Shawna Queen Doula

03/14/2024

08/16/2023

08/01/2020

07/19/2020

July 23 is our next Zoom support group chat for . Sign up at https://www.standwithtrans.org/support-groups!

07/19/2020

06/27/2020

06/22/2020

New trans youth support groups have been posted! Get info and sign up to attend at standwithtrans.org/support-groups!

06/01/2020

06/01/2020

A word for white birthworkers:
Black people are dying at the hands of police. Black birthing people and babies are dying at the hands of doctors. Black children are pushed through the school to prison pipeline, left struggling and imprisoned and abused at the hands of our government. Black children and parents are pulled from eachother and traumatized at the hands of the foster care system. I could go on forever about how the country we live in brutalizes, exploits, consumes and murders Black people. When living under the constant oppression and violence that is the white gaze -where are Black people suppose to feel safe? Beyond feeling safe, thrive? What are you doing within your immediate community to ensure the safety of Black people? Have you examined your contribution to the violence lately? Have you contemplated your own behaviors in a way that helps you understand that you are adding to the oppression, even if you're not meaning to? Reposting things on social media is a well meaning gesture but you know what actually counts? Using your white body privilege to protect and uplift Black communities. Dismantling and unlearning the white supremacy that was handed down to you in this society so that you can stop perpetrating violence. Changing your behavior and the behaviors that you permiss in your social and professional circles. LISTENING TO AND PAYING BLACK PEOPLE FOR THEIR WORK.
Since quarantine started I decided to take a step back from social media. The constant stream of fear and violence and fear and violence was weighing on me and I was tired. I took a break to reflect on myself and the needs of those around me in my community. I meditated on growth, on impact.
But I'm stepping out of my social-media-distancing to tell my fellow white birth workers to step the f**k up. Do something. It doesn't have to be like this and if you're not working to end the violence against the Black community then you are apart of the problem. No justice? No peace.

03/30/2020

03/17/2020

Very important information to share!

03/15/2020

We have had some clients asking about alternatives to birthing in hospital in light of recent concerns regarding COVID-19 and also current hospital restrictions on visitor policies. Wendy, owner and midwife of Nine Short Months Birth Center in Southfield, is welcoming new clients that wish to transfer their care to the birth center. Nine Short Months is a freestanding (no hospital attached) birth center that myself and my doula partner Niku work closely with and love. They know the importance of your chosen support team and encourage your partner and doula to join you in your birth. Your birth fee also includes postpartum care up to 6 weeks.
If you are considering a change in your birth plans Wendy is here to answer any questions that you may have.

We believe that childbirth education is a vital part of preparing for your birth, so Niku and I are offering a discount on our private childbirth classes to those transferring their care to Nine Short Months. As a precaution all childbirth classes are currently being offered online via Zoom.
You can find more info and book your class here: ShawnaQueen.com

03/03/2020

Come process your birthwork experiences!

03/02/2020

02/27/2020

VICE follows parents Melanie and Ketch to explore the cost of having a baby in the United States.

02/27/2020

Will always repost 💗

with my most popular post of 2019
In my midwifery program’s gynecological skills class we were required to give and receive two speculum exams per week on each other’s bodies. On the suggestion of my doctor who was caring for my disc herniation/hypermobility injuries at the time, I requested an American With Disabilities Act exemption to receiving speculum exams weekly. To my surprise my midwifery school reacted horribly. They rejected my doctors notes, psychologist notes, and eventually required me to submit a pelvic floor assessment to demonstrate that I was disabled enough and worthy enough of not having to receive multiple speculum exams weekly (also side note: requiring a student to have something inserted into their va**na is r**e).
My school threaten to kick me out twice for not being a “team player” and “being able to participate in the community.” It sucked tremendously. I kept fighting and eventually got my ADA plan, and as a result of this struggle future midwifery student classes were not required to give and receive exams on their own body’s and could have models instead.
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My experience with speculums is pretty extreme, and as a I continually work to reimagine a relationship to this tool which was born out of experiments on enslaved women Anarcha, Betsy and Lucy and has freaked out, caused pain, and oppressed people with va**nas for a long time. Speculums are a tool I can use to see the cervix ~ which allows me to gather information and perform Pap smears and IUI.
Here's how I do better with speculums:
~First, I never during a gynecological exam on a traditional table with stirrups, I do exams on a bed or a couch. This is the spot in my office where I do gyn exams
~I tell you how to pause and end the exam if you’re done. Doesn’t matter if we completed the procedure, it’s your body and you’re in control
~By offering my clients to insert insert the speculum themself & see their cervix with a mirror

02/25/2020

So excited to be facilitating this group at Radical Well-Being in Southfield!
Are you LGBTQ2+ and in the process of building or growing your family? Please join us for this peer support group and connect with other folks and families in the community!

02/24/2020

I think that talking about Black infant and maternal mortality rates for white birthworkers is often uncomfortable because it forces us to reflect and unpack how we are contributing, stimulating, and perpetuating the causes (racism and oppression). It is our job as white birthworkers (and people in general) to constantly be working to rid ourselves of the anti-Blackness that has been handed down to us and to challenge ourselves to be better. There is no arrival point in being an ally to the Black community. It is a life long commitment to dismantling the anti-Blackness within ourselves and the oppressive systems that we live within. It is listening to Black people (and paying them for their time!!!). It is working to help create new, safe, mindful practices and systems that value, uplift and protect Black lives. The work is never done.
If you are a white birthworker ask yourself periodically what you are doing to ensure that you are working from an anti-oppression framework. What are you doing to ensure the best care for your Black clients (including referrals for Black birthworkers who your client may prefer)?
Are you educated in the ways that our society inherently traumatizes Black people? Are you providing trauma informed care to your clients?
If you ever think you are "doing enough", I'm here to tell you that you could be doing more. And I know, that's uncomfortable. Think of it as growing pains.