As birthworkers, we are constantly pouring into others. It is also essential for us to care for ourselves and one another, so that we may pour from full vessels. This page is for fellow birthworkers to connect and find self-care, continuing education, and community resources.
birthworker network
birthworker communities, circles & conferences
+ Indigenous Milk Medicine Week: August 8-14, 2024 (Virtual)
+ Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey The Mothers of Gynecology: 2025 Conference
+ Indigenous Birth: 2025 Birth Conference
+ Sumi’s Touch Birth Worker Circle: WhatsApp group & virtual circle meeting every 1st & 3rd Saturday 10 AM -12 PM PST
+ Sumi’s Touch Courting the Medicine: Monthly Webinar Last Tuesday of the Month 7-8PM PST. A Free Space for BIPOC people ready for LIFE SCHOOL: the ancient technologies we need to choose collective liberation
+ Puget Sound Birth Professionals Facebook Page
+ Birth for the People Facebook Page
2024 National Breastfeeding Month
+ August 1-7: World Breastfeeding Week
+ August 8-14: Indigenous Milk Medicine Week
+ August 15-21: Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Breastfeeding Week
+ August 25-31: Black Breastfeeding Week
+ September 1-7: Workplace Lactation Week
+ September 3-9: Semana de la Lactancia Latina
Are you a birthworker looking to connect with others doing this sacred work?
If you would like to connect, offer services for birthworkers, or know of any community spaces that you think should be included here, please fill out the form below.
Educational & wisdom-building Organizations
Mesoamerican & Indigenous Ancestral Knowledge Preservation
+ Canoe Journey Herbalists (WA)
+ Center for Indigenous Midwifery (WA) and the Cedar Medicine School of Midwifery
+ Chichihualtia Perinatal & Family Wellness (CA)
+ Cihuapactli Collective (AZ)
+ Fundación Mujeres Bachué (Colombia)
+ Indigescuela by Pānquetzani (Indigemama) (CA)
+ Luna Mama Services by Metzli Lopez Torres (CA)
+ Maya Midwifery International (Guatemala)
+ Mujer de la Tierra by Montse Olmos (Mexico)
+ Postpartum Healing Lodge by Raeanne Madison (MI)
+ The Midwife Project Guatemaya (Guatemala)
Black & Brown Training & Wisdom-Building
+ Erika Davis Whole Body Pregnancy Doula Training & Mentoring
community-based Organizations
A note on certification
As an Indigenous birthworker, I do not believe that certification is a necessary component to providing exceptional care. The western model of education is rooted in exclusion, white-supremacy, and harm against marginalized communities. Our traditional ways have been condemned and delegitimized. Education has been commodified and policed. I do not believe our sacred ancestral practices can nor should be made into a state-recognized certification. I also recognize that under current geopolitical conditions, some of us may need to pursue various forms of certification in order to provide care to our communities. If certification feels right for you, there are numerous agencies and organizations to do so with, including some of the organizations listed here.
Birth & Birthworker Collectives
These collectives offer community support and education, doula trainings and services, and more.
+ Asian Birth Collective (CA)
+ Alaska Natives Birthworkers Community (AK)
+ Bellingham Birth Collective (WA)
+ Birthworkers of Color Collective (CA, MI & Guam)
+ Cihuapactli Collective (AZ)
+ Community Aware Birthworker (MN)
+ Conscious Birth Collective (Virtual)
+ Chicago Birthworkers Collective (IL)
+ ekw’í7tl doula collective (BC, Canada)
+ Indigenous Birth (AZ)
+ Pacific Birth Collective (HI)
+ Roots of Labor Birth Collective (CA)
+ Sacred Seeds Black Birthworker Collective of Colorado (CO)
+ Sankofa Birthworkers Collective (CA)
+ The Northern Birthwork Collective (NT, Canada)