Category: Trauma

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About Us Anti-Oppression Anti-racism work birth Business collaboration community connection decolonization Equity indigenous doula intersectionality Labour Doula LGBTQ2S+ Postpartum Doula research Trauma understanding bias

Doula Canada Presents: Anti-O Bingo

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Aaniin Doulas!

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This month we are introducing a new EDI initiative, and we want our students and alumni to play! Introducing…. Anti-O Bingo!
You’ve given your input, and we’re listening. Through our Truth and Reconciliation Action Plan, and our EDI surveys, we have identified anti-oppression and cultural training as one of the many areas Doula Canada doulas are interested in pursuing.

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How to play:
1. Click HERE to download your free Anti-O Bingo Card
2. Attend an event from each category
3. At each event, ask your facilitator for your custom .jpeg stamp. Paste it into a doc! (Remember to save it!). If you are attending a livestream (Just Birth, Fireside Chat, etc), please submit a paragraph on what you learned to kayt@doulatraining.ca
4. When you have all 8 stamps, please submit your doc to kayt@doulatraining.ca for your Anti-Oppression in Doula Care 101 Certificate and a ballot to win an $100 Etsy Gift Card.

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You have until December 31, 2023. Good Luck!

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Chi Miigwetch! Nia:wen!
Kayt Ward and Keira Grant, EDI Leads

[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”494571″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][mk_button corner_style=”rounded” size=”large” url=”https://stefanie-techops.wisdmlabs.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/edi-bingo.pdf” align=”center”]Get Your Anti-O Bingo Card here![/mk_button][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Anti-racism work birth Canada community connection decolonization Equity Health Care intersectionality pregnancy Trauma understanding bias

Why Black Futures Begin with Birth

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Why Black Futures Begin with Birth

Written by Keira Grant  – DTC EDI Lead for Racialized Communities

February is widely known as Black History Month. This term has rubbed me the wrong way since I was a kid, but it took me a while to put my finger on why. The reference to “history” is full of loaded assumptions that are highly convenient to colorblind multiculturalism. It suggests that racism toward Black people is something that happened a long time ago, maybe in a faraway place. Then slavery ended and then there was Black excellence.

Of course, there have always been excellent Black people, but that’s not really how the story goes. The beliefs that made slavery possible for centuries are part of the fabric of society. Even when we are excellent by eurocentric, capitalistic standards, it could still go the way it went for Tyre Nichols.

The violence that brutally ended the life of Tyre and so many others like him flows through all social institutions, not just policing. In countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom where race-based health data is collected, these data show that Black birthers are anywhere from 3 to 4 times more likely to die in childbirth than their white counterparts. Our babies are also at a significantly increased risk of death. This holds true, independent of education and socioeconomic status. The birth stories of celebrities like Beyoncé Knowles, Serena Williams, and Tatiana Ali, (whose story we’ll be discussing at March’s Equity Watch Party), bring these statistics to life.

At this time, many players in the Canadian healthcare system are calling for the collection of disaggregated race-based data. In the US, the collection of these data, and the resultant evidence of disparities has led to increased funding for programs that improve Black maternal health, including a proliferation of programs for accessing a Black doula. It has also supported requirements that health professionals receive training in implicit bias.

It’s been widely reported in the news that Tyre Nichols called out for his mom during the brutal attack that ended his life. Every Black person who dies as a result of structural violence is someone’s baby. When systemic disrespect and harm toward Black birthers and babies is normalized, rationalized, and justified it is the start of a pattern that impacts Black people across the lifespan. Emerging research is actually demonstrating that racial stress accelerates the aging process of Black women.

Creating a circle of love and support around Black birthers and their babies that is honest about what we are up against, and that celebrates our lives and well-being can have a profound impact on how someone’s life starts. It can affect how their life continues by showing them and their families that it is possible to create spaces where Black people are affirmed and nourished.

We talk about equity, diversity, and inclusion in this work all the time. During February, we have additional opportunities for our members to learn and engage in dialog about anti-Black racism and racial health equity in perinatal care. We are using the language Black Futures Month, “a visionary, forward-looking spin on celebrations of Blackness in February”.

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Categories
Anti-racism work birth Health Care intersectionality Labour Doula LGBTQ2S+ Postpartum Doula Trauma Uncategorised understanding bias vulnerabiliity

Advocacy at Doula Canada

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1669384798061{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Doulas support birthers, babies, and family members during an intimate and emotionally charged experience that often involves many medical twists and turns along the way. For many doula clients, pregnancy and childbirth are among the most complicated experiences with our healthcare system they will have ever had to navigate. We know that birthers need to feel in control of what happens to their bodies and to be making informed choices about their care to create a positive experience and avoid trauma. 

Doulas can change a person’s healthcare experience for the better by supporting their bodily autonomy and informed decision-making. Additionally, we are well placed to notice systemic issues that impact our clients again and again, and to use our knowledge to encourage and support changes.

Learning to engage in this type of advocacy within the scope of the doula’s role, so that our efforts are helpful, is an important aspect of our learning and professional development. To support our students and alumni, Doula Canada has developed an advocacy framework that defines advocacy in the context of doula practice and describes approaches to individual advocacy that are aligned with respect for client autonomy. 

Our framework identifies three categories of advocacy that doulas engage in: systemic advocacy, self-advocacy promotion, and individual advocacy. 

Systemic advocacy is any effort to change, remove, or add a policy or process that affects the lives of birthers, families, babies, or doulas. Examples include lobbying your elected federal representative to change the birth evacuation policy or amplifying social media campaigns that raise awareness regarding perinatal mental illness.

While we don’t usually think of it as such, our work with clients to support them to know the evidence regarding their perinatal circumstances, and ask the right questions of their healthcare providers is a form of advocacy. We encourage them to use their voice and make their conversations more effective because they are armed with information.

Sometimes, especially in the birth room, it might be necessary to advocate for the client in more direct ways. It is important that this individual advocacy does not manifest as speaking for or over the client, or in a manner that could worsen their care or medical situation.

A 2020 paper by S.S. Yam based on interviews with doulas identified three types of tactics that doulas use to advocate for their clients during labour and delivery. She calls these “soft-advocacy” techniques because they differ from what we usually think of as advocacy. Staff and instructors at Doula Canada agreed they used these strategies and had lots of guidance to offer on exactly how to use them. Their guidance was used to develop the advocacy framework. 

The three tactics identified by Yam are 1) creating deliberative space, 2) cultural and knowledge brokering, and 3) physical touch and spatial maneuvers. 

Creating deliberative space refers to strategies that give the client more time to ask questions and make decisions. One example of how doulas do this is by noticing that care that deviates from their preferences is about to happen and bringing it to the client’s attention, prompting them to ask about the intervention that is about to happen.

Cultural and knowledge brokering refer to the tactics doulas use to make sure the client understands medical jargon or cultural norms. This could involve paying close attention to the information provided by the medical team, observing how well this is understood by the client, and repeating the information in language that the client uses and understands.

Physical touch and spatial maneuvering refers to the ways we use our bodies and physical contact with the client to advocate for their needs. Examples include using our bodies to conceal the client from view, modeling consent by asking permission each time we touch the client, and using our presence to back up the client during interactions. 

The complete framework is linked below. It offers more detail on the three types of advocacy and the soft-advocacy strategies. It illustrates these concepts using case studies based on staff and instructor experiences. 

In 2023, Doula Canada will continue its work to support advocacy among its members by developing an advocacy toolkit from the framework and launching an advocacy working group for students and alumni. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][mk_button corner_style=”rounded” size=”large” url=”https://stefanie-techops.wisdmlabs.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/advocacy-framework-paper.pdf” align=”center”]Click here to view the full Advocacy Framework document[/mk_button][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Categories
Anti-racism work birth Business Canada Childbirth Educator collaboration community connection Equity fear intersectionality Postpartum Doula pregnancy reducing stigma research shame Trauma understanding bias vulnerabiliity

Recognizing Asian Heritage Month and Jewish Heritage Month

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1653215730289{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]May is Asian Heritage Month and Jewish Heritage Month. It’s a great opportunity to reflect on what we mean by “heritage” regarding the history of these two communities in “multicultural” Canada, and what this means for creating cultural safety in birth work.

I’ve lived in the GTA my whole life. Here, a “heritage festival” typically amounts to a street party with food, live music and dance, and other culture-specific entertainment. I am actually a great lover of a good street fair. The food and performances are usually lit. I have also learned a lot about Jewish and Asian history and culture at events like the Ashkenaz Music Festival and Taste of Asia. I also understand that many communities are not fortunate enough to have this level of exposure to culture and diversity. But these cultural displays are not only far from telling the whole story of the “heritage” of Asian and Jewish people in Canada, but they also contribute to “false peace” – the illusion that multiculturalism is working out, that we are all getting along, and that we are all equal.

In truth, there is anti-Asian racism and anti-Semitism at the core of Canada’s heritage. Those of us who remember “Heritage Minutes” from the 1980s and 90s may know about the lethal exploitation of Chinese migrant workers that occurred in the 19th century to support the construction of the trans-Canada railroad. There are many other examples, including the head tax, and internment camps during WWII. 

Anti-Semitism is equally a part of the fabric of Canada’s history. Wide-spread belief in a Jewish conspiracy to achieve global economic domination that originated in Europe and spread to North America made Jewish Canadians an easy scapegoat during the great depression. Additionally, to limit the economic advancement of Jewish immigrants in the early 20th century, Canadian universities implemented quotas that restricted the number of Jewish applicants who could be admitted to the school.

It’s easy to hear these stories and think “this has nothing to do with me”, “this is ancient history”, “I didn’t do these things”, and “let’s focus on the positive and how far we’ve come”. While these sentiments are understandable, the reality is that the present arises from the past. These uglier parts of our heritage are directly related to more recent attacks on synagogues and the hate crimes experienced by Asian Canadians during the pandemic. 

Moreover, this heritage underpins the modern assumptions that manifest more subtly as microaggressions that affect the day-to-day navigation of society and impact the long-term mental and physical health of equity-seeking people. Some of these stereotypes may seem harmless or even positive. But in reality, they fuel the construction of whiteness as the social norm, put people in boxes, and create false impressions regarding people’s realities.

As birth workers, we can create cultural safety regarding the beautiful and the traumatic aspects of each client’s heritage. We can create space for them to share whether they have any cultural or religious traditions that they would like to honour. And we can also be mindful of things like how common stereotypes about Asian women may influence provider perceptions of client autonomy. Or how the intergenerational trauma of Holocaust survivors may impact pain management. There are a number of ways that our identities can impact our pregnancy and parenting journey. Shining a light on the good, the bad, and the ugly of our heritage sets us up to ask the right questions and facilitate the needed conversations with all of our clients.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Categories
Anti-racism work Canada community connection decolonization Equity indigenous doula intersectionality MMIWG national indigenous peoples day Trauma understanding bias

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1632997516706{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]September 30th is now National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. So what does this mean? How does it relate to doula care and birth work?

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation comes after decades of emotional labour and advocacy from Indigenous communities, as well as a year of grieving Indigenous children and investigating the tragedies of the residential school system. Not only did Indigenous families experience the horrors of this system, but many others as well, such as the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), the 60’s scoop, and current extraction of environmental resources.

This is not history. This is happening now. Something needs to change.

Why are we asking members to reflect today? Besides being citizens on Indigenous lands, birth and postpartum workers interact directly with Indigenous families, and play an integral role in mitigating systemic oppression and intergenerational trauma.

For example:

  • Providing culturally sensitive care and awareness when working with Indigenous families
  • Providing trauma-informed care for those impacted by violence and adult child survivors of the child protection system
  • Creating space for cultural birthing practices
  • Advocating against racialized medical violence

Getting comfortable with truth and reconciliation requires a lot of discomfort. This is okay. It is only when we face our shortcomings head on that we can progress toward change. We welcome you to reflect on some questions today.

Reflection Questions for Doulas:

  • How have I benefited from capitalism, colonialism, and extraction of resources?
  • How have I upheld colonial norms that can potentially cause harm?
  • What did I learn growing up about the history of Canada and Indigenous Peoples?

When we can acknowledge we are a product of wider system indoctrinations like white supremacy, colonialism, etc. we can separate our character from the issues at hand. Good people can do harm. Good people are capable of racism, classism, and perpetuating colonial norms. Shame restricts us from moving forward.

In an effort to show this to you, here is mine. As an Indigenous person, I am still capable of perpetrating colonial harm.

  1. I benefited from colonial post-secondary institutions and obtaining a western education
  2. I have upheld colonial norms in the social work field as a mandated reporter
  3. I learned in elementary school that Canada obtained the land fairly and through agreement with Indigenous Peoples. Since then, I have done a degree in Indigenous Studies and learned about the tragedies of colonialism.

Don’t know where to start? Dr. Lynne Davis of Trent University and her class “Transforming Settler Relations” have compiled a database of Canadian initiatives that support allyship, education, and decolonization. Find an initiative here: https://transformingrelations.wordpress.com/

You can take action today by signing up for our trauma series this fall. The workshop “Intergenerational Trauma: The Doula Connection” on October 28 from 7-8:30pm EST will focus primarily on working with Indigenous families impacted by trauma and systemic oppression. All proceeds will go to The Indigenous Foundation.

To any Indigenous and non-Indigenous doulas who have questions, need support, or would like to chat about truth and reconciliation, please contact Kayt at kayt@doulatraining.ca

Miigwetch,
Kayt Ward (She/Her)
Indigenous Inclusion and Engagement Lead, BSW[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Categories
Anti-racism work Canada community decolonization Equity indigenous doula Trauma Uncategorised

215.

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1622592235107{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]We acknowledge and honour the 215 children whose unmarked graves were found at Kamloops Indian Residential School last week. Their deaths, as well as their short lives as residential school victims, are acts of terrible violence.

These 215 children represent only a small fraction of those who have lost their language, culture, families, and lives to the residential school system in Canada and the residential school system is only one element of ongoing colonialism and cultural genocide in Canada.

As birth workers, and as Doula Canada, it is our responsibility to name and resist the ways in which colonialism and cultural genocide show up in our work: in the practice of birth alerts; in the overrepresentation of Indigenous children in child welfare systems; in the erasure, dismissal, and coopting of Indigenous birth practices; in the systemic oppression present in healthcare settings; in the ongoing violence perpetuated against Indigenous children and families; in intergenerational trauma that this has caused. As Doula Canada, we are holding ourselves accountable for how these show up in our curriculum, teaching, and engagement with members. This work is imperfect, ongoing, and necessary.

We send our love and rage to our Indigenous members, colleagues, friends, clients, and families. We are so very sorry for your children.

[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1622592102485{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Resources:

Indian Residential School Survivors Society: https://www.irsss.ca/

Plain Talk Residential Schools Guide, Assembly of First Nations: https://education.afn.ca/afntoolkit/learning-module/residential-schools/

Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc (Kamloops Indian Band) Office of the Chief May 27, 2021 Press Release: https://tkemlups.ca/wp-content/uploads/05-May-27-2021-TteS-MEDIA-RELEASE.pdf

Truth and Reconciliation Commission Findings and Calls to Action: http://www.trc.ca/about-us/trc-findings.html

Truth and Reconciliation Commission Missing Children Project: http://www.trc.ca/events-and-projects/missing-children-project.html

Canada’s Residential Schools: Missing Children and Unmarked Burials: The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume 4 (available for purchase in English and French):

https://www.mqup.ca/canada—s-residential-schools–missing-children-and-unmarked-burials-products-9780773546578.php

https://www.mqup.ca/pensionnats-du-canada—enfants-disparus-et-lieux-de-s–pulture-non-marqu–s-products-9780773546677.php?page_id=118863&

CBC Docs: My auntie survived residential school. I need to gather her stories before she’s gone.:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToUVHjr1xK0

A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line:

1-866-925-4419

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][mk_button corner_style=”full_rounded” size=”x-large” url=”https://bhn.cmha.ca/national-indian-residential-school-crisis-line/?mc_cid=01ee69929e&mc_eid=810fcff83c” align=”center” fullwidth=”true”]National Indian Residential School Crisis Line[/mk_button][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Lifestyle Mentorship Trauma Trauma

Equanimity and Learning to Sit Amidst Discomfort

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]What is the secret to longitivtiy as a professional support person?

Is it business savvy, resiliency, or luck?  Perhaps it is a bit of each, and then some.

Lately our Director at Doula Canada has been meditating on what it means to be a doula with tenure; what it takes to not only make birth work a life-long career, but what is also means to be championed through the eyes of ones clients.

The secret?

Read on.[/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1572910346032{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Today I would like to explore the importance of equanimity and strengthening ourselves through the experience of learning to sit amidst discomfort.

As birth workers we are called by our clients to support them through their own needs, and sometimes that can create discomfort in our own bias, philosophies, and called upon memories.

We bear witness to some of the most miraculous experiences of life, but many a doula can speak to unexpected situations that have triggered their fears and lessened their professional resolve.  Sometimes the miraculous can turn into worrisome, and our exposure to emotions, pain, and anxiety can rock our psychological stability.

Equanimity, the ability to remain psychologically composed through all types of experience, has become synonymous with the word “doula” in my career of supporting families.

Actual synonyms for the word “equanimity” are peace, calm, composure and poise, and at DTC our team often speaks to the importance of these practices not only in the support of our clients, but for our lives in general.  For we have long learned as doulas that in the face of adversity, equanimity can lead to leadership, positive outcome, and balance.

Mature equanimity brings a radiance and a confidence.  It allows our clients to see the warmth of our being, even in the most unexpected of experiences.  It is the ability to see without being caught up in what we see, and to observe from a place of holistic support unmarred by our own prejudice or bias.

Learning to embrace equanimity and to sit within discomfort also allows us to see the entire picture.  It ensures that as doulas we can use our understanding and emulate patience in an environment full of high running emotions.  It removes our impulse to be reactionary and always have “the answer,” when sometimes it is the pause between the words that holds the power of what we can suggest.

Equanimity can often be promised through the wisdom of time, and the power of experiencing uncomfortable situations.  However, as a new doula it is important to remember that equanimity is not harnessed solely by years of experience. It can also be called upon through the understanding that people are responsible for making their own decisions and that as a birth worker we are not solely responsible for their well-being.

Take a moment to think about how you practice equanimity in your daily life.

There’s a beautiful poem about deepening our resilience to discomfort and challenge, it reads:

“Where would I find enough leather to cover the entire surface of the earth?

But with leather soles beneath my feet, it’s as if the whole world has been covered.

Likewise, it’s not possible for me to restrain the external course of things,

but should I restrain this mind of mine, what would be the need to restrain all else?”

We don’t have control over all else but do have control over our self.

We don’t need to cover the world with leather, instead, we toughen the leather on our own feet so that we are more resistant to it.

-Shantideva, 8th Century Indian Buddhist Monk

 

The message of this poem is that we often don’t have control over what happens in life, but we do have control over our response.  We can become more resistant to discomfort but embracing peace, calm, and composure.  And we can become a championed doula in the eyes of others by remaining equanimous.  We can learn to sit in discomfort and observe the space between uncertainty and knowing.  We can do(ula) our best in those moments.

 

How do you practice equanimity in your daily life?

What moments of discomfort stand out to you as times when you practice composure and calm?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]