Birthing from Within Values & Philosophy
Birthing from Within Values & Philosophy
Our Values
We believe that perinatal support for all birthing people is a key contribution to the project of universal human liberation.
We believe that the Birthing from Within philosophy, skills, and community are powerful tools for transforming birth in our culture.
We strive to illuminate the importance of humanity, compassion, and connection in our work by using trauma-informed best practices; intercultural humility; inclusive language; and respect and accountability in our interactions with our clients, course participants, and each other.
We are committed to addressing racial disparities in birth outcomes and trauma, as well as our organizational and personal biases, and to being open and responsive to feedback on how to improve our own approaches, behaviors, and policies.
Our Philosophy
Birth is a process of initiation.
While there is much that parents can learn prenatally about birth, pain, and the modern medical system, birth is ultimately synonymous with the unknown.
Because birth is ultimately unknowable, birth professionals and parents benefit from looking beyond attachments to particular outcomes.
Birth preparation begins years before parents take a pregnancy test, begin prenatal classes, or hire a doula.
In order to be prepared to birth in modern culture, parents need to access both modern knowing and inner knowing.
The task of a Birthing from Within doula or childbirth educator is to awaken a coping mindset and the internal locus of control in parents in order to help them stay present, access all possibilities, and take action when needed.
By normalizing a wide spectrum of ways to give birth, support birth, and cope with intensity and the unknown, Birthing from Within childbirth educators and doulas help reduce birth trauma in themselves and the parents they work with.
When a childbirth educator or doula thinks in terms of mentoring rather than teaching, they become able to develop trusting, honest relationships in which parents' inner wisdom can be acknowledged and nurtured.
Birth professionals can support parents with the most open-hearted care when they engage in self awareness and personal reflection.
