kick-ass radical doulas

Radical Doula Profiles: Christy Hall

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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!

It’s very fitting for Christy to be the first Radical Doula profile of 2013. Christy was one of the first doulas I met who was also involved in the reproductive justice movement, and I remember clearly a conversation we had in 2006 about the doula community and the difficulties of finding room for our politics. We even talked for a while about starting a Radical Doula website together, so Christy is very much a part of the origin story of this work. Without further ado, the fabulous Christy Hall.

Christy Hall

Christy Hall has been a birth doula for over a decade. During that time, she has also held various other titles including pregnancy options counselor, abortion counselor, childbirth educator, postpartum doula, student, and mother. In 2001, she was co-founder of The Prison Doula Project, based in Olympia Washington and worked with the group for many years. She now lives in Portland, Oregon with her partner and two daughters where she has a private doula practice and works with Calyx Doulas, a collective that provides full spectrum support. Visit her website for more information.

What inspired you to become a doula?

It was my drive for social and cultural change that brought me into this work. I started off working with teen parents and pregnant people in prison out of my desire to make a positive impact in the lives of oppressed and invisible people. What I learned about pregnancy, birth and the emotional and informational needs of people through this time transformed me. I do doula work now because I truly believe it is my calling. I sincerely feel the importance of carrying the stories of so many people with me and aspire to be a positive force working for personal empowerment and and cultural change.

Why do you identify with the term radical doula?

I love the term Radical Doula because it says so much in two short words. It suggests that we need to break out of the extremely limiting framework that is currently being used to discuss Reproductive Health and Justice AND it explains that my purpose is to play a supportive role in people’s lives as they explore their own truths, and the experiences they seek. I believe humans have had the stories of our lives highjacked and retold to us in terms that do not make us feel powerful or fully expressed. The experience of having a baby is PART of the story of a person’s life and what makes me a radical doula is that I think each person should allow their whole truth to be a part of how they make their choices. That means that abortion and adoption and all matters of reproductive health need to be honored and supported so that we don’t allow this splintering of our selves and our experiences. It is this splintering that has allowed these topics to become so political when truly, they are deeply personal and complex. I am a radical doula because I believe there is no universal truth and that people can and should be trusted to find their path, held up by professionals and loved ones, free from fear, shame and coercion. Under these conditions, the full spectrum of choices become legitimate and the power of the individual to live their own authentic life and tell their own story is restored.

What is your doula philosophy and how does it fit into your broader political beliefs?

At the core of my doula philosophy is the belief that people make great choices for themselves when provided with accurate information, and appropriate support. Having a doula at your birth protects the agency of the parent/s to hold themselves at the center of their experience and make choices about their care that feel safe, confident and real. The more people we have recalling their birth stories positively, the easier it will be for future birthers to be free of the fears that so many people currently bring with them into pregnancy. The same is true for abortion and adoption. We need to prevent the harm of the past from having too much control over our perception and our future choices.

What is your favorite thing about being a doula?

I love how each client gives me an opportunity to grow through building the connection that becomes so useful when the “real work” starts. People are fascinating and coming into people’s lives during a time of change is both a privilege and a pleasure. I love to help my clients to decipher concerns and understand the personal and logistical landscape into which they are embarking. My work is never dull, and I love knowing that I have helped people to have more satisfying and empowering experiences.

Radical Doula Profiles: Ynanna Djehuty

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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!

Ynanna DjehutyYnanna Djehuty is an Afro-Dominican woman born and raised in the Bronx. She is a writer and certified birth doula. She is a member of the International Center for Traditional Childbearing (ICTC), and a sister of Mu Sigma Upsilon Sorority, Inc. The focus of her work is the empowerment of women and people of the African Diaspora, specifically discussing the Afro-Latina Identity. She utilizes her experience as a birth doula to raise awareness on maternal and infant health for women, highlighting the disparities in the healthcare system in the United States for women of color. She is studying to become a midwife to continue to advocate for women and their overall well-being. Contact her at ynanna@thesewatersrundeep.com.

What inspired you to become a doula?

I was inspired to be a doula after I began to learn more about my reproductive health. My interest grew into maternal and infant health, and I decided to explore a profession helping women. I wanted to provide my therapeutic healing skills to women at a time they need it most.
Why do you identify with the term radical doula?
When I look at the world “radical”, I think of the Latin word it is derived from, radix meaning “root”. In my work as a doula and writer, I am interested in helping those around me set down strong and healthy roots while examining what historical precedence has led to our modern day society. I identify as a radical doula because of my passion to return back to the foundation of traditional and earth medicine to heal my self and women.

What is your doula philosophy and how does it fit into your broader political beliefs?

Birth is a natural part of life. It is a very important moment for a woman and her family. In a matter of moments, a new being is brought into the world and a mother is born. I believe in natural birth. I have my own personal views that I only share with the women I serve, but to put it briefly, I am against unnecessary interventions. I believe in compassionate use of epidurals but encourage women to trust and work with the pain. I believe that if the mother and child are truly in danger, a medical team should absolutely do everything they can to ensure a safe delivery. I am against unnecessary Cesarean sections and believe they should occur in emergency situations, as there are more risks involved that the mother only finds out after the fact.

With all that said, my opinions do not matter when it comes to caring for the woman. I honor and respect all the mother’s views and decisions – it’s not about me, it’s all about her. I believe in working as a team with the mother and partner/family so that they are her familiar face and I am the objective, nurturing and continuous non-medical support in the room. My focus prenatally is asking the mother questions about her mental and emotional state of being. True preparation for birth is moreso understanding a woman’s fears, concerns, hopes and dreams than whether or not she knows all the medical parts of what is going on. I believe the mother should be as informed as possible about the medical and physiological part of birth, but also have witnessed all that information and all that she learned in classes fly right out the window when the most important thing becomes focusing on delivering a child and getting in tune with herself, managing her contractions and breathing.

This level of respect carries over into all my work, where I recognize the disenfranchisement of marginalized groups such as women, Afro-descendants and impoverish people. Basic human rights, access to information and self-determination is often obstructed by de jure (by law) and de facto (by fact) discrimination. Oppression such as this for generations has an impact on the holistic health of our communities, and thus respecting the humanity of people, their right to choose and determine their life outcomes is the platform of all my political beliefs. Furthermore, as it relates to women and within that, marginalized women, having sovereignty over their lives is a radical and revolutionary act in a world that seeks to silence us.

What is your favorite thing about being a doula?

I love being able to share such an important moment in the life of a family. It is a life affirming charge that fills me with hope every time I assist a women in empowering herself.

If you could change one thing about birth, what would it be?

My biggest gripe with the state of birthing is the overmedicalization of it. I would love to reduce the amount of medical interventions that occur to just necessary and emergency situations.

Radical Doula Profiles: Poonam Dreyfus-Pai

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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!

I’m really excited about this week’s Radical Doula, because I had the pleasure of working with Poonam when she was part of the leadership circle of the NYC-based Doula Project. Poonam is an incredibly warm person, an fabulous doula, and a dedicated social justice leader.

Photo of Poonam smiling

Poonam Dreyfus-Pai is a researcher, advocate, and full-spectrum doula. She is the co-director of the Bay Area Doula Project, and came to the organization after volunteering for 2 years as an abortion doula with its sister NYC-based organization, The Doula Project. She is currently a graduate student in the concurrent MPH/MSW program at UC Berkeley, with concentrations in Maternal and Child Health, and Management and Planning of Social Welfare Services. Since February 2012, she has been an intern in the Sea Change program at ANSIRH (of UCSF’s Bixby Center), where she researches women’s disclosures of pregnancy experiences and abortion stigma. Poonam is grateful to be a part of the Bay Area’s vast network of organizations dedicated to reproductive justice. She works to cultivate a social environment that is supportive of all people’s sexual health choices and experiences, and is honored to continue her work as a full-spectrum doula with the BADP. Check out the BADP here.

What inspired you to become a doula?

I didn’t known anything about doulas until I came across The Doula Project (then The Abortion Doula Project) in late 2008. When I learned about the support that doulas offer in birth, it seemed obvious and natural to extend that compassionate, continuous presence to people having abortions. I was excited about the possibility of being that supportive presence, and of bearing witness to people’s strength and wisdom during their abortion experiences. Joining The Doula Project in 2009 opened me up to the amazing world of full-spectrum doulas, and remains one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Why do you identify with the term radical doula?

“Radical” work, to me, means work that is built around justice and inclusivity. I think of radical doulas as working to expand the system, to help all people have empowered and supported pregnancy experiences, regardless of pregnancy outcome, individual income, immigrant status, incarceration status, language capacity, gender, etc — the list is endless. My work as a full-spectrum doula feels radical and transformative because in each individual act as a doula, I am helping people understand that they deserve to be met with compassion, and to receive the highest quality of care, regardless of where they land on the spectrum of pregnancy. We are not only bearing witness to people’s pregnancy experiences; we are learning from their stories. We are creating changes in how people think of these experiences and how they see themselves as empowered agents within them.

What is your doula philosophy and how does it fit into your broader political beliefs?

What I find so incredible about full-spectrum work is its potential to break down stigma. Stigma and silence exist across all pregnancy experiences, and there are so many niche services that exist out there to provide support: for people choosing adoption, people who have miscarried or experienced fetal loss, people who’ve experience adverse birth experiences, and people who have had abortions. The work that these organizations do on a regular basis is amazing and vital, but I would love to see this care taken one step further. If we can recognize that a person may experience many different pregnancy outcomes throughout one lifetime, then why should these services be separated or different from one another? Why can’t people expect the same quality of care from the same support providers each time they experience a pregnancy? When we treat these experiences as though they are not related or relevant to one another, we (consciously or not) create hierarchies, signifying that some experiences are more important and/or more deserving of support than others. Full-spectrum doulas work to eliminate the silos that exist around these experiences, and bring them together under one umbrella. I see this work as vital to changing our reproductive health culture, and want it to be replicated, not just through the ever-expanding network of full-spectrum organizations (whoo hoo!), but among all health care providers.

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Radical Doula Profiles: Kate Palmer

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This is a series highlighting folks who identify as Radical Doulas. Are you interested in being part of the series? Email me at radicaldoulaATgmailDOTcom.

Kate Palmer in yellow sweaterKate Palmer is a queer, working-class feminist activist and full-spectrum doula living in Chicago. She has spent almost ten years working in abortion care and is currently working with the Chicago Doula Circle, an abortion doula group she co-founded. In addition to that, she works as a private birth and postpartum doula with Kaleidoscope Doula Care. She also co-founded 45 Million Voices, which is organization dedicated to reducing stigma around abortion and serves on the boards of the Chicago Abortion Fund and the Chicago Women’s Health Center.

Why do you identify with the term radical doula?

I see being a doula as a political act and I believe that abortion, pregnancy, and childbirth can be a radical act of love and resistance. I’ve held the hands of thousands of people during their abortions and the compassion and love that I’ve witnessed while supporting someone during their abortion has shaped the kind of birth doula that I am today. Being queer and actively choosing to work with queer and trans folks makes me a little different than the traditional doula (and I love that!).

What is your doula philosophy and how does it fit into your broader political beliefs?

My doula philosophy is one of meeting people where they are at and recognizing that everyone views pregnancy and birth very differently. My role as a doula is to empower and educate pregnant people and as long as my clients are aware of their options, I support whatever options they may choose.

As a working class queer feminist activist, I am also working as a doula to help expand doula love to people that don’t traditionally have access to pregnancy support. I also see the work that I’m doing as part of a larger political context. One of my roles as a radical doula to help bridge the “traditional birth doula” world with the reproductive justice movement. There shouldn’t be such a disconnect between the two worlds. For example, we all should be fighting for greater access for Certified Professional Midwives as well fighting the increasing amount of abortion restrictions. When we only focus our energy on only one side of these issues, instead of seeing it as part of a broader issue of the government and corporations trying to control our bodies and our choices that we make in our lives, it only compromises the end goal and does a disservice to those that we are working and advocating on behalf of.

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Radical Doula Profiles: Marea Goodman

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Marea Goodman smilingThis is a series highlighting folks who identify as Radical Doulas. Are you interested in being part of the series? Email me at radicaldoulaATgmailDOTcom.

Marea Goodman is a Bay Area radical doula who is consistently awed and inspired by the power of birth. She speaks Spanish and Portuguese, and is committed to working with diverse communities where her services are needed, often on a volunteer basis. As a queer womyn, she relishes each opportunity to work with the LGBTQ community, and feels passionately about reconfiguring the notion of what a “family” can be.

website: mareagoodmandoula.com

email: mareagoodwomyn@gmail.com

What inspired you to become a doula?

I became inspired to become a doula when a good friend of mine found out she was pregnant and asked me to be at her birth as her acupressure therapist. I decided to go through the DONA birth doula training, and completed the course in time to attend the beautiful home birth she was privileged enough to have in the East Bay. After experiencing the power of the birth room, I felt forever changed. Since then, I have dedicated much of my time and energy to providing my doula services to women and families in need.

Why do you identify with the term radical doula?

For me, the term “radical”connotes a commitment to breaking the mold of normative society and the oppression so many of us face because of it. A radical doula is someone who does this in the realm of birth and families. I speak Spanish and Portuguese, and am so grateful for every opportunity to support those members of society who are unfairly oppressed. As a queer womyn, I relish each opportunity to work with members of the LGBTQ community. I am sensitive to the preferred gender pronouns of each of my clients and to the role that their partner(s) play during labor and birth. I also have a personal commitment to reconfiguring the normative idea of what a “family” can be.

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Radical Doula Profiles: Casey Wait

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This is a series highlighting folks who identify as Radical Doulas. Are you interested in being part of the series? Email me at radicaldoulaATgmailDOTcom.

Casey WaitCasey Wait is currently a student at Bennington College in Vermont where she studies Human Ecology. She hails from the Chicagoland area and began her doula career working with the Chicago Doula Circle as an abortion doula (which was probably the most wonderful experience of her 20-year life). Casey is passionate about radical feminism, queer issues, ecology, herbalism, social activism, and skill-sharing! Though she has yet to see a baby be born, she aspires to become a full-spectrum doula in the near future. At the present, she offers abortion doula support and would love to gain more experience in the birth world.  She is very proud to be a part of the radical doula community. She has a lot to learn, but also a lot to contribute!

What inspired you to become a doula?

I have always been passionate about reproductive health and justice. I am a natural caretaker–since I was little I have always loved providing emotional and physical support to my friends and family. It wasn’t until my second year of college, when talking to my adviser about these interests, that I considered becoming a doula–in fact, I didn’t even know what a doula was until she explained to me why she believed it would be such a good fit for me.

I go to Bennington College, and here we have something called Field Work Term, which is a seven-week term between the fall and spring semesters where every student is required to do an internship in their area of study. For my first Field Work Term I worked as an abortion doula with the Chicago Doula Cirlce, a group of fantastic volunteer abortion doulas. It was during this time that I realized that doula work truly was my calling.

Why do you identify with the term radical doula?

I consider myself a radical doula because I am dedicated to offering my services to any person going through any reproductive experience–be they female, male, trans, gender-non-conforming; whether they are carrying the pregnancy to term, choosing abortion, adoption, experiencing miscarriage or fetal loss. I also hope to work with those in lower income communities, to help improve the quality of care offered to these communities. I believe that at the heart of what doula work is about is compassion, and there is not a single person in this world who doesn’t deserve some compassion. I strive to normalize and validate all reproductive experiences.

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Radical Doula Profiles: Lyssa Kaehler

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This is a series highlighting folks who identify as Radical Doulas. Are you interested in being part of the series? Email me.

Lyssa smiling with glasses holding baby.

About Lyssa: Lyssa Kaehler (CD)DONA has been assisting at births since 2010.  She has awesome tattoos and an irreverent sense of humor, and can help you make it through your birth with your soul and perineum intact.  In her spare time she enjoys making faces at babies and doing fix-it work around her house.

RD: What inspired you to become a Doula?

LK: I felt a calling to work with birth while I was in school studying psychology…funny how callings hit while you’re busy doing something else! It just felt like this was the life I was meant to be living. My eventual goal is to be a homebirth midwife, but some birth community friends advised that I become a doula first and get some real life experience before diving into midwifery school.

RD: Why do you identify with the term radical doula?
LK: Honestly, I wish I didn’t have to.  Is it so radical to believe that every person should be treated with respect, no matter what they’re going through? On the other hand, I think I’m pretty rad.   When I’m not at births, you might find me roaring around town on my motorcycle, kicking ass in martial arts,  herding chickens through my yard, or dressing up in strange costumes for science fiction conventions.  I’m your basic superhero ninja biker doula.

RD: What is your Doula philosophy and how does it fit into your broader political beliefs?

LK: I feel like all women deserve to be treated with respect and to have their body’s processes honored at whatever phase of life she is in or what she chooses to do with it…but that’s not what happens here. What I want for all the women that I work with is to feel that they were truly informed and in control of decisions made, and comfortable with the unfolding process even when things don’t go as planned. I hate that having a good, empowering birth is an upper class privilege in our medical system, and that poor women are just supposed to take whatever they are given and be grateful. That needs to change.

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Radical Doula Profiles: Karla Pippa

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This is a series highlighting folks who identify as Radical Doulas. Are you interested in being part of the series? Email me.

Photo of Karla wearing purple shirt

Karla Pippa is an NYC based DONA intl trained doula. Previous to this, she spent the last 8 years working all over the country in the non profit world. As a campaign director, she empowered activists and organizers to find the inner strength and will to run intense environmental, human rights, and electoral campaigns. She brings her skills of coaching, motivation and understanding into her doula work and offers low-cost services to her community.

Contact Karla via email, doulapippa@gmail.com or at her website.

RD: What inspired you to become a doula?

KP: While I was running political campaigns across the country, I made sure to take time to attend both of my sister’s births. Watching (in awe), being with and supporting my sister during that challenging moment in her life reminded me of what it was like to work with an activist who just committed to turning out 100 people to vote in their neighborhood – overwhelmed, feeling moments of doubt but totally capable and powerful – they just needed to tap into that. What had always inspired me to do my political work was the ability to work with activists to push beyond their comfort zone and to be there to remind them that they are part of a community of people that want them to succeed and are ready to support them. I feel very much the same way about being a doula.

RD: Why do you identify with the term radical doula?

KP: When I tell people about my career transition most are surprised by what a “different path” I have chosen. But I dont see it that way. Much like in my work with organizers and activists, I look forward to bringing the same skills of motivation, coaching, advocacy, warmth and compassion to my doula work in order to help women feel supported and realize their inner strength in the birthing process. I want to be there when doubt and fear are confronted!

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Radical Doula Profiles: Sarah Hawkins

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Sarah with yellow hat

This is a series highlighting folks who identify as Radical Doulas. Are you interested in being part of the series? Email me.

Sarah Hawkins is a proud feminist and birth doula. She received her training through Natural Resources in San Francisco, California by a local midwife. She is familiar and deeply interested in meditation and homeopathy as resources for pain relief. Sarah has volunteered at hospitals as a birth doula and offers low-cost services to her community. Sarah’s website is www.homegrownheartsbirth.com.

What inspired you to become a doula?

I became inspired to become a doula when I realized how women are treated in the US’s medical care system. There are so many times when having a gynecological appointment that I wished another person was there to provide me strength, comfort and knowledge. I can now provide that for expected mothers in their most life-changing time.

Why do you identify with the term radical doula?

I identify with the term “radical doula” because I see every doula as doing something radical. Each and every doula is changing the approach to birthing by being present, passionate, and knowledgeable.

What is your doula philosophy and how does it fit into your broader political beliefs?

My doula philosophy is that every birth is spiritual and a celebration. No matter the plans that go astray or the special circumstances that arise, a baby is still coming into this world and that is the joyest of occasions.

What is your favorite thing about being a doula?

My favorite thing about being a doula (aside from just being apart of a beautiful birth!) is helping a person realize their inner strength and that they are capable of birthing.

If you could change one thing about birth, what would it be?

I would change the stigma that birth is a medical event. Birth is natural process that our bodies were built to handle and that it is “pain with a purpose”.

Radical Doula Profiles: gracie janove

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gracie on a beach wearing purpleThis is a series highlighting folks who identify as Radical Doulas. Are you interested in being part of the series? Email me.

About gracie:

gracie janove is an acupressurist, photographer, writer, sociologist, pro-choice feminist and radical doula. She is proud to offer doula support for all pregnancy options including birth, abortion and adoption as well as care for all families and pregnant people. She recently helped organize the Bay Area Radical Reproductive Workers Alliance. Aside from birth work, she is dedicated to empowering youth through teaching media literacy. She currently resides in the SF Bay Area. Contact her at BirthBeautifullMoments@gmail.com.

Why do you identify with the term radical doula?

I work with individuals (and families), yet I am committed to creating lasting systemic change in the reproductive health world. I envision a society where all people have all the health care and support they need, and where they don’t need money to get it. This means safe abortion access, midwifery services, any other form of health care. Currently, women in prison, homeless women, queer women and trans people are especially marginalized groups that need access to these services. I’m working towards a world where informed consent and empowered choice are the norm.

What is your doula philosophy and how does it fit into your broader political beliefs?
“In white supremacist capitalist patriarchal Western culture neocolonial thinking sets the tone for many cultural practices.” -bell hooks

I want to inhabit a world where the choices that impact the communities in which we live are made collectively and democratically. People deserve agency over if they want to, when they want to, and how they want to give birth. I provide unconditional support for pregnant persons and every choice they make, because I believe they know best. So many parts of our culture work against women, and as a doula I am there to bestow compassion and support to all involved. One way the culture misguides us is through the use of mainstream media, an inescapable force that is great at playing on our emotions. I’m interested in examining the media’s role in forming people’s lived experiences of childbirth. Someday, I’d like to launch a media campaign with other reproductive justice workers to help reconstruct the way people perceive and experience birth.

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