Dana Raphael of Fairfield, who together with Margaret Mead established the Human Lactation Center in her home on the Westport-Fairfield border in the 1970s, died Feb 2 at home of complications from congestive heart failure. She ws 90.

Dana Raphael: medical anthropologist. Contributed photo
A well-known medical anthropologist, writer and lecturer, she was best known for her work in supportive behavior and breastfeeding,
She is credited with launching the Doula movement. The term doula was first used by Raphael in a 1969 anthropological study to describe a female caregiver during labor and childbirth whose function was often associated with successful breastfeeding (in Raphael’s words, ‘mothering the mother).
A longtime resident of Fairfield, she was also a generous supporter of Connecticut Ballet and the Connecticut Audubon Society over several decades.