I had the opportunity to connect with Monica when I was in Iowa last Spring during the Feministing College Tour. In short, she’s awesome. An amazing academic, activist and doula. I’m psyched she agreed to be part of the series!

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

Monica Brasile has been a Certified Childbirth Educator and Doula since 1996, and is a founder and steering committee member of Friends of Iowa Midwives, a statewide grassroots organization working to increase access to midwifery care in Iowa. She is a PhD Candidate and Graduate Instructor in the department of Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Iowa, and has taught several courses on women’s health and activism, including Feminism and Social Change and Issues in Reproductive Justice. She lives in Iowa City with her partner and teenage son. Her website is www.mapleseedbirth.com.

RD: What inspired you to become a doula?

MB: When I gave birth to my son at home, I was 19 and single. The loving, respectful care I received from my midwife was a welcome respite from the highly charged atmosphere of welfare reform anxiety that surrounded young single moms in the early 1990s. For me, giving birth was a hugely transformative, empowering, and positive experience. That experience gave me a passion for helping others arrive on the other side of birth feeling confident, strong, and supported, rather than violated, afraid, and alone. I am a doula because I believe that all women deserve to be trusted, listened to, and cared for respectfully. I believe that all women deserve access to information and the opportunity to make informed choices about pregnancy, birth, and parenting.

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

MB: Because I believe that women should be the ones to decide what happens to their bodies, I work as a doula to help women to be at the center of the birth experience. I am committed to providing evidence-based, mother-friendly, non-judgmental birth services, with the belief that each birth is different and each family’s needs are unique. I believe that informed childbirth is an important facet of reproductive choice. By supporting women as a doula, I am supporting their reproductive autonomy. As a feminist, I see childbirth as an issue of reproductive and social justice, and I am interested in challenging ways in which birthing choices are often constrained by larger structural issues like poverty, racism, homophobia, access to health care, and the legal status of midwifery.

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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.

Stephanie Dank helps run the Harmony House, a medicinal herb cooperative in Lincoln, NE, working to build community around sustainable farming practices and healing holistically.  She is a full-time student, stay-at-home-mom, radical doula, and evolving herbalist, focusing much of her work in reclaiming the Wise Women Tradition of folk medicine and traditional midwifery/womancare.  She lives with a wild man she calls her partner, several hens, and a delightful, hilarious gift of a baby.  She likes to play the frame drum and take several deep breaths at a time.

What inspired you to become a doula?

When I started teaching workshops on positive menstruation I became a sort of agent for women to have access to all sorts of zines and alternative media about women’s health.  And so when I became pregnant, it was natural for me to seek out all of the empowering information out there about birth.  I soon found out that as easy as it was for me to find as somebody already tapped in, it wasn’t as accessible for most pregnant people.  I wanted to become a doula to help others have access to information that could empower their experiences.  Also, birth rights are extremely restricted here in Nebraska, so I want to help broaden the spectrum of options.  I had an doula-attended, drug-free hospital birth.  I’m proof that it can be done with the right support.

Why do you identify with the term radical doula?

Birth is a feminist issue, and it’s a radical feminist issue in that it often gets left out of the mainline feminist discussion, not to mention the reproductive rights debate.  I definitely see myself as an agent of change on the political front by working to empower women to be in control of their own experience.  There needs to be more birth workers out there that align themselves with some sort of intent, because the landscape of this work is in need of a lot of change.  There are doulas that stay neutral and accessible to people who are turned off by attaching ideology to their birth experience, and that’s totally fine.  My community doesn’t need another doula like that.  I’ve had to come to the decision to be out with my intent whether it works against me sometimes or not.

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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.

Kristen Ethier is a radical feminist, queer reproductive justice activist & proud doula. She recently started her very own practice called Kaleidoscope Doula Care and is getting her roots as a new-to-Chicago 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 really loves working with teens & LGBTQ pregnant people & if you are in Chicago, she wants to be your doula! She can be reached at kaleidoscopedoula@gmail.com. Also, check out her website at www.kaleidoscopedoula.com.

RD: What inspired you to become a doula?

KE: I was initially inspired to become a doula when I was working in abortion care. This may seem like an unlikely place to start, but being in the room and, essentially acting as a doula for women having abortions was incredibly powerful and struck a chord for me. After this initial inspiration, I went on to work with teen mothers and not altogether surprisingly, heard not only from the mothers but also from health care providers who admit to not sharing the full range of options with teen mothers due to their age, low income status, etc. Since then, I have never looked back. I see being a doula as a radical political act and am constantly inspired by the small moments of liberation that are felt when people are able to make empowered decisions about their bodies.

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

KE: My identities as a radical feminist, queer, reproductive & social justice activist constantly inform my life and work. Like many repro-justice activists, I began with a focus on abortion & sexual health but have expanded this lens to include work around the barriers and injustices that pregnant people face, especially around decisions to give birth. Becoming a doula has allowed me to bring these perspectives together. I named my practice “Kaleidoscope Doula Care” reflecting my commitment to providing doula care across the spectrum of pregnancy, including abortion and birth, as well as to providing safe & unconditionally supportive care to all families and pregnant people, especially to teens & young people, and to queer, gender non-conforming and transgender folks.

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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.

Valerie Wetlaufer is a birth doula, poet and doctoral fellow in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Utah. You can find out more about her at her business website Blooming Within and her personal website.

RD: What inspired you to become a doula?

VW: I’ve always been fascinated with pregnancy and birth as well as the full spectrum of women’s reproductive health, but I didn’t seriously consider becoming a doula myself until I met my ex-wife, also a doula. She got me over my remaining fears of pregnacy and my fascination grew into activism. Since I am not in a position to parent right now, I love that being a doula allows me to contribute to motherhood in a meaningful way.

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

VW: When we were starting the process of trying to conceive, I was frustrated as the potential non-bio mom, at the heteronormativity of pregnancy and birth-related information. It didn’t feel like there was a place for me. I was also surprised that, while our friends and family were supportive of our potential parenthood, they were extremely against our plans for a natural homebirth. That seemed so strange to me, that the most natural part of a process that would begin with artificial insemination was the part that everyone reacted against as “so radical.” I started to see birth as a great way to connect parents who give birth across the spectrum of genders and sexualities. Initially, I hoped to work especially with the queer community, but I live in Salt Lake City right now, so, interestingly enough, my clients are mostly LDS. A lesbian doula in SLC is most definitely radical, since family is predominantly the purview of the Church.

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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.

Lauren Guy-McAlpin is a DONA-trained birth doula pursuing certification. Originally from Atlanta, Lauren moved to Greensboro, North Carolina at 18 to study dance at UNC-Greensboro, where she also earned a degree in Women’s and Gender Studies in 2008. In addition to doula’ing, Lauren is a longtime reproductive justice advocate, writer, and blogger for ChoiceUSA. She is the co-founder and project coordinator of CPC Watch, a web-based pregnancy options resource that focuses primarily on “crisis pregnancy centers” that give women false and misleading information about abortion, contraception, and sexuality. Lauren is also in the process of developing a full-spectrum doula collective to serve NC Triad women undergoing abortion, miscarriage, and birthing for adoption. You can contact her at spectrumdoulas@gmail.com.

What inspired you to become a doula?

Unlike many doulas, the decision to become a doula came to me before I ever experienced pregnancy and childbirth myself. About a year ago, when soul-searching for a career path, I realized doula work was my calling. It happened quite organically; I’ve identified as a feminist since middle school and have been a committed reproductive rights activist since early college. For me, doula’ing is merely turning those activities inward, to take my passion from the public sphere of politics and social justice to the private sector of the birthing room.

Why do you identify with the term radical doula?

I just love the word radical! Sociopolitical implications aside, radical means “at the roots.” Giving birth is, in essence, one of the most radical things the female body is capable of. Meaning of course, if women are not free to make informed decisions regarding if, when, where, how, and with whom they give birth, they are not and cannot ever be completely liberated from the shackles of patriarchal restriction.

Politically speaking, I suppose I fall squarely in the “radical” category. While this term has become loaded with negative connotations over the years, I see nothing wrong with advocating for radical change where radical change is needed. Consider, for example, how the Roe v. Wade decision did anything but allow women to take charge of our reproductive lives: the legal framework for abortion was indeed secured, but we continue to see financial, legislative, and cultural barriers to abortion (and contraception, birthing options, etc), especially when it comes to women of color and working class women. We see this trend in all matters reproductive, from abortion rights to the right to have children, from access to contraception to the right to birth where and how we please.

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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.

Patrice A. London is this week’s Radical Doula.

A self proclaimed “birth junkie”, Patrice A. London is a Washington, DC native now residing in New Jersey, Patrice A. London is a wife, Christian unschooling mother of 3 lovely little ladies, a classically trained coloratura soprano, certified birth doula (BAI), Placenta encapsulation specialist, and the author of Empowered To Birth Naturally: One Woman’s Journey to Homebirth. Patrice is a graduate of Duke Ellington School of the Arts (vocal music) and Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, FL holding a BA in Speech Communication.

Website: http://www.empoweredtobirthnaturally.com

What inspired you to become a doula?

Unsatisfied by my first birthing experience, (I wanted a completely natural birth and didn’t get it) I am determined to help others who want a natural birth. My goal is to help women make informed decisions and not just “do as they’re told”. Having given birth to my children in the hospital, birth center and at home, I feel I have a unique understanding of how birth can unfold in all 3 places from my personal experiences. I’d love to see every woman have as enjoyable a birth as I had with my last two children. It really excites me to help a first time mom to have a great birthing experience because I know she’s escaped what I endured my first time around.

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

My philosophy is to empower women. I feel that women are all too often abused during their pregnancy, labor and birth and I’d like to help empower women to make informed decisions and take back their birth! I always encourage my clients saying, “This is your birth”. Obviously if problems arise everyone acts accordingly but in the end, she’s not just “going with the flow”, she’s in charge.

Not “going with the flow” is most definitely how I live my life. I come from a conventional home and upbringing but as an adult, I’m anything but conventional, lol! I’m the Pisces that swims against the current with my different practices from not traditional homeschooling but unschooling, home birthing, baby wearing, extended breastfeeding, non- vaxing, using aromatherapy, homeopathy and herbs for medicinal purposes and so much more. My husband calls me a tree hugger, lol!

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Laurel Ripple Carpenter is a radical doula, reproductive rights activist, abortion advocate, maker of feminist art, anarchist, partner, and mama to the fiestiest red-headed toddler ever. She publishes the CUNTastic Zine, is founder of The Doula Partnership, and lives at the Black Diaper Collective in Grand Junction, Colorado. Contact her at laurel@cuntastic.org.

Websites are: blog & zine, doula non-profit, feminist art, and doula website.

RD: What inspired you to become a doula?

LRC: My own experience with an unplanned pregnancy sent me on a journey of discovering reproductive health. I began studying reproductive rights and pro-choice politics, and became passionately committed. When I independently designed my Bachelor’s degree as the Anthropology of Reproduction, I began to understand reproductive rights as a continuum, from pregnancy and birthing to abortion and birth control, rather than one end of a spectrum. Being a doula is one way for me to support women in their choices about their bodies, and is a great addition to my other reproductive rights work.

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

LRC: As a doula, I advocate for the birth that the mother desires, whether that’s medicated or unmedicated, at home or in the hospital. I am particularly committed to serving marginalized populations, including teen moms, survivors of abuse & assault, recent immigrants, incarcerated women, non-English speakers, and non-traditional families. Doing this work, and doing the work of raising my own child in our non-traditional family, are the most radical acts I could ever enagage in.

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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.

Nicole Webb, this week’s Radical Doula, can be reached at NicolaLaDoula@activist.com.

RD: What inspired you to become a Doula?

NW: Like so many Doulas, my own birth experiences led me to this path. I experienced a normal hospital birth when my first son was born. I was not unsatisfied with the birth, because I was so extremely grateful not to have had a surgical birth. I had an epidural, too many IV pokes, failed forceps, sucessful vacuumed birth. The hospital staff allowed me to push for over 3 hours, numb, before using the tools. I didn’t feel anything until the day and weeks following the birth. That’s when all that missed pain and missed signals to move came back to haunt me. After this birth, I learned the vast importance of the transition to motherhood because of my own needs and my own mother helping me. It is a huge rite of passage and we rarely treat is as such.

It was when my second was born that I realized what had been missed with my first. I had an unmedicated birth, on hands and knees in a sports bra, with a hospital midwife. I learned that the pain of birth is only the movement of the baby and it completely ends when the job is over. It doesn’t last for weeks like an epidural and too much inneffective pushing might cause. I never even needed a pain reliever after this birth. After the birth, I had that bonding experience I had read about. I had the “runners high” and feelings of incredible power, energy and pride in my abilities. I felt and still feel that I can do anything. And it feels like an unintended consequence of hospital birth is robbing women of this empowering experience. It feels like hospitals birth robs women and children of the intense bodning that should occur immediately after birth, an imprinting of sort.

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

NW: As a doula, I want to allow women to learn enough to make informed choices. I want to assist women to build the kind of birth that empowers them and thier choices. Not a birth that leaves them feeling drained, emotionally and physically, that seems to prevail our society. Politically I feel the same; we should not uphold (pay for via taxes) a government that treats us like incompetent morons, limits our choices and eliminates responsibility altogether. I believe it’s time for a huge change, politically, and I think that those changes would be the first step to eliminating corporate control of government that leads to corporate government control of health care and limitations in choice.

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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.

Introducing Jill Wodnick, this week’s radical doula:

RD: What inspired you to become a doula?

JW: Being a doula seemed a natural outlet for my myriad of passions: women’s studies, healing arts/body work and public policy. As soon as I found out what a doula was, the calling was clear. I truly love that my doula care enables me to share chants, mantras, recipes, and work in the wise woman tradition AND be part of improving maternity care by knowing evidence based practices and policies that are essential for maternal infant health.

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

JW: Working one on one, my philosophy is very compassionate and seeks to awaken one’s deep intuition and instincts for labor and life as a mother. My broader political belief encompasses that social justice begins with birth (access to prenatal care, reducing racial perinatal disparities, legislative policies to support breastfeeding intiation and retention). Seeing birth as a reproductive rights issue really is meaningful. I am inspired by the cogent and clear policy messages of ‘MomsRising.org’ to create legislative reform.

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