LGBTQ+ history month and embodied birth work
Welcome to February! Can you feel the earth beginning to stir?? I can't wait for those warmer, longer spring days!
February is also LBGTQ+ history month celebrating the LGBTQ+ community and its rich history, how far things have come and how much work there is still to do. I thought it would be a great opportunity to discuss the importance of embodying our intersectional approach to birth work, that we firmly centre here at The OBC.
2022 sees the 50th anniversary of the first Pride March in the UK in 1972. Whilst LGBTQ+ history month is focusing on politics through art I wanted to take this opportunity to focus on experiences of the LGBTQ+ community in creating their families and accessing maternity health care.
This month over on instagram I hope to be speaking with Laura from The LGBT Mummies Tribe, and sharing content from some LGBTQ account you'll really want to be taking a closer look at!
We know that "One in eight LGBT people (13 per cent) have experienced some form of unequal treatment from healthcare staff because they’re LGBT" (Stonewall LGBT in Britain Report 2021). Between 15-20% more same sex families registering babies year on year for the last decade. More people than ever before are identifying as LGBTQ+. From these two facts we can draw a correlation between the lack of consideration for LGBTQ+ parents in things like funding pathways for conception pathways on the NHS and the treatment the LGBTQ+ community report they are receiving as negatively affecting a their maternity experiences.
Birth workers - midwives - doulas - birth keepers - play a key role in providing physical and emotional support during the perinatal period, a time when pregnant people can feel at their most vulnerable. So how do we ensure we embody intersectional feminism in the work that we do and ensure that everyone who experiences pregnancy and birth is treated with the kindness, dignity and respect they deserve?
Three things - representation, accessibility and our practice.
Representation is incredibly important. We need to see and elevate the voices of the LGBTQ community in pregnancy healthcare. There are plenty of LGBTQ birth workers and midwives working hard to do this and its important that we acknowledge and recompense the work they do. If you're not part of the LGBTQ community but are a safe space then its important that the services are reflective of this. Use LGBTQ imagery in your social media/ marketing. Not just once in a blue moon but regularly and respectfully (The LGBTQ community are already often hyper sexualised and don't need this from birth workers as well).
Language. It creates endless debate but no one is trying to erase anyone by using language that creates an inclusive space for members of the LGBTQ community. Pregnant people does not erase women - because women are people. Want to be more direct? How about "birthing women and people", after all not all women want to be defined simply for their reproductive ability. Breastfeeding and chestfeeding - or simply infant feeding or lactation are all phrases which are inclusive and indicative of how we feed our babies.
Ensuring that this language is used throughout our marketing materials, and in all those pesky forms that need to be filled out when engaging with NHS services - more that two tick boxes for male/ female, including more space for parenting definitions - mother and father may not be enough and usually come with specific biological connotations. Give space for people to express how they would like to be referred to and what relationship they have to the child is important.
Treat people as individuals - in practice not simply in words. Ensure you ask respectful, open ended questions.
Don't be an ally in words alone - ensure your actions are in allyship as well. And don't not try. The learning is on going. I happily identify as a member of the LGBTQ community and am still learning everyday. tself. It always does.