Roots of Labor

‘Rest is not the reward of our liberation, nor something we lay hold of once we are free. It is the path that delivers us there.’ Cole Arthur Riley in This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation and the Stories that make Us. I hope this reminds you that you deserve the love and care you offer others, sibling. It’s why our first skillshare of this year is one we postponed from last year. It’s why our first skillshare of 2023 is about capacity building and centers US. It’s why we’re getting real real and talking about the how of it all, in the midst of all we’re navigating, HOW do we take care of ourselves and gauge what we have the capacity to do. I hope you’ll join us in taking a beat to check in with yourself about what you need, in this moment, before you move on to your next to-do. I hope you’ll drink some water before you go to your next appointment, too! If you want to join Jewel @stickypostit and Ajira @ajira this weekend for Coming Home to Self: Capacity Building for Femmes the registration link is in our bio. 🔗 SUNDAY Feb 12, 2023 11am - 1pm PST $33/$66/$99 Rest is not the reward siblings, it is the path!

Roots of Labor Birth Collective Patreon Perks: When you become a patron, your monthly support offers us stability. In gratitude, we offer some perks... From Community Birth Nerd cred & weekly blogs to this cute mug, we offer tokens of our gratitude for your support. Rock this RLBC branded tee in these streets as a proud supporter, and get insight into how our collective works. When you're not filling up this RLBC tote with herbs from the neighborhood, consult with our ROOTS to get strategic support for your own projects Thank you for all the ways you support us, from hiring RLBC doulas to donating to sharing our posts. We are grateful to be in community with you. As always, save, share, comment and like. Thank you!

Everyone deserves a doula. Regardless of their ability to pay. Everyone deserves support. For anything they want support for. Everyone deserves to have their needs met, their wishes honored and their experience acknowledged and affirmed. You deserve to have love and care. You deserve to thrive. Everyone Deserves a Doula. If you agree, share this slide! Lmk you’ve seen this post by posting an 🥑 in the comments 👇🏾 [Image Description: five graphic slides, each a different color, (white, green, purple gray, bluish green), with Everyone Deserves a Doula written in dark green in the center and tagged @rootsoflaborbc ]

It’s almost May and we’re shifting the container a little 🌿 Alongside our virtual Doula Circles (next one is TODAY btw) we’re gathering IRL in Oakland next month! Join us for an in-person circle for BIPGM birthworkers - a space to check in and be in community with folks who understand the work and what it asks of us. We welcome all birthworkers descended from the global majority: come to connect and receive support from each other. Cost: FREE! Kids welcome, and the space is wheelchair & stroller accessible. There’s plenty of free street parking in the neighborhood, and the venue is about a 20 minute walk from Ashby BART stop. We’ll keep it grounded and spacious. Come with what’s on your mind, or just come to be held. We’re tending this space with care - centering access, consent, and collective safety. We’ll share more details (including accessibility notes + how to move in ways that support each other) at the RSVP link. 📍 Oakland 🗓 May 2 (10am-12pm) 🔗 Link in bio for details + RSVP

Supporting birth workers means supporting community, dignity, and reentry. ✨ Our partners at @rootsoflaborbc are raising funds to launch a doula training at Santa Rita Jail March 6th-9th. This will create pathways for incarcerated individuals to return home with skills, purpose, and opportunity. This work sits at the intersection of reproductive justice, abolition, and economic empowerment; ensuring care is paid, respected, and sustainable. Your support helps fund: • Paid facilitation by experienced doulas • Training materials + participant support • Transportation + coordination • Ongoing program infrastructure Every contribution moves us closer to a future where care is community-led and accessible to all. ✨ Give what you can + share 🔗 Link in bio 🔗 gofund.me/ad91a03d9 #BirthJustice #DoulaCare #ReentrySupport #Abolition #CommunityCare #BlackMaternalHealth

Y’all! Y’ALL!! We are at 21% of our goal and 63 of you have contributed and countless more have shared and like and commented and reposted. Thank you so much for all the ways y’all show up. We are deeply grateful and we’re not done yet. Let’s keep it going all the way! We really about to have a jail-based doula training completely funded by community. Come on now!! If you believe care belongs everywhere, especially inside carceral spaces, this is your moment. 👏🏽 Give what you can. 🌳 Share this post. 💬 Text 3 people who care about reproductive justice. March 6 is coming fast. Let’s meet it together. 🌱 #ReproductiveJustice #BayAreaBirthworkers #CommunityCareWork #CaliforniaDoulas #funddoulasatsrjmarch6

We are bringing paid, community-trained doulas into Santa Rita Jail, where we’ve been offering perinatal support, for a full spectrum doula training. 🎉 🌼 Not as charity. 🌼 Not as saviors. 🌼 Not as unpaid labor. As infrastructure. We need to raise $25,000 in 10 days to fund facilitator pay, participant support, materials, and to build this as a recurring offering where our community members can heed the calling to become doulas. Abolition isn’t abstract. It looks like dignity. It looks like autonomy. It looks like funding care instead of punishment. If you believe care belongs everywhere, especially inside carceral spaces,this is your moment. 👏🏽 Give what you can. 🌳 Share this post. 💬 Text 3 people who care about reproductive justice. March 6 is coming fast. Let’s meet it together. 🌱 #ReproductiveJustice #BayAreaBirthworkers #CommunityCareWork #CaliforniaDoulas #FundDoulasAtSRJMarch6

Join the California Doula Labor Table’s Community Listening Session TOMORROW (January 30th, 2026) and share your thoughts on doulas, adversity and organizing! Please invite your networks as well! The California Doula Labor Table (24 doulas from across the state) convened all of last year to discuss and strategize on how we want to move the work forward as we see rapid growth in our profession thanks in great part to the 2023 Medi-Cal doula benefit. This is our second and concluding community listening session, which will accompany our final white papers on 1) how doulas mitigate and support ourselves and our clients to cope with childhood adversity and toxic stress; and 2) how doulas could organize as a growing workforce to best empower ourselves and support our clients. We’ll have two panels discussing these two important topics, present our white papers for your review and engage in a community discussion. We want to hear from you! California Doula Labor Table Community Listening Session Date: January 30, 2026 Time: 10am PST - 1pm PST Registration link: bit.ly/DoulaListen2 Hope to see you there!

Free full spectrum doula services for Black-identifying, systems-impacted, Alameda County residents! What we mean by systems-impacted: current or former incarceration, partner incarceration, court involvement, housing insecurity, food insecurity, foster youth/transition age youth, and other circumstances. We’re here to offer support from pregnancy to up to a year postpartum, at no cost to you! Refer yourself or someone you know. Link in bio. #HeshimaDoulaProgram #RootsofLaborBirthCollective #fullspectrumdoulasupport #DoulaSupportForAll #EveryoneDeservesaDoula

Are you a Black-identifying, systems-involved, Alameda County resident seeking perinatal doula support? Or know someone someone who is? Referrals for FREE full spectrum support from our Heshima Doula Program can be submitted here: tinyurl.com/ACHeshimaDoula Perinatal support includes up to 16hrs of prenatal and postpartum support as well as continous support through birth or any other pregnancy conclusion AND a back-up doula! Please share with community! We outchea! #HeshimaDoulaProgram #RootsofLaborBirthCollective #fullspectrumdoulasupport #DoulaSupportForAll #EveryoneDeservesaDoula

Calling all California doulas! We want to hear from you! Let’s Talk Intermediaries! Intermediaries are organizations that handle the administrative burdens related to billing health insurance. While they serve a very useful purpose for many who need that support, they do so at a cost. The California Doula Labor Table - with doulas from across the state - has been discussing when and where intermediaries might make sense for California doulas, especially those who want to bill Medi-Cal or private insurance for their services. Join us to learn more about intermediary options and share your experiences as well as hear about what we’ve been working on and give us your feedback. 📅 Details: Let’s Talk Intermediaries: Community Listening Session 1 ➡️ Friday, June 27, 2025 11am - 2pm PST 💌 Register now: bit.ly/DoulaListen1 #CaliforniaDoulaLaborTable #CaDoLaTa #doulas #birthworkers #ReproductiveJustice #BirthJustice #BirthEquity #CaliforniaDoulas #CommunityListeningSession

Protect Community-Led, Culturally Rooted Care Community-based doulas are the heartbeat of reproductive justice. Standardized systems that erase culture and lived experience don’t protect birthworkers—they replace them. We demand birthwork stay in the hands of the people.