This is a series highlighting folks who identify as Radical Doulas. Are you interested in being part of the series? Go here to provide your responses to the profile questions and I’ll include you!
About Rose Wilder: I am a queer, anarchist, feminist doula, midwife assist, street medic and herbalist. I got trained as a midwife in 2012 and have been doing birth, abortion and death work ever since. I am a Certified Professional Herbalist and am trained in a lot of old healing rituals around birth. Along with a few friends, I helped start and am currently helping run the Boulder Doula Project. I have experience assisting trans and gender queer people, adoption, unassisted birth, teen parents and many other things-everyone deserves nonjudgmental, compassionate care. I worked at a birth center in El Paso where I attended over 100 births and have been doing mostly home and hospital births since returning to Colorado. I love holding space for these powerful thresholds and being of service to people. Location: Denver/Boulder/surrounding mountains, CO.
Contact: partera.moon@gmail.com
What inspired you to become a doula?
I was in school to be an herbalist and felt the most inspired by the spaces of birth. I then went down to study to be a midwife in the desert and fell in love with birth and the powerful thresholds. When I came back, I was able to integrate abortion and death work as well as serving a wider population of people. I facilitate a lot of self-examination and care workshops for people with a cervix which I love. I feel passionate about protecting and supporting people in this space and in reclaiming their own healing and knowledge about their bodies.
Why do you identify with the term radical doula?
To say that these things are radical feels intrinsically silly to me, but I would consider myself radical because I am trying to address the hierarchical hetero normative health care system and put that power of healing and knowing and decisions back into the hands of the people. I am queer and anarchist and bilingual. I understand that not all pregnant people identify as women and that not all families are structured the same. I call myself radical because I have an intrinsic trust in the body, in these processes and in the wisdom woven in all of it. I call myself radical because i feel that everyone deserves competent, compassionate care regardless of race, sexual preference, gender identity, class, age or anything else.
What is your doula philosophy and how does it fit into your broader political beliefs?
My doula philosophy is that everyone deserves good care, that I love supporting people no matter what and also a knowing that people are powerful and wise. I believe in people’s wisdom to make their own choices about their bodies and that my space in that is to give information when asked so that people can make informed decisions and support them in what they feel is right. I believe that holding each other in these spaces creates strong community and that everyone has the right to be held.
What is your favorite thing about being a doula?
Ay all of it 🙂 I love just being in spaces with people during such a powerful and beautiful transition. Birth makes me feel alive and providing support during abortions feels empowering to me.
If you could change one thing about the experience of pregnancy and birth, what would it be?
I would probably elect to change the hierarchical proceedings of the hospital, to create a health care culture of consent based, informed, fair, compassionate care.
Radical Doula 