Course Description

This is an invitation to engage in a public conversation among birthworkers, a call to accountability, to make contact across our differences in service of the past, present and future possibilities of both the field itself and of our lives, asking the fundamental question: What were we born into?

Shed all your ideas of a conventional birth conference and join us anew as we explore entrepreneurship, social justice, technology, and intersectionality.

This conference is for all birth workers, holistic health professionals, thoughtful leaders and creators to gather and ignite the birth justice movement.

We will learn, create and organize together to better serve our professional development and collective wisdom.

Curated by DTI.

Born into This

Click here to meet the speakers!

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Welcome by DTI founders Tara Brooke and Gina Giordano

    • Welcome
  • 2

    Introduction by #bossbabesATX founder Jane Hervey

    • Intro by Jane Hervey
  • 3

    Decolonizing at the Root: Settler Colonialism, Granny Midwives & the Mayhem of Intersectionality within Birthwork (In Loving Memory of Erica Garner)

    • Discussion between M. Carmen Lane, MSOD, founder and director of ATNSC and Dr. Alicia Bonaparte, co-editor of Birthing Justice: Black Women, Pregnancy, and Childbirth
  • 4

    Social Media as a Changemaker

    • Moderated by Sera Bonds, CEO of Circle of Health, Panelists: Katie Vigos of Empowered Birth Project, Heather Gallagher of Heather Gallagher Photography, Sarah Tucker journalist and author of There Is a Hidden Epidemic of Doctors Abusing Women in Labor
  • 5

    Birth World Meets Innovation

    • Moderated by Jada Shapiro of Boober and Birth Day Presence, Panelists: Estrella Jaramillo of Bwom and Chitra Akileswaran of CLEO
  • 6

    The Five Year Itch: What's Next?

    • Moderated by Rachel Yellin, founder of Yes to Birth!, Panelists: Lindsay Askins, co-creator of Exposing the Silence Project, Francie Webb, founder and CEO of TheMilkinMama, and Ash Spivak, co-founder of Cycles + Sex
  • 7

    Stories of the Doula

    • M. Carmen Lane, founder and director of ATNSC: Center for Healing & Creative Leadership, Barbara Verneus, founder of Tiny & Brave Holistic Services, Eleanore (Nora) Frank-Cisneros, a full-spectrum doula, and her client
  • 8

    Activists and Advocates for Change

    • Moderated by Surabhi Kukke, senior health programs consultant to Futures Without Violence, Panelists: Miriam Zoila Perez of The Radical Doula, Dawn Thompson of Improving Birth, Allison Bravo of Empower Generations
  • 9

    Scholarship Fundraiser

    • Fundraiser

  • 10

    Leading with Language

    • Moderated by Becky Alford, Lead Educator, Doula Trainings International, Panelists: DTI Team: M. Carmen Lane, Tara Brooke, Gina Giordano, Malika Hook Muhammad, Jenny Bennett
  • 11

    Closing

    • Closing