On Becoming an Involuntary Member in the Antepartum Unit

In this essay, I articulate the ways in which my scholarship and personal life collided when I became an involuntary member in the antepartum unit of a major university hospital. I draw on research examples taken from my dissertation work in prison and my time in the hospital to illustrate the interconnectedness of these involuntary experiences. After I share these stories, I offer a brief interlude to reflect on the meaningfulness of approaching membership from a continuum-based perspective and the relative implications for health communication scholars, before ending with an articulation how this experience brought me to a more crystallized view of involuntary membership.