There’s so much overlap here between how we relate to sex and sensuality and how we give birth.
Doulas and birthworkers literally stand in that space.
But we don’t talk about it!
💙 Update! We have the honor of being joined and facilitated by award-winning @nj_sextherapist Chanta Blue, LCSW, CST and co-founder of Blue Counseling & Wellness Center in Montclair. Chanta helps women and entrepreneurs prioritize pleasure in their careers, relationships, and sex lives. For the last 7 years she’s been creating space for the physical, mental and sexual health of Black women and their families through group/private therapy, events, public speaking, education and more. Follow Chanta at @nj_sextherapist!
Putting aside for a moment that sex is often (not always) how the baby got in, labor and birth can sound and smell like sex. Similar hormones govern physiology: oxytocin, dopamine, adrenaline. Birth demands that we give up modesty and most of us eventually shift into a space of reduced self-consciousness about our bodies, because the work of the moment is so intense. To cope, we moan and cling to people we love, we sway and move rhythmically. In order for birth to work, we have to have privacy, good communication, connection, safety, trust. Without those pieces of safety, we know the resulting birth trauma can last a lifetime.
So the wish for this space is that those of us who hold and anchor a wild, intimate space for others can reflect and speak about what it’s like to stand in the room. What is it like when our clients can’t connect to those energies? What it does to us: ranging from profound and ineffable, to heartbreaking and enraging; we hold on to another woman who is doing the hard, human work of birth. It’s part of the job, but it’s so much more.
Join us for a nurturing evening of learning, connection, and celebration of the transformative power of birth!
RSVP to Doula Circle
