Happy World Doula Week!! We are celebrating this week by bringing on two incredible doulas to discuss how we can create more inclusive communities in birthwork that honor the varied needs of expectant families.
Jessie Ray Spivey of The Doudad joined Pansay & Maggie to explore some of the myriad reasons that masculine-identifying birthworkers continue to face issues with acceptance in the greater birth community.
Jessie Ray Spivey, FSD 
Pansay Tayo, CD 
Maggie Runyon, MSN, RNC-OB
Jessie (he/him) shares this: I am a Queer Black Indigenous Cis male Full Spectrum Doula based in Oakland, California. My Mother has been a birth worker and birth advocate for over 15 years and largely influenced my decision to enter birth work. I created The Doudad as an effort to address the mortality rates of black and brown people during birth. The Doudad is also a space and platform that supports and encourages more masculine identified person(s) to be a part of the birthing process. I host a show called “Spilled Milk” on IGTV that is centered around birth and a mini-series called “The Hot Chocolate Chronicles” that encourages lactation awareness and support.
In this episode we stress the importance of welcoming birthworkers of all genders into our communities. We identify the double-standard that exists in a field where masculine obstetricians placed themselves at the top of a power hierarchy, but masculine-identified nurses, doulas, & other often have to explain their presence in birthwork.
We discussed concerns of clients with a history of sexual abuse around sharing an intimate experience such as birth with masculine folks, and the importance & necessity of ALL birthworkers incorporating trauma-informed care practices. There are great trainings on this offered through The Birth & Trauma Support Center, Eri Guajardo Johnson, The Birth Nurse, & Resilient Birth.
We address how awareness of the racism-driven disparities in perinatal morbidity and mortality is motivating more Black people to enter birthwork, & how that was a driving force in Jessie pursuing this work.
Jessie speaks to his work welcoming loved ones of all genders into support so that the expectant parent is supported by their whole village. He encourages us as birth professionals to increase our awareness of how prescribed “gender norms” have biased us about who & how birth should be supported.
You can learn more with Jessie over on IG by catching up on Season 1 and looking forward to Season 2 of “Spilled Milk,” which will premiere on April 7th 2021.
If you’re looking for some fantastic folks to follow in birthwork who are masculine of center, find these folks on social media: @queerbirthworker, @teddythe doula, @kaydenxofficial @loveoverfearwellness, @the_male_doula, @labordude
Check out this episode’s full transcript or tune in wherever you enjoy podcasts.
We’d love to hear from you; join our community group to discuss!
Music from https://filmmusic.io
“Gonna Start” by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)