Eventide Doula

02/26/2022

Selfie for the algorithm (is that right? Is that a thing? 👵🏻) of me being doula-d by and doula-ing the garden plot, to let you know that our next Q***r Prenatal class is coming up in a couple weeks!

Two of the core values of our approach to birthwork are that a) birth happens best when people feel loved, safe, and affirmed and b) that peoples lived experience is just as valid as any other expertise, and we bring these same values to our classes. If you are pregnant and are looking for a space to learn about birth and postpartum that loves and celebrates all the beautiful ways we make families, we’d love for you to join us! You can be at any point in your pregnancy, and as this class will be over zoom you can join us from anywhere including outside of Vancouver. All our classes always have a trade/sliding scale option, no questions asked. No one will be turned away for lack of funds!

More info via the link in our bio!

Details:
9 March - 13 April
6:30 - 8:30pm PST
Online via zoom

02/11/2022

Hey all,
How are you doing?
I'm just passing by to say that mid March untill April we will be hosting our first portuguese Prenatal class of 2022.
Please spread the word, if you know folks who will benefit from the class.
The class happens over the course of 6 weeks /once a week.
More information on our website (link on our bio)
Spots by donating are available.

02/19/2021

Hey everyone, just want to say that we still have a, few spots left for prenatal class starting on March 1st. This class is for every body and every pregnancy, like our other classes this one will be happening over the course of 6 weeks. We believe that a huge part of the preparation to birth happens during pregnancy and more often than not what you learn there will impact the way you view and live your birth experience.
We have currently switched our classes to an online format since safety comes first, we miss interacting with you in person, but it does not mean that we can create a safe space to interact while social distancing! Take a look at our website for more information about what we are currently offering or DM us for more details about our classes.
Video of Becka teaching one of our classes in 2019

01/28/2021

Christine will be joining us from mid-April until September, working in partnership with Lisley supporting families over the summer and will be beginning to meet families at prenatal visits over the next few months! When we were thinking about who to invite into our team, it was much like choosing a doula for ourselves in many ways. We really wanted to find someone who we trusted, and who's values aligned with ours around full spectrum doula support for all pregnancies, all bodies, all families, and all outcomes. We look forward for you all to get to love Christine as we do! You can read more about Christine on our website here https://www.eventidedoula.com/our-story

01/26/2021

Hello friends! I spotted this poppy anemone up on my roof the other day, and while it may still be a little ways off I felt excited as always about seasons shifting and changing. We have new things happening at Eventide this year and are really happy to be welcoming new doulas to the Eventide support web. I want to take some time to introduce them over the next few days, but if you want you can definitely take a peek on our website. I (Becka) will be taking a big step back and a sabbatical over the summer, starting late April, which is in the name of self care due to some deeply personal reasons, but really it is only at all possible because of the community care I receive from Lisley, those joining our collective and the wider birthwork whānau. Also from our beautiful families who have been so supportive and excited about expanding their birth team. I will still be here in the background, doing a small amount of on-call backup, and teaching which I Iove so much. ⁣
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In a time where our capacity for care has all been stretched so much, I think coming back to the idea that we are strongest when weaving a web of care for each other, is so important. I imagine that I am not alone in the exhaustion of *all of this*, and I find that self care tips sometimes only exacerbate that. Maybe we want to be cared for? It feels a bit impossible right now, but I am comitted to finding ways for us to do so. Bring on that vaccine, bring on universal basic income, bring on mutual aid, bring on community care! ⁣

12/04/2020

Hello friends! We have just posted our class dates for the new year on our website, and would love for you to join us if you are having a baby in 2021!

We are doing things a bit differently this time, with three classes running as series over 6 weeks. Our Q***r Families and Portuguese speaking classes will start on the 18 and 19 of January consecutively, and then an All Bodies, All Pregnancies class will be starting in March! You can attend a class at any point in your pregnancy, we just recommend you have at least started a class by around 30 weeks or so. Our pricing structure has changed a bit but our sliding scale is still definitely in place. Let us know if you have any questions and feel free to share!

Classes How do you like to prepare? At Eventide we believe that preparing for your birth, whatever you hope it might look like, is powerful. With so much information available online, and from helpful friends and family, we want to provide a space where we can sift through this together and help you...

10/10/2020

PAY MIDWIVES FAIRLY.⁣
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We will always sing the praises of midwives. There is almost too much to even be able to fit in this caption to fully express our love, respect and gratitude for them. Which is why we feel so strongly about supporting their struggle for fair pay and compensation for their work. B.C. Midwives are the second lowest paid in Canada. They don’t get paid parental leave or have access to benefits, and were also not given the financial top ups that other healthcare providers received to offset the financial burdens faced during the pandemic, despite continuing to work on the front line throughout. Midwives are burning out at a rate of one in three. ONE IN THREE. This is truly unconscionable. I also don’t believe that we can build toward reproductive justice while we have a system in place that puts huge financial barriers in place to train and even work as a midwife.⁣
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Almost all of the families we work with receive the tireless support and expertise of a midwife, and I know many of those who follow us here have as well. With the B.C. provincial election looming we urge you to contact your MLA (are you listening ?) and demand that midwives receive a fair and liveable contract. I’ll pop a link in our bio to make this as easy as possible to do, and if possible please call instead of sending an email as they may not be as monitored as campaigning happens. Show some love for your midwife by being in solidarity with them so they can continue to provide this incredible care for other families.⁣
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📷 by ⁣
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Image description: a new parent sits on a bed in blankets holding their newborn baby. Two midwives look on smiling.

08/12/2020

Celebrate NATIVE BREASTFEEDING WEEK - August 9-15

We are interested in making these materials available to families in the preferred languages. If you are interested in helping, please email Erika at [email protected]

08/01/2020

Lisley and I are constantly wishing that we had better research and data about how people, and especially people of minoritised identities, experience and pregnancy and birth in Canada so this looks promising! Most of the research and data we have comes from outside of Canada, which isn't ideal because it is not our context but also because it indicates that we believe there are problems elsewhere but not here. Please take part and share if you can!

07/28/2020

Today we say !⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Today Marielle would be turning 41 years old. It's been two years since her life was taken by the state, by police brutality, by systemic racism.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Marielle was a Black Brazilian bisexual feminist, politician, and human rights activist who defended the rights of Black and LGBT communities, residents of the favelas, she was a mother, a wife. On March 14, 2018, while in a car after delivering a speech, Marielle and Anderson (who was driving) were shot multiple times and killed by two murderers in another vehicle, north of Rio de Janeiro. She had been an outspoken critic of police brutality and extrajudicial killings against Black people in Rio and across the country. It's been two years since Marielle was brutally murdered and we still don't have answers or justice.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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That's why we say one more time and even louder : ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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07/14/2020

B L O G: Recently Lisley and I have been exploring what it might mean to be abolitionist birthworkers. Especially as we know that it is not the case that BIPOC people are somehow safer in hospital. Not when Black birthing people are dying at such alarming rates, or when medical professionals still buy into the idea that BIPOC people have higher pain tolerance, or when doctors place bets on the blood alcohol levels of Indigenous patients, or separate babies from Indigenous parents based on patient postcodes, or when they separate them permanently due to racist policies that don’t affirm the ability of Indigenous people to parent their own children. We have been thinking about how abolitionist Mariam Kaba says that “Safety is rooted in having everything that we need in order to be able to live dignified lives” and asking how does this play out in birthwork? Is the fact that only some people can opt in an out of systems that others can’t, and which harm them equally, then maybe the answer is not simply having the ability or privilege to make those choices to opt in or out, but instead to abolish or dismantle the systems we currently have and completely rebuild a system that is based on the safety, dignity, empowerment and connectedness of all birthing people. That is the hope we walk towards.

Birthworkers love to talk about home. We love to talk about labouring at home, where you feel safe, where you are not being rushed, and where you have access to the comforts you desire. We love to talk about the research that shows how safe it is to have your baby at home, and how you can best prepa

07/07/2020

This is a great way to support returning birth to communities!

Hello everyone, My name is Quill Christie-Peters and I am an Anishinaabeg ar… Quill Christie-Peters needs your support for Indigenous birth worker travel fund