Birthworkers for Human Rights – The Mission
I created Birthworkers for Human Rights in 2020 whilst living in Florida, to bring to attention to, and to call for birthworker accountability in addressing the deepening harm being caused by the Medical Industrial Complex. I acknowledge that birthwork, like many areas of healthcare, is deeply rooted in white race superiority, and that birthworkers who sit within power and privilege must take personal and collective accountability for harm. Birthworkers must identify the ways in which their practises may deepen and uphold racism, discrimination, obstetric violence, human rights violations and may contribute to morbidity/mortality, trauma and perinatal mental illness.
The mission of Birthworkers for Human Rights is two fold. Firstly, and vitally, to center and support the vital work of birthworkers who identify as Black, Indigenous and people of the global majority (BIPGM), Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and/or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual (2SLGBTQIA+), disabled, neuro-divergent and other marginalized groups of birthworkers. The voices of these birthworkers are typically silenced and they experience discrimination, marginalization and additional barriers when supporting their communities to access safe, humanized and culturally appropriate care, compared to their birthworker peers who have greater positionality and power. These birthworkers have always done the work and they should be prioritized, with their work and voices centered and uplifted always.
Secondly, Birthworkers for Human Rights provides a reflective educational space for birthworkers who sit within multiple layers of privilege to (1) take self and collective accountability for actively addressing their own personal bias and positionality in birthwork and (2) identify the ways in which white supremacy culture and the multiple systems of oppression and power, impact they way they provide support. It is vital for birthworkers to identify where reproductive care inequities, disparities and human rights violations exist, and to understand their impact on the most vulnerable, and marginalized people in their communities.
The role of birthwork in the liberation of all people is central to the mission of Birthworkers for Human Rights, and birthworkers are called in to decolonize their work, to breakdown systems of harm within the medical industrial complex, their communities and globally, in order to secure the liberation of all people. Birthworkers are challenged to explore the ways in which birthwork has been shaped by colonization, white supremacy and capitalism and the significant harm these have on a global scale. Birthwork cannot be viewed from a singular lens, it is foundational to the liberation and safety of all people, globally.
Through the provision of information, signposting and call to action/discussion posts, the Birthworkers for Human Rights social media platforms aim to facilitate active reflection, growth and required meaningful change. Group members are required to stand in their autonomy, to incorporate activism and advocacy into their role and to identify when they are centering their privilege over the needs of marginalized people or birthworkers, and are being complicit in harm. Establishing support structures within birthworker communities that facilitate cohesion, communication, opportunity to use collective power and collaboration, peer mentoring, self-reflection, and healing of trauma is the basis to the longevity of this challenging but essential reproductive justice work.
Through my activism work, I am an Amplifier for the National Perinatal Task Force and remain committed to using my platforms to educate privileged birthworkers about racial and class disparities in birth outcomes and to call them into action to ensure equity in maternal and infant healthcare through the work they do. Via my social media platform @perinatalproject I also provide perinatal education and emotional support to families in Gaza who are pregnant, birthing and parenting in genocide. Birthwork is a tool of liberation and no one is free until we are all free.
Credit artwork @leenaghani
Join Me!
Birthworkers for Human Rights Activism Group is an online social media group and Birthworkers for Human Rights is a social media page for all birthworkers, globally. Please join and follow! If you would like to become actively involved in the mission, please contact me!