Help Me Take the Lamaze Childbirth Educator Exam!

This past May, I opened my independent doula business. My birth work is invested in ensuring that all people have access to quality birth support - I offer my doula services on sliding scale and hope to create free/reduced cost classes in the future.

You can read more about my birth work philosophy and services here.

To expand my supportive services, in June I took a Lamaze course to become a childbirth educator. The Lamaze certification exams are coming up in November, and I am raising money to be able to afford the exam costs. Please donate at my YouCaring page. Here is what you'll be contributing to:

• $225 dollars (plus fees) for the Lamaze childbirth educator study guide
• $380 dollars (plus fees) for registration to the November Lamaze childbirth educator exam
• $700 dollars to offset my living costs as I study - for that month, I am working with only 1 birth client so I can focus on getting prepared for the exam, which covers 1/2 of my expenses

If I can raise the exam costs alone, I can expand my ability to teach in the community! You can also choose to support me in offering free/reduced cost services year-round by donating on a monthly basis to my Patreon page.  

 

Your monetary investment directly impacts community access to labor and birth services. By investing in me, you allow me to offer quality care to a greater number of people as a doula and educator. 

 

Thank you for any and all contributions, even if that is just sharing my fundraiser! Feel free to contact me at jordanalam7201@gmail.com with any questions/concerns/words of support.

I'm Back! And Launching my Patreon

I'm back! The last you heard of me, in late February, I was setting out my goals for the coming months and trying to strategize how to use my limited time/resources. I thought that I would be able to get a blog post up monthly and planned for my next one to be in late March - March and August are about the same, right?

2017 has been a year to shake things up. I've started my own independent doula business and am coming out of the woods with my novel project. I committed to training for roller derby and actually feel (sort of) confident on skates. I've got a lot going on, but that also means I've got a lot to share! So, in hopes of returning to that goal I set out months ago, I'm returning to a regular writing practice at this space.

I'm also launching my Patreon campaign today! Many of you may already know what I do, but in case you're new here or just want to hear my voice, I've made a little video for you. Bonus: you get to see my cat photobomb me at the end. Enjoy the video and watch this space for more words to come.

Thoughts from an Activist Doula in Training

I've always talked about wanting to get more involved with healing work - psychological, physical, and spiritual. These past few months, I've been diving in.

I am naturally drawn to characters who make it their focus to care for others and provide resources. They create change in ways that aren't as visible as putting a banner in the air, and are often too busy to write about their work in Tweets and comment sections. But even if the healing work is labeled as stereotypically feminine (think "soft" and "maternal"), there can be no doubt that the spaces I've entered are kicking major ass in their approach to patriarchal and racialized systems.

The most openly radical space I'm in is doula training - in short: a birth companion who doesn't provide medical attention, but provides emotional care and information (click the link for more!). Reproductive healthcare work in general is awash in politics: whether you are an obstetrician, a midwife, a doula, an abortion provider, or a parent, there's always someone telling you what you should be doing and how. And the norms stated by the media are perpetuated in what resources are funneled dollars. Greater research on the effects of medical intervention? Nah, the medical system is great as it is. Resulting fear around birth? Discredit the midwives, or make it harder for them to get certified training. Try to have support people present? No, they're just getting in the way. And of course: gender roles, gender roles, gender roles.

The focus of a doula is to listen first and provide resources rather than imposing a particular view on the person they are caring for. Funny how that simple act can be revolutionary. But half of our training has been to learn about where we fit into (and sometimes challenge) a medical system that doesn't want us in it. And that can mean everything from providing low- or no-cost services to folks that are uninsured, undocumented, or just have financial hardship. Or that can mean not passing judgment on a pregnant teen or assuming the gender identity of a person asking for services. Or simpler even than that: in our healthcare system today, just having a consistent support behind your choices in birth, labor, abortion/termination, adoption, etc. is radical. And that's something I'm very very drawn to. (Check out Radical Doula for more info on folks that work at this intersection.)

It gives me hope to see how many people are on call literally round the clock to do this work. In their ideal world and mine, mothering is not "soft" or "women's work" with all of its connotations. Mothering can be a form of radical resistance that is not limited by gender and subverts mainstream expectations around care providers. We are part of an ongoing movement, and I am glad to be swept up in its flow.

(psst, you can now buy my zines on Etsy! Check out how you can get Loving Ghosts and back issues of my other zines there)