10 Practical Ways BADT is Queering Birthwork
Queer: (v.) to challenge dominant, cisheterosexual cultural norms.
This is just one attempt at a definition for the word queer, as a verb. Words are tools, and they can be limiting, especially when we are discussing something expansive, uncontainable.
At BADT we are always exploring what it means to queer this work, to move beyond the status quo, to live into just and affirming futures. It is important to acknowledge our lineage in the Reproductive Justice (RJ) movement. Black and Indigenous RJ activists and careworkers have been queering this work and the world for decades. Perhaps it can be said that this work is inherently queer, especially in the context of the cishet, racist, capitalist patriarchy. We owe much of our positionality and inspiration to folks who have come before us.
Ways BADT Is Queering Birthwork
There are endless ways to queer birthwork and our world. Much of this work is about growing a queer lens or orientation to the world, which can take time, practice, active unlearning, and community. Below you will find some of the more practical ways we are queering birthwork as an organization:
We are queer-led and the majority of our teacher collaborators identify as queer and/or trans. We know that representation matters, and, furthermore, we know that it is valuable to learn from folks who are teaching through their lived experiences and identities. We collaborate with folks who are queer and trans and teach through their unique queer lenses.
We are full-spectrum doulas. BADT’s 12-week full-spectrum training includes segments on Black perinatal health disparities, abortion, adoption, working with partners and so much more. The whitewashed, make-birth-Instagrammable version of doula work is tired and leaves marginalized folks marginalized. In other words, it’s harmful! As full-spectrum doulas, we are pushing the edges and continually working to include the voices, experiences, and needs of folks who are often neglected in reproductive health education. For example, we center folks experiencing food insecurity and substance use. We discuss support for single parents and folks who are nonmonogamous.
We use inclusive language. Always. In our marketing, our trainings, in the ways we teach and invite students to practice.
We center queer and trans experiences. We aim to create a space for teachers and students to be their full, queerand trans selves in all of the spaces we host. When it comes to coursework, case studies and homework assignments, for example, often focus on working with queer and trans clients.
We create and use inclusive resources. From our resource guide Our Favorite Queer and Trans-Centered Resources for Families and Birth Workers, to the books we invite students to read, to the supplemental resources we provide, we aim to highlight works that are not just queer and trans inclusive, but affirming.
We aim to make systems-level change. While we care very deeply about the individual interactions a doula has with a client (and believe these can be highly impactful), we are always holding the larger, systems-level work in mind. We seek to contribute to the larger RJ movement and to make systems safer for all birthing people.
We are invested in making birthwork sustainable. The “industry” has become flooded by capitalist hustle culture, and we are working hard to do things differently. We want birth workers to thrive and to be cared for as they do the work of caring for others.
We are focused on access. We are integrating access considerations into our offerings, from Instagram posts to captions in our courses and events.
Join BADT in this Work
Join us in queer birthwork! Are there things we are doing that inspire or challenge you? Are there things you are doing that we have yet to adopt? We’d love to continue this conversation on the community app.
Check out our Queering Doula Work Live Panel on June 10, and if you’d like to dig even deeper, we invite you to join our Queer & Trans Reproductive Support Continuing Education Course here.