Reproductive Justice: Virtual w/ Optional Live Q&A

• CLASS DESCRIPTION
• FACILITATOR(S)

• NOTE: This is a virtual course with a live Q&A session with the creator of the course. You are required to complete the virtual course and the included exercises/ homework BEFORE the date you have signed up for. Please confirm that you have sufficient time to do so. More Q+A dates will be added through the year aligning with our Core Doula Trainings. Please email Classes@ with any questions.

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  Natural Resources has partnered with Sabia Wade to bring you: Racism and Privilege in Birthwork.

  As part of the Birth Doula Training, Natural Resources offers supplemental sessions in order to support the core training prospective doulas receive. In addition to doula students, this supplemental session is open to the entire Natural Resources birth + early parenting community, including previously trained doulas, birth workers, and all other service providers. This course will satisfy the Professional Development (PD) / Continuing Education (CE) requirement that is part of our Established Doula Certification Program

  Reproductive Justice addresses the history that racism has played in our country, in obstetrics, and the treatment of people of color in the medical system. Recognizing history, current beliefs and practices, as well as the repercussions for birthing people today allow us to begin to understand just how crucial it is for all practitioners to be aware and actively working to change the current system in which people are giving birth and raising children.

  Topics that we will touch on include: Birth, Racism, Privilege & its Effects, White Silence, The History of Racism in Birth, and Action Steps.

  Additionally, this course will discuss:

  -the meaning and importance of racism & privilege and its effects
  -our own privileges, the lens we see the world through & how it affects others learning the definition of birth worker privilege and the role it plays in our current birth environment
  – how racism & privilege plays a role in birth disparities, such as the black maternal and infant health disparities
  – how to apply learning to participant’s personal & professional life moving forward to create better access and experiences for everyone and
  – learn useful tools/processes, such as The CARE Method, for participants initiating or continuing work to advance conversations about racism & privilege at their own lives & organizations

  Professionally, this workshop will provide you with the knowledge to begin making changes in your own practices that do not support Reproductive Justice. Personally, this workshop will provide you with an opportunity to explore your own beliefs and biases that daily influence your personal and professional relationships. Further, you will gain a network of birth workers, birth professionals, and others from the Natural Resources community through which you can begin to engage in making systemic changes.

  Please Note:

  – If you are currently registered for the Birth Doula Training, this session is included in your registration fee. Do not register separately.

  – Upon registration you will be provided with a link to the online course. Plan to spend 2-3 exploring and engaging with the virtual content. This should be completed in its entirety prior to the live, virtual session you have registered to attend.

Sabia Wade (she/they) was called to birthwork after witnessing the variance in quality of treatment and outcomes across races while working in hospitals and across the medical industrial complex. Inspired, she shifted her career path from a desire to support people through nursing to advocating for reproductive justice as a Full Spectrum Doula. Every part of Sabias work points back to Reproductive Justice as the solution to building systems, patterns, and defying expectations in ways that allow possibilities for shifting the dominance of capitalism and racism within the ways we exist as a society.