Meet Marissa Rae
Hey, hi hello! When I’m not doula-ing, my days are spent with people I love moving my body, making art, exploring new places, binge-ing reality TV. I also have a soft spot for hugs that last just a little too long.…and steam rooms, obviously.
By day (and sometimes night), I’m a doctoral researcher deep in the messy and chaotic world of late medieval sexuality and reproductive justice. My research has taken me into academic institutions and museums across the globe. I began as a history curator in Pittsburgh before moving to Los Angeles to train as a doula under midwife Johanna Storey, whose work bridges ancestral midwifery traditions and contemporary care practices.
Since then, I’ve supported families across a wide range of traditions and experiences, witnessing firsthand what happens when consent and autonomy are honored, and when they are not. That lived work deepened my commitment to reproductive justice, both past and present.
Now, my love of medieval scandal and modern reproductive politics converge in my PhD, where I trace the evolution of reproductive autonomy across bloodlines and institutions.
Education
Doctoral Candidate of History: University of Winchester, 2026.
Dissertation: Childbirth Rituals Throughout the Wars of the Roses. Supervisor: Dr Elena Woodacre
Masters of Science: University of Edinburgh, 2023
Dissertation: Connecting Illegitimacy to Invalid Marriage Patterns using Fifteenth Century Consistory Court Litigation in London and York. Supervisor: Dr Zubin Mistry
Bachelor of Arts: Seton Hill University, 2022
Dissertation: Queen Victoria: Politics of Presentation. Supervisor: Maureen Kochanek
Areas of Specialization
History of reproductive medicine in western Europe in the late medieval period, especially medical treatises and education.
Later Plantagenet queenship studies
The writings and influence of Trotula of Salerno
Awards and Distinctions
Elizabeth Ann Seton Scholarship
2022 Artist of Distinction Award
Research Grants
2026 Royal Historical Society Open Research Support Grant