities for centuries," said Meger. Since there are no accessible online academic articles to frame her study, Meger will start her research by visiting libraries in Manaus and fostering connections with local communities in order to document their practices.

"It's a slow process, building relationships," said Meger. "I hope to let myself be known and build connections with people who provide care in these communities. The process is hard for me as a structured person, because there's no set timeline. I just remain open to the process and grateful to see where things go."

Exploring All Georgetown Has to Offer

Meger was initially drawn to nursing after her family started to foster infants when she was 11 years old. "I saw how much my mom went through, sleeping just three hours a night in order to feed newborns," she said. "I began helping out with their care, which completely transformed my life."

Meger decided to leave her home state of California and enter the School of Nursing with the initial plan of becoming a neonatal nurse. In addition to her tightly scheduled nursing coursework, Meger also pursued an art degree at Georgetown and was the first nursing student to present their work in the Seniors Major Exhibition.

"My art classes were a way to decompress, almost therapeutic, after some of my nursing clinicals," said Meger. "Painting is my medium, and it grounds me and connects me to a creative process, which is so important in health care too. You need creativity in the delivery of care."

In addition to art, Meger also wanted to study a foreign language. Portuguese ultimately worked out best with her nursing school schedule.

"Most language classes are difficult to take with our clinicals because they meet three times a week, but I found Portuguese classes that only met twice a week but were intended for native Spanish speakers, which I am not," said Meger. "It was definitely overwhelming to be in a class where we would move through lessons quickly, like those involving numbers and days of the week, because they were the same in Spanish. The quick pace required having to go back and do all this heavy lifting outside of class."

Meger's connection with Georgetown's Department of Spanish and Portuguese was important in laying the groundwork for her Fulbright application. In addition to her more general language classes, Meger also created a Brazilian Portuguese Medical Terminology and Cultural Sensitivity course with Sebastián Patron Saade, PhD, assistant teaching professor in the department.

The chair of the Spanish and Portuguese department, Michael Ferreira, PhD, associate professor, also became extremely influential to Meger's Fulbright process.

"I told Professor Ferriera during office hours that I wanted to do research and was serious about applying for a Fulbright, and he was supportive," said Meger. "He's Brazilian and became my main connection with my affiliate."

Finding a Love for Women's Health

Meger's interests in nursing started to shift toward women's health after a clinical rotation with Roxanne Mirabal-Beltran, PhD, RN, assistant professor in the School of Nursing.

"I assisted with five deliveries and loved every part of it," said Meger. "I also started to think more about how we treat birthing people in health care, such as restricting movement during labor out of precaution, and I wanted to know more."

After having a conversation with a friend who was completing a Fulbright in Australia, Meger considered applying for the prestigious fellowship herself, which required threading the needle of several of her interests, including women's health, alternative medicines and Portuguese.

"I started trying to formalize my thoughts into a Fulbright proposal after talking to several of my professors and asking myself what I care the most about and wanted to do research on," said Meger. After researching different birthing positions in labor, Meger noticed a gap in the literature related to the birthing practices of peoples within the Brazilian Amazon.

"Once I realized there was no accessible information on any traditions related to pregnancy, postpartum care and labor with these indigenous groups, I reached out to researchers in Brazil asking for their thoughts and to see if they would sponsor my research in this area," said Meger. "I really just cold emailed professors at my affiliate institution, the Nursing School of UFAM, which was stressful, but they were so kind and supportive about the research."

Building a Women's Health Archive

For the next nine months, Meger will be combing through local archives and connecting with local indigenous leaders in order to document traditional birthing practices. She will work alongside doctors, midwives and female heads of indigenous communities to capture information about foods consumed, community involvement and childbirth itself.

Meger has begun taking day trips into one indigenous community with a nursing professor from her affiliate institution and is completing a seven-week intensive Portuguese program to expand her language skills.

"I'm hoping to learn by just being present with indigenous communities around Manaus as they practice doula care in pregnancy and postpartum, involving everything from recommending certain herbs in pregnancy to performing a naming ceremony after birth," said Meger, who intentionally uses the word "doula" instead of "midwife."

"I wanted to use the word 'doula' because I want to focus on practices that support pregnant people but exist outside of professional, Western practices, which midwives in the United States still very much adhere to," said Meger.

In between her research, Meger hopes to find time to travel and still practice her art by joining two local ceramics studios in Manaus as a student. "One of the best ways for me to connect with people is through art, which can overcome language barriers," Meger said. As part of her research, Meger is also creating a visual element, consisting of a series of oil paintings. The first painting will focus on late-stage breastfeeding.

Meger hopes to eventually share the information she collects with future patients and with the larger health care community in the United States. "The end goal for me is really just to have more information and more options available for pregnant people," said Meger. "I always think care for pregnant people should start with the questions 'What do you want?' 'What feels good for you?' And the provider should be able to present options."

"Researching women's health care just makes me so happy, and I look forward to working as a labor and delivery nurse after the Fulbright with all of this knowledge I've gained from this experience," said Meger.

Heather Wilpone-Welborn
GUMC Communications

Images: Courtesy of Lexie Meger