Birthing People Are Powerful

December 6, 2022

Over the past couple of years, the Birth Justice Policy Committee at Forward Together — a powerful community of Black and Indigenous birthing people, doulas and midwives — have been working to center BIPOC queer, trans and nonbinary people in the medical system.

According to a 2018 Center for Disease Control Report, Black and Indigenous women are 3 to 4 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. Structural racism and discrimination against BIPOC queer, trans and nonbinary birthing people is the driving force behind this health crisis—from their pain being overlooked as “just cramps” to lack of access to gender-affirming and pregnancy-related health care. 

Yet, we know that the majority of these deaths are preventable. Many studies show that having a midwife or birth doula plays a direct role in improving health outcomes for birthing people and in reducing medical interventions during birth—especially c-sections. 

Supporting the Birth Justice Policy Committee places the power back in the hands of the birthing person.

“Doulas help ensure that the birthing person has a voice in the room, that they come first and that they are seen as sacred. But as a doula of color, it’s a different experience. You feel unwelcome in the medical community and there is this feeling that you don’t know what you’re doing.” – Elle, Birth Justice Policy Committee Member and full-spectrum doula.

The Birth Justice Policy Committee at Forward Together is building a community of BIPOC queer, trans and nonbinary birth workers and birthing people who are developing systems of care outside of medical systems. They are creating a world where the birthing person is the most powerful person in the room.

Learn more about the Birth Justice Policy Committee by watching our recorded “Birth Justice 101” webinar below.