The Opportunity

We are seeking a bright, coachable, detail-oriented doctoral student who is fueled by reading and reviewing childbirth-related research, enjoys collaborating with team members, is passionate about reproductive justice and birth equity, and ideally has experience supporting professors who are prolific writers and presenters.

You must be available to work virtually 12 hours per week. Your fellowship schedule will flexible, based on the timing that works best for you. You are confident that you can manage your time well and balance your studies and other responsibilities alongside this fellowship.

What We Do

Evidence Based Birth® exists to publish accurate, accessible, and inclusive research that empowers communities. We envision a world in which all birthing families have access to safe, respectful, evidence-based care!

Our mission-based programs (EBB Pro Membership and EBB Instructor Program) support and uplift birth workers and help them find community, hope, and the strength to use their voice.

Every day we are working to make evidence-based information easily accessible on the EBB website, podcast, and social media channels. We pride ourselves on teaching high-quality trainings and providing accessible research handouts and articles.

We encourage our team to educate themselves on and support the National Association to Advance Black Birth’s “Black Birthing Bill of Rights®.”

Work with Amazing People

Evidence Based Birth® was founded by Rebecca Dekker (she/her), a Registered Nurse with her Master’s and PhD in Nursing, and author of the best-selling book, “Babies Are Not Pizzas: They’re Born, Not Delivered!”

Dr. Dekker experienced birth trauma when she was separated from her first baby for three hours after giving birth. In contrast, she felt awed and empowered by the respectful and evidence based care she received from midwives at the birth of her second child. After several years of running Evidence Based Birth® while simultaneously working as a tenure-track Assistant Professor and NIH-funded research scientist, Dr. Dekker left academia in 2016 to focus on entrepreneurship and advocating for change full-time.

Today, the Evidence Based Birth® Team has grown to include more than 10 virtual teammates, including research scientists, birth workers, and advocates who are passionate about changing the status quo and making a difference (we also like to have fun together, too!!)

Although Dr. Dekker loves every day of working with Team EBB, she absolutely misses working with students and witnessing the energy and drive they bring to their studies and work. The EBB Research Fellowship was born out of a desire to mentor doctoral students and provide a place for them to apply their growing research skills in a supportive, inclusive, and team-oriented workplace.

The EBB Research Fellows will also work with Ihotu Ali, MPH, (she/her), a Research Associate and subsequently Research Editor at EBB since 2021, and founder of the Oshun Center for Intercultural Healing. This United Nations researcher-turned-womb massage therapist and doctoral student in chiropractic is an incredible teammate and advocate for evidence based care, equity, and inclusion. You can learn more about Ihotu’s research specialty and the work she’s done at EBB in her Podcast interviews, especially in episode 199, “Writing about Racism and Birth Outcomes.”

Make a Difference

Have you ever helped publish a peer-reviewed paper, and wondered how many people will read it? Or spent countless hours preparing a poster presentation for a conference, and then been disappointed when only a small number of people came by to talk about your work?

Dr. Dekker has had many experiences like that! Despite excelling as a student and publishing frequently as a faculty member, Dr. Dekker became fed up with how hard it was to get research into clinical practice.

But here at Evidence Based Birth®, we’ve found a way to make research accessible and usable!

The research that we publish at EBB is disseminated to our audience of 60,000 email subscribers, 100,000 social media followers and millions of podcast listeners. Our peer-reviewed, research-based “Signature Articles” show up on the top 2-3 of most Google searches, and our downloadable handouts have been taken to countless doctor’s visits.

We integrate our research into everything we publish—ranging from YouTube videos to Instagram Reels, to our EBB Childbirth Class videos and handy Pocket Guides for Labor. We are experts at getting research out from behind paywalls… summarizing it and translating it for everyday people, and then making that information freely accessible online.

How do we do it all? Well as a team, of course! And with the backing and financial support of our thousands of paying Pro Members, who come for the continuing education that we provide, but stay for the support and community.

 We want to meet you because…

• You are highly coachable and okay with receiving feedback, growing, and making changes (a bunch of red track changes from your professor when you turn in a first draft? That’s okay with you because you know they’re teaching you how to be a better writer!)
• You geek out when reading a new randomized, controlled trial on a childbirth intervention.
• You like explaining/teaching things to people – breaking down complex subjects into a way that people can understand. And you want to improve your teaching skills!
• You want to be part of creating a more just world, and you want to integrate reproductive justice into your life and career.
• You enjoy writing papers (nothing like a fresh, blank Word document!), and you get started on assignments early.
• You love pacing yourself, getting research projects done bit by bit—you never put assignments off to the last week or day.
• You are intrigued by the thought of elevating your research and teaching skills through real-life experience in a mission-based company.
• You enjoy getting to meet and work with other students and team members, but you’re also okay with spending hours working independently.
• You can balance multiple projects and work/home life… you have experience talking with your mentor about what work needs to be prioritized, and then you follow through on your action plan.
• You get school assignments turned in on time or early.
• You take breaks and rest purposefully in between working sessions, so that you don’t burn out. Or, you want to learn how to do this so that you can have a sustainable career.
• You have a solid foundation of biostatistics and already know how to conduct a literature review and read, critique, and write summaries of randomized trials, observational studies, and meta-analyses.

The Research Fellow Role:

During your one-year commitment with us, you will:

• Update 4 research outlines for our YouTube “Pain Management Series;” this will involve doing a new literature search on an assigned topic, reading/critiquing relevant studies, making edits to the existing content outline, updating the reference list, and writing captions for social media.
• Draft updates to a pre-existing Signature Article; this will involve conducting a thorough literature review on a variety of sub-topics for the larger topic, reading/critiquing relevant studies, making initial rough draft edits to the existing article, going through several rounds of subsequent edits back-and-forth with Dr. Dekker, and writing captions for social media summarizing the new research.
• Once per month, respond to research questions inside the “Ask the Research Team” forum for our EBB Pro Members.
• Prepare two PowerPoint presentations (including speaker notes) based on the newest research on a specific subject:
  • One presentation will be a new PowerPoint.
  • One presentation will be updated from a pre-existing EBB PowerPoint.
  • You will be involved in co-teaching the presentations that you prepare (including attending any virtual dress rehearsals).
• Participate in at least 6 “Research Team Live” sessions inside our private Pro Member community, to engage with Pro Members and talk about the research you’ve been reviewing.
• Participate in at least one podcast recording, to discuss the research you were assigned to work on.

A Typical Week May Look Like:

• Attend a weekly research meeting to discuss your assignments and progress with the Research Team (1 hour)
• Attend your bi-weekly 1:1 mentorship meeting with Dr. Dekker (1 hour)
• Conduct a literature review on a specific sub-topic; download/read 5 new studies; update two pages of a Signature Article (6 hours)
• Login to the Pro Membership Circle Community, look at two new questions in the “Ask the Research Team” section, conduct brief research and compose your responses (2 hours).
• View research training videos recorded for you by Dr. Dekker (2 hours).

What You Can Expect from Us

We are a mission-based team who truly loves working with one another and we are looking to hire doctoral students who want to collaborate with us, and maybe even consider advancing their career with us.

We are also committed to creating a safe workplace that is inclusive and supportive of people of all different backgrounds.

We hire adults and we will treat you like one! You will be expected to take responsibility for yourself and your projects—we value kindness, we provide feedback and mentorship, but we do not micromanage. Do not apply if you suffer from untreated “student syndrome” or if you require intense pressure, in-person supervision, or strict deadlines to get assignments done on time!

We will provide a thorough onboarding and training process for you, as well as a paid trial to ensure that it is a good fit between you and EBB.

How To Apply

Note: If you are not a doctoral student in a research-based program, or you do not plan to be in school this spring, please do not apply. We are hiring two rockstar research students who have already completed the equivalent of at least two semesters of full-time doctoral coursework and are ready to take their research and writing skills to the next level!

If you would like to be considered for the EBB Research Fellowship, complete the application using the link below by November 1, 2023. The application must include:

1. An introductory message telling us about yourself and why you want to be part of the EBB Research Fellowship. You must include one sentence that says, “I love to geek out about research on [fill in the blank].”
2. An attachment with your unofficial transcript(s) from all graduate programs that you’ve been enrolled in.
3. An attachment with your up-to-date CV or resumé. Please include a “Reproductive Justice” section that summarizes or lists classes, lived experience, webinars, videos, webinars, books, or podcasts you’ve engaged with on the topic of reproductive justice).
4. An attachment with a sample of your written work (any graduate school writing assignment).
5. A list of two people who will be sending us academic reference letters (see below).
6. Names and contact information of two people we can contact for work references (i.e. former colleagues or supervisors).

Two Academic Reference letters are due to info@evidencebasedbirth.com by November 1, 2023.

In order to be considered for this position, your academic references must directly email us their reference letters. One of the references must be from a doctoral-prepared faculty member. Reference letters must be written by the Academic Reference (not by the applicant) and include:

• The capacity in which the faculty member has worked with you
• A description of your 1) research experience, 2) writing capabilities, and 3) time management skills
• At least one letter confirming that you are a current student in a research-based doctoral program that is focused on human subjects research
• At least one letter including an assessment of your ability/past experiences working with people from diverse backgrounds, your openness to social justice/reproductive justice topics and advocacy, and your ability to lean into blank spot (growth) areas
• Any other information they want us to know about why they think you are a good fit for an Evidence Based Birth® Research Fellowship

Q: I’m all but dissertation, can I apply?

A: Yes, if you have at least one semester left of being enrolled in a doctoral program for 2024, and do not plan to accept a full-time faculty position in the fall of 2024, then you can apply.

Q: I really want to apply, but I’m enrolled in a practice-focused doctoral program. Will you make an exception for me?

A: We appreciate and admire practice-focused programs! However, due to our need for Research Fellows to hit the ground running with research and writing projects, we only be selecting students whose doctoral courses are currently focused on research, not clinical practice.

Q: I’m taking a semester or year off from my program, can I apply?

A: This Research Fellowship is only for doctoral students who will still be enrolled in their programs the spring of 2024. The goal is to combine your ongoing doctoral study with a Research Fellowship, because they will complement each other.

Q: I’m not a doctoral student but I love research, can I apply?

A: This Research Fellowship was designed to support and enhance the education of currently enrolled doctoral students in research-based, human subject-based programs.

Q: Will I receive career coaching as part of the Research Fellowship?

A: Yes, each month we will set aside a Research Team meeting to support and uplift the Research Fellows in their studies and career path development. We can talk about the challenges of being a doctoral student, potential career paths, interviewing, CV building, anything that you want to discuss related to your education and career!

Q: My university requires a certain number of research practicum hours. Will this count towards my required research hours?

A: Yes, if the EBB Research Fellowship is approved by your advisor and university to count towards your practicum hours, that is fine with us! We can work with you to submit any necessary forms or reports.

Q: If I am accepted, can Dr. Dekker become a part of my doctoral advisory or dissertation committee?

A: We will consider committee invitations this on a case-by-case basis, depending on whether the dissertation subject is a good fit with Dr. Dekker’s expertise and whether she has adequate time to devote to serving on your committee.

Q: If I’m selected and choose to participate, can I include the EBB Research Fellowship on my CV?

A: Absolutely! Not only will you be able to put the title of “Evidence Based Birth® Research Fellow” on your CV, but you will engage in multiple research and teaching projects and will be able to list each of those projects on your CV.

Q: What do you mean when you say there will be a paid trial?

A: Before you are officially hired, we will help you get started on a two-week project where you will be paid for your time. After successful completion of the paid trial, as long as both parties are still interested, you will be offered a position as Research Fellow. The first 30-90 days of your Research Fellowship will be technically on a “probationary period.” You will be evaluated on how things are going with your tasks at specific time points (1 week, 30 days, and 60 days), and if at any point either you or Dr. Dekker decides it’s not a good fit during the probationary period, we can inform each other that we are parting ways… no hard feelings!

Q: What if I can’t stay with you the entire year?

A: Once the paid trial is completed, it’s important to us that we continue working together for the remainder of the year, because of the mentorship you’ll be receiving and the longer-term research tasks you’ll be engaged in. Therefore, you should only apply for the position if you’re able to commit to the position for an entire year. However, if something comes up and it’s no longer feasible for us to work with each other, our contract will allow for either party to terminate the contract with two weeks’ notice.

Q: What does the application process involve?

A: After all your materials are submitted, applications will be scored, and competitive applicants will be reached out to for a brief pre-screening phone call. Upon passing the pre-screening phase, candidates will then be invited for an individual interview via Zoom. The top candidates will then be selected for a second interview with another EBB Team member. Regardless of your status, we will reach out to let everyone to let you know whether you will receive an invitation to join our team as a EBB Research Fellow.