Exploring BADT's Core Values Together (Part 2: Accessibility, Humanity, and Visibility)

Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings is committed to operating from a values-based lens. As a community, we are building and growing and living out values that contribute to liberation for all. You can find our core values here. Please note that this is a living, changing document, which is periodically edited to reflect ongoing conversations in our field and our growth as a community.

This is part 2 of 3 in our core values series. Find part 1 here! In this series, we offer ideas for exploring each of BADT’s core values in your own life. We also acknowledge that none of these practices are one-and-done sort of things. Living values-first is an on-going, emerging practice. Thank you for engaging in this work alongside us!

Accessibility

To us, accessibility is an imperfect and ever-expanding practice. We practice access by offering payment plans and scholarships, but also by using closed captioning services in our courses, and listening to the needs of our students and community. All people have different access needs, and we try to meet as many as we can.

Ideas for Exploring Accessibility

1. Make a practice out of noticing and calling out the barriers in your environment(s). For example, when you are out and about, notice whether there is space for folks in wheelchairs to navigate stores and restaurants you visit. When you get invited to your kids’ school for a meeting, notice whether it’s at a time when working folks can attend or whether this is more than one option. Does the school offer handouts in readable text or ASL interpretation? When you attend an event, does that facilitator use gender-neutral terms to address the audience? At this event are there loud noises, flashing lights, or strong scents? Make notes about barriers you observe and communicate these to the appropriate leadership. If possible, gather community support around the request or issue and write a letter together. It is especially important to take action when you personally do not need the specific access option; your voice and solidarity is needed to increase access for all. As you begin (or continue) this practice, do not expect to notice every access barrier; we, first, experience things through our own limited perspective. Stay receptive to learning more. Listen deeply to others as they name and express their needs, and you will grow your awareness of access needs for all.

2. Engage with media that helps you broaden your understanding of accessibility, interdependence, and disability justice. We love and recommend Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha. The work of Mia Mingus is also powerful in visioning and creating a world of interdependence. Also, check out Alice Wong’s (she/her) work with The Disability Visibility Project-- interviews, podcasts, books, etc. Also, we invite you to explore Project LETS for a history of disability justice and tons of related readings and resources.

3. Make your content accessible. Not all disabilities are visible, so we must all work to check ourselves and never make assumptions about whether or not anyone has access needs and requirements. Caption your videos, add alt text to your IG posts, and make your website accessible, too. Additionally, create space on your intake forms and workshop sign-ups for people to name accessibility needs. If you are facilitating a group on zoom, offer closed captioning and/or ASL interpretation. It’s also helpful to have a referral list for folks who serve families who speak languages other than English.

Humanity

We believe that full-spectrum birth work does not exist in a vacuum, and we all - professionals included - need the space and permission to show up as our whole selves. This humanity is messy; it is relational; it can be uncomfortable… but it is real, and it is who we are. 

Ideas for Exploring Humanity

1. Practice consistent self-care. Simple, regular practices that allow you to tend to yourself and your nervous system are valuable and crucial. Sometimes we already have these practices in place, but we have just not claimed that as rituals. We invite you to explore different daily self-care rituals and notice which ones feel the most nurturing and soothing for you. 

2. Engage in community care. Notice how the systems you are a part of address care. Is there a culture that supports rest, joy, and space? If not, encourage reflection and change on this topic as a group.

3. Spend time really connecting with people. Undivided, connected time with others is one way to feel our humanity and get in touch with the humanity of others. Minimize distractions, aim for free and flexible timelines if possible, and just BE together. 

Visibility

With visibility comes vulnerability. We do our best to sustainably and responsibly increase the visibility of those who are underrepresented in birth work, and to give voice to the pieces of ourselves that are often silenced.

Ideas for Exploring Visibility

1. Share the work of folks who are doing inspiring, anti-oppression work. This might be a share on your IG page or in your newsletter or connecting someone directly to work and teachers you love. Support projects, campaigns, mutual aid networks, trainings, and so on, making this much-needed work visible to new folks.

2. Explore self-expression practices. Create and express in ways you love! And encourage yourself to create and express in new ways, too! Birth and birth work are creative processes. Whether your creations formally become part of your work, they support you in showing up in the most resourced way possible. Tending to your thoughts, feelings, and growth is a worthy practice.

3. Create or participate in a study + action group. Gather in community with other folks who are committed to anti-oppression and explore new, challenging material together. Get familiar with the systemic issues that are causing barriers and/or lack of representation in birth work. Together, create action plans for how you will contribute to justice and transformation. Offer one another compassionate accountability. For example, TRANSFORMHARM.ORG offers a wealth of materials your group can draw from as you get started.

Take It Beyond the Screen

Again, it’s time to take the work beyond the screen. Individually and collectively we can show up for the world we believe in, the world we want to live in, the world we know our future deserves. This blog series is an invitation to explore our core values in deep and meaningful ways; the ideas presented in this article are simply food for thought, not strict guidelines. 

If the ideas shared here feel new and uncomfortable, we invite you to sit with that discomfort and just be curious. Where is it coming from? What is the discomfort trying to protect you from? Then, consider the next step you are willing to take.

Furthermore, we honor the ways you are already practicing these values in your lives, and we would love to hear from you-- what other ideas and practices would you add to this list?! Connect with the BADT community on our IG.

Finally, be sure to subscribe to our mailing list below to catch the final blog in our core values series!