Gibbs, who’s earning degrees from both the College of Liberal Arts and College of Health, is focused on outcomes of women who give birth in community-based birthing centers
Mady Gibbs
By Jessica Krueger, CLA Student Writer - February 11, 2026
Interested in the medical field — but don’t like needles? Yeah, Madeline (Mady) Gibbs, ‘23, feels that way too.
That’s why she studies medical anthropology. “When I learned about the overlap between anthropology and medicine that exists, I was super excited,” Gibbs said, “because I knew I could still do health-related stuff, but through a social approach.”
A graduate student in her second year at Oregon State University, Gibbs is working not just on one, but two degrees: a Master of Public Health in epidemiology from the College of Health and a Master of Science in applied anthropology from the School of Language, Culture, and Society.
It is important that healthcare workers be familiar with the diversity of human culture, and that they prioritize participant expertise, Gibbs explained. Anthropology requires good communication, organization, project planning, and empathy — all of which are crucial skills in the field of public health.
Gibbs is particularly interested in reproductive healthcare. Under the guidance of Dr. Melissa Cheyney and Dr. Kenneth Maes, Gibbs’s research focuses on what are called freestanding birth centers: medical facilities that offer a more comfortable, cozy atmosphere than hospitals generally do, where people with low-risk pregnancies receive midwife support during and after their delivery. “Think of a freestanding birth center as a place that offers an experience in between what you might expect of a hospital or home birth,” Gibbs said.
Gibbs’s thesis is a mixed-method case study which focuses on the Corvallis Birth and Wellness Center, under the former leadership of Dr. Susan Heinz, DNP, CNM, NP, MSCP. She is interviewing the owners and staff of the birth center, as well as other community stakeholders, to gather qualitative data about their experiences with freestanding birth centers and the midwifery model of care. She is combining this information with quantitative data that represents patient health outcomes.
“It frustrates me that we have healthcare models that we’re aware of, that are studied and practiced, and that we know lead to positive health outcomes, but that aren’t financially incentivized,” Gibbs said. “Freestanding birth centers offer care that is patient-focused to an extent that bio-medical or for-profit health care models do not.”
Gibbs hopes that her thesis will highlight the successes and joys of the Corvallis Birth and Wellness Center. “The midwives I’ve talked to are deeply passionate about the work that they do. That’s not to say that healthcare professionals in other settings aren't that way,” Gibbs said, “but there is something really unique about these midwives, the pride they take in their work, and the impact they've had on their communities.”
Gibbs knew about the Corvallis Birth and Wellness Center because she worked there as a medical receptionist during a gap year after completing her undergraduate degree (also at OSU) in 2023. At the center, Gibbs helped with scheduling, cleaning, and data entry.
During this time, Gibbs also worked as a research assistant for her now-advisor Dr. Cheyney and as an administrative assistant for the Community Doula Program (which Dr. Cheyney is also involved in). The Community Doula Program, Gibbs explained, “provides low-income and marginalized families with doulas who are culturally and linguistically matched.” Doulas provide emotional and physical support to their patients during birth and are shown to “significantly improve inequities in health outcomes.”
“Getting to take a gap year from school was genuinely life changing. Getting to experience what it’s like not to have homework, to just have a life — and live life — really changed my relationship with academia for the better. And the experiences I had during that gap year really informed what I’m doing my thesis on in a big way,” Gibbs said.
During her undergraduate years at Oregon State, Gibbs majored in anthropology, minored in music, and earned a medical humanities certificate.
She was also a part of the university’s Wind Ensemble and Honors College. Working with Dr. Cheyney as her mentor, Gibbs completed an Honors College thesis based on the experiences of the Wind Ensemble during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her goal was to preserve ensemble members’ experiences of remote learning and of group practice, when Covid restrictions forced them and their instruments outside.
At the start of her freshmen year in 2019, Gibbs enrolled in the University Exploratory Studies Program. She briefly considered going the pre-med route, but realized she was more interested in the social sciences after taking an introductory course on interpersonal communication. Still exploring her options, Gibbs took an anthropology class the next term and knew, then, that anthropology was the major for her.
Best of all? “There are an infinite number of ways to engage with anthropology,” Gibbs said. “There are professional anthropologists who research Dungeons & Dragons or World of Warcraft. To be human is to be an infinite number of things and anthropology is the study of being human.”
You don't have to do something deeply profound,” Gibbs added. “You can do something personal or engage with your own hobbies. Leisure, pleasure, joy are all very important things.”