The end of Summer was a very eventful time for us and so many exciting things happened. For this month’s update, we’ll show you all the exciting things that have happened to us, like a new project and successful meetups. We’ll also give you simple reminders for upcoming events and more opportunities for our doulas. We’ve got it all here to get you excited about the future of DTI along with us! Be sure not to miss any of our announcements by following us on social media.
Texas Abortion Law Stance
Before that, we wanted to highlight the situation surrounding Texas and abortion rights. The Texas Abortion Law was passed in May and went into effect on September 1. The law essentially gives strangers the right to police our bodies and the decisions we make for our bodies.
Access to reproductive services is a right that shouldn’t be taken away or penalized by anyone.
We at DTI believe that access to abortions means having control, safety, and autonomy.
And we will continue to highlight issues like this to make sure that others understand that reproductive justice is for everyone, no matter who they are or where they come from.
Childbirth Educator Course
Good news! We have one more Online DTI Birth Educator Certification Course available in 2021. This class is for anyone looking to work with pregnant people to get them ready for childbirth. We’ve filled the course to the brim with extremely helpful resources that will aid future educators and their students. Your Instructor, Jenny Bennet, will make sure that everyone who attends will be prepared to teach their own class in the future. Grab your seat before they’re all gone.
Perinatal Safe Spot
In exciting news, We were happily awarded $95k by the St. David’s Foundation! With this grant, we have partnered with the foundation to create a teen doula and reproductive health training.
Texas is at the very top of teen pregnancies and has minimal or abstinence-based sex education. We are using these funds to help create a perinatal safe zone to support expecting teens. Our goal is to support them and teach them about reproductive health, bodily autonomy, and holding space for others. We’re all ecstatic to be working on this project and can’t wait to work in collaboration with Texas teens.
Black Bodyfeeding Brunch w/ Black Texas Birthwork
We wanted to give a little shout-out to Black Texas Birthwork, who hosted a successful Black Bodyfeeding Brunch in August. If you haven’t heard of Black Texas Birthworkers, then let us introduce you to this wonderful collective that empowers and develops Black workers and wellness professionals through community-based collaborations.
We were honored to sponsor their event. We thank everyone who came out and continued to support Black birthing bodies and hear their stories. We can’t wait to see everything Black Texas Birthworkers have in store for us in the future!
How Many Weeks
We are sponsoring the podcast How Many Weeks for the first 3 episodes of fun and insightful discussions about childbirth. Your hosts, Cheyenne Varner and Francie Webb, will go deep into birth, how it works, and how these practices have changed over time. Listeners can also grab a DTI coupon code!
If you love listening to podcasts as much as we do, then you’ll love How Many Weeks. Episode one is already up, and we already can’t wait for the next one! You can listen to the new podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music, Stitcher Podcast, and everywhere else that lets you listen to podcasts.
Scholarship Application Reminder
We wanted to remind you that our scholarship is still open for accepting applications. The DTI scholarship works with members, organizations, and social justice groups to bring free and discounted courses for anyone who is a BIPOC and/or trans, two-spirited, or gender non-conforming birth worker. Our scholarship program is making a difference and showing that doula work and birthing people don’t always look like one specific thing. We aim to open more doors and give people a platform to tell their stories and share their knowledge. November 4 is the cutoff date for 2021 training scholarships, but don’t worry because there’s still plenty of time left to apply. So make sure to fill out your application and get it back to us.
Upcoming Training Classes
We still have a lot of training classes open for everyone for the rest of the year. Here is the list of every upcoming class, where you can become a doula and start your certification.
October 4
With our Postpartum Doula Training class, Jenny Bennet will teach you how to provide support for birthing parents and individuals after childbirth.
November 1
Take our Birth Doula Training course, with instructor Malika Muhammad, on being a lasting advocate and caretaker for families from prenatal and labor to early postpartum care.
November 8 and December 6
Start your Full-Spectrum Doula Training and get comprehensive instructions from Jessica Diggs and Ash Spivak on how to provide continuous reproductive health care for families and individuals, including abortions, adoptions, loss, and fertility.
December 8
When you join our Online Childbirth Educator course, instructor, Jenny Bennet, will give you in-depth knowledge on how to lead your own childbirth education course for new parents