#birthwork stuff

[panb1mbo]

honestly one of my biggest career flex as a full spectrum doula is when i had a pregnant client about a month overdue. when they consented to receiving my help i found them a noninvasive induction method that fit their specifications (they wanted their definition of a natural birth, which to them, meant no induction via drugs) and within the hour of trying my suggestion she told me they were headed to the hospital bc her contractions had progressed enough for her to be admitted and she had her baby within the day and enjoyed the experience. and for that to be my first birth??? magic 🥺

[bellarad]

Man, people can be so rad

Another doula followed me on my birthworker insta who used a lot of like... woman-centric language. Which is fine, because most birthing folks are cis women and some people aren't totally like, aware if trans birth and gender variation of birthing folks. But the language she was using was pretty TERFy. Like, "we as women need to take back our sacred power of creation from the hands of men" type stuff. Very bioessentialist.

So I messaged her and was like, hey listen, I'm non-binary and a lot of the language you use sounds pretty terfy and if you are a terf I don't want you following me unless you're willing to learn from me thru a trans perspective.

She was like, "omg no I'm super okay with trans people and I don't want to be exclusive at all. I didn't realize my language would be taken that way - can you give me suggestions and feedback about how to change it?"

She took my feedback, she asked for more resources and instas to follow and she dug into what it means to be a TERF and how to be a good ally to trans folks - I was super impressed!

She just messaged me asking if I would give my perspective for a paper shes writing about the crunchy to alt-right pipeline in terms of how it affects trans folks and said that basically she was falling down that pipeline without realizing and me messaging her helped her backtrack and get out of it.

I think that a lot of times, talking to terfs isn't necessarily constructive and a lot of them are just so set in their ways that you cant reach them. But I think that feeling people out is important. I could've just blocked this person and been rid of her potential harmfulness, but instead I engaged her in a teaching moment and was able to help prevent further extremism from budding.

Give folks a chance ✌️

[lila-rae]

Thank you for sharing your experiences! You and your husband were able to be efficient advocates because this was not your first rodeo. You understand your body in labor. First time moms have a harder time advocating for themselves because no matter how much one reads, it's different to feel stuff under our own skin. It's extremely important that first time Black moms recruit a trusted knowledgeable person to accompany them. Best wishes for you and your baby

Thanks 😊.

I agree.

Here’s a couple of websites that can help Black women find pregnancy/labor/postpartum support from Black providers.

It shouldn’t be this way. And we shouldn’t have to hire additional care but until the disparity is addressed and resolved I think a black birthing team is imperative for Black women, especially first time moms who don’t have the knowledge from previous births.

It’s also just nice to have someone focusing on you after the birth when everyone is wrapped up in baby. My doula has come by every day to check on me and will for the first 2 weeks. (Clearly we’re in a privileged place to be able to do this) I think the US is sorely lacking in how we handle maternity care and this should be standard but until then I 100% recommend doulas. Or at least having birthing support (even a mom, sister, friend) who is assertive enough to make people listen.

[boydeluna]

my cousins have a botanica where they sell stuff and plan on offering spiritual services and birthwork and i’m honestly so proud of them and they want me to handle some of their business stuff like books and payroll and it feels to be invited to do something but to actually feel like I belong somewhere. and i’m not gonna get into it too much but ahhhhhhh they really have great goals and such a great business model and am really excited to witness this and be apart of this. it’s cr*zy that i’m looking forward to something in the future wow

I got off work early today and decided to roller blade (I just got new skates and it was one of my favorite things to do as a kid) but I was excited (and cocky) and couldn’t be bothered to buy/find pads so I just tried to skate (to my cousins’ shop which is about a mile away) and I fell very hard three times in the street and honestly lmaoooo feels like I broke my knees then it took me a good five minutes to put shoes on because my ankles were completely stiff and numb but I walked all the way to their shop and it was very nice because it was quite possibly the first time maybe possibly in my whole life that I ever walked somewhere alone and just wow

[mariahkaye-alpha]

#unfuckyourself 💜 I can and continue to do everything in my power to better myself and my future, despite any past or future stuff in my way. There is no where for me to go but forward! Keeping my internal compass and shine bright and steady 💜 #inspired #futuremidwife #birthworker #studentmidwife #bebetter #doulalife #midwifelife #apprentice #studying #healing #meditating #working #intern (at San Clemente, California)

[t3doulaservices]

Ha! 😂😂😂 But this is how I’m feeling about these snow flakes on the ATL street. I got stuff to do today! #doula #doulas #birthdoula #birthdoulas #blackbirthdoula #blackbirthdoulas #blackdoula #blackdoulas #blackdoulasmatter #blackmamasmatter #atlantadoula #atlantadoulas #blackatlantadoula #blackatlantadoulas #birthwork #birthworkers #birthsupport #blackatldoula #blackatldoulas #atlantapostpartumdoula #atlantapostpartumdoulas #blackatlantapostpartumdoula #blackatlantapostpartumdoulas #blackpostpartumdoula #blackpostpartumdoulas #postpartumdoula #postpartumdoulas #hireadoula #doulaoncall https://www.instagram.com/p/B8USaJJg6zC/?igshid=1xuynw7obx27o