There is an a real need for perinatal care for 2SLGBTQIA+ birthing people. This includes adequate and supportive lactation and chestfeeding information, postpartum doula care that is affirming and informed, perinatal mental health clinical support that can carefully assess the specific needs of queer parents, pelvic floor OT and PT that offers non-stigmatizing, knowledgeable care and support groups with other 2SLGBTQIA+ families, and more. Accessible, culturally humble, social support and trauma-informed services are available to help 2SLGBTQIA+ parents and caregivers in the perinatal period. Please explore and consider the following resources to help you, a loved one, or a client during the perinatal period.
Our new virtual, queer perinatal team are experts in their own field and offer targeted services for rainbow families. Our services are open to all members of the queer community who are expecting, adopting, and/or parenting new babies. Our services absolutely extend to loss families.
As quick rundown, here are the services available:
Postpartum Doula: This is available prenatally or postpartum. Consider our postpartum doulas, Jen & Madison, your guides to all of the information you need to intentionally prepare for postpartum. From discussing newborn behaviors, postpartum nutrition, sleep cues and information on baby wearing to perinatal mood expectations and infant feeding, our doulas are compassionate and wise when it comes to all things queer postpartum.
Pelvic Floor OT: We can’t say enough thing about the importance of pelvic floor OT work. The pelvic floor is responsible for so much during one’s gestational period and if so often neglected out of ignorance and shame. We are so ready to break the shame stigma and offer queer perinatal folks info before and after on best practices for the pelvic floor, pushing, and postpartum care. Whether you gave birth via Caesarean section or you want to talk about postpartum intimacy, our pelvic floor specialist, Danielle, is truly an amazing resource.
Perinatal Mental Health: The stats for queer perinatal folks can be daunting. For example, 35.6 % of queer women screened positive for postpartum depression but only a small percentage of them were able to find help. We think this is due to a lack of representation and care for queer community members, and a significant uptick in biased care. Our queer perinatal therapist, Laura, offers assessment and screening as well as short-term counseling to support your wellbeing in the perinatal and postpartum period. We ensure representation, non-biased counseling and informed care during this crucial time.
Infant Feeding: The topic of queer infant feeding can seem challenging, and given the degree of heteronormative lactation counseling out there, it can feel confusing on deciding on the how, what and why for your family. Jacob is our experienced, queer IBCLC and he is eager to work with other queer a families on topics like chestfeeding, inducing lactation, and so much more. He’s eager to help families obtain good support and real time info on their feeding needs.
We are looking forward to working together to support your rainbow family. Reach out to [email protected] to register or for any questions or fill out the form below.