8 Ways to Make Birth Work Sustainable
It’s no secret that care work is not valued by dominant culture in the United States. Life under the white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchy is extractive and oppressive. Under these circumstances, work that is slower in pace, work that requires attention, patience, and care, work that is cooperative, work that requires being with another is devalued.
In her essay “Mothering as Revolutionary Praxis,” Cynthia Dewi Oka says, “capitalism requires that human needs be met while simultaneously being rendered irrelevant. This is why mothering, as a social practice, exists in a state of paradox– culturally idealized (i.e. in a white supremacist way) yet lacking in any social or economic values. It is literally priceless.” Find the whole essay in Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines.
We are taking a broad understanding of mothering and expanding it to encompass care-taking in many forms, including birth work. As advocates for Reproductive Justice, as folks working directly with birthing people and families, we are committed to doing this work in sustainable ways. As we share ideas for making this work sustainable, know that we are aware of the complexities involved in doing work “differently” than the status quo.
8 Ways to Make Birth Work Sustainable
This list is an invitation to listen to your body, learn from and with the communities, organizations, and people who share anti-capitalist values, and stay curious about the systems you are working and living in. Take what works for you and leave the rest; add or edit in ways that are meaningful to you and your life because you know your needs best.
Work in a partnership or a team. Not only is it beneficial to have other folks to process, problem-solve, and strategize with, it is truly necessary to be in community as a birth worker. You will need folks to refer to, as well as folks you can count on for backup support (because, yes, you are sometimes going to need it, and we should normalize this). Doula partnerships or collectives can be structured in a range of ways, but the core idea of doing this work together is key for sustainability.
Engage in peer-to-peer and/or mentorship spaces. These co-created spaces can offer support, accountability, community care, and so much more. Going slow together is so important because we are up against the fast-paced medical industrial complex (MIC). Also, capitalism teaches us to be competitive and to be “lone wolves;” thus, working together and being in community can be a healing balm for this dominant messaging.
Create diverse offerings. Multiple streams of income can support you in only taking on the amount of direct care work that you have the capacity for. Diversity in work also allows you to show up in different ways and can balance forms of work that may be more draining or exhausting with forms that require less energy. For example, you may choose to take three birth clients some months, while other months you take no birth clients and focus on postpartum work. This could also look like teaching classes, creating and selling a workbook, or having a part-time job that’s not related to birth work.
Don’t do all the things. While we see great value in having diverse offerings and multiple routes to making income, it’s also important to know and trust that you cannot do it all. For example, if processing placentas is interesting to you, great, and if not, leave it to someone else. Take on the roles and projects within birth work that interest and inspire you and that you have the capacity for.
Be thoughtful about pricing. We encourage you to not only do market research, but to truly have a sense of how much money you need to make each month to survive (bare minimum), as well as how much you need to make to thrive (be and feel truly cared for). There are creative, anti-capitalist ways to price your services, including by not limited to: equity-based sliding scale, trades, payment plans, and scholarships.
Tend to your body. In very literal ways, it’s important to tend to your body through food, hydration, movement, and rest. We also see great value in somatics, mindfulness, and other regenerative practices. The MIC is not a holistic system, and the impact of working in it and alongside it can be to feel disconnected from our bodies. These practices can help us integrate our experiences.
Protect your time off. Our work is non-linear, which means that clients from the past or clients whose due dates or procedures are months away could potentially contact us at any given moment. The anticipation of being “on” all the time can fry the nervous system. Thus, it’s essential that you pick times, days, or weeks that you protect as non-work times. It’s helpful to communicate this to clients ahead of time and/or arrange backup as needed.
Focus on the relationships. Sometimes, especially when we start something new, we think we need all the shiny things (ex: the perfect doula bag). The truth is, your presence and the ways you show up in relationships are the best tools for this work. Let some of the expectations to have certain gear or things or even gifts for clients go and tend to your relationship with yourself, your clients, and your community.
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