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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