Making Birth Work Queer + Trans Inclusive

In this introductory level workshop, we explore how implementing  client-centered practices for queer, transgender and gender nonconforming pregnant families to improve and enhances the care we provide for all families seeking birth support care. LGBTQ+ people face many obstacles to healthcare access including a lack of knowledgeable care providers, other people’s lack of awareness of identity issues, and outright prejudice and discrimination. This leads to both underutilization of healthcare and overmedicalization, and contributes to health disparities and poor outcomes, especially by individuals with intersecting marginalized identities.

As birth workers, we are in a unique position to offer culturally competent care to this client population. In this workshop, we will go over vocabulary and acronyms relevant to serving queer and transgender clients, as well as ways to facilitate gender-inclusive care through intake forms, education tools, and the ways we talk about midwifery, birth, and feeding newborns. We will share resources for further continuing education and learning. Finally, we will develop a collective understanding of how these changes will benefit all of our clients, regardless of gender identity.