These Queer Doulas Offer Care That Extends Beyond The Postpartum Experience

For most, the expectation and concept of a doula is typically designated to postpartum support, enlisted to provide guidance to parents of newborn babies. While this is certainly accurate, and typically applies for most doulas within the sector, the profession is actually much more expansive and nuanced. In fact, a fresh crop of full-spectrum queer doulas are slowly but steadily joining the profession, creating a safer space for LGBTQIA+ individuals navigating a wide range of life experiences including adoption, abortion, death, and gender support.

“I started doing some research about how to become a doula and what it means to be a birth worker and a full spectrum doula was what I chose, which is not only a birth and postpartum care worker, but a person who can support people through many transitions and many stages of life,” explains JD Davis, a Los Angeles-based full-spectrum doula, who started their practice in 2020. “The way that I describe it is I support all perinatal experiences from birth and beyond. So I also support people who are going through abortions or miscarriages as well as birth and postpartum.”

Prior to their current profession, Davis was working in the entertainment industry as a professional actor. After years of contemplating a career shift, the lockdown of 2020 provided an unexpectedly perfect opportunity to take the big leap. “I've always been very interested in postpartum health,” they say. “My child was born in a hospital with a midwife and a doula. And I was very adamant about that at the time because I knew that I was going to need support. And I remember I met the doula and I was just like, ‘This is awesome. She's so cool.’ So I always had been pretty drawn to care work.”

While their initial years were focused on perinatal services, Davis recently added gender support to their practice, as they enjoy supporting those taking steps for gender-affirmation, whether by way of procedures or treatments. “That is a new frontier for me and I'm really excited about it,” they say. “I'm also curious about death doulaships. That's what I love about being a care worker and a doula, is that there are so many ways to support people. And it really aligns with my values that everybody deserves care and support during these really delicate phases of life.”

Max Mowitz, an Iowa-based full-spectrum doula who specializes in free gender-affirming care, seconds this notion, especially as it pertains to serving the queer community. “The thing that I have learned is the value and importance of making a system like the medical system less opaque and overwhelming,” they say. “You are trying to navigate a really challenging medical system. You're often working with low resources. And you are trying to do so with your best needs in mind. So that could be a birth plan for a birthing person, or it could be goals for gender and transition. So that's how I got to where I am now.”

Mowitz says in 2023, they served about 75 trans, non-binary and gender diverse folks and their families. Often, their work is in trying to access medical care, and sometimes it involves exploring gender and talking through options. “Some folks don't know what pronouns feel best and want to play around with that, or need recommendations for books or groups and things like that, so that's great, too,” says Mowitz. “But I find that most people come to me specifically to get fitted for binders, figure out how to ask insurance if top surgery is covered, find a good surgeon through their insurance. And some of my favorite things to do are to create insurance phone call scripts so that they have a script in front of them, because often that's really overwhelming.”

At the moment, Mowitz is currently working on being certified in postpartum work, a sector they’re particularly excited to dig into more. “So often full-spectrum postpartum doulas will help with things like latching and support of the baby, but often it's supporting the parent, or parents, that are involved,” they say. “And so it can be going over, carrying the baby, doing some dishes, cooking a meal, and I believe that would be so beautiful. So while I think birth is just amazing and mind-blowing and just the coolest thing, I really think that postpartum care is something I'm really excited to provide support on.”

One thing Mowitz has learned in their years as a doula is that people want to connect with those who are familiar with their experience. “So that's so deeply meaningful to me that that person can see a trans person and know that they're not alone,” says Mowitz. “I've learned so much about how connection and keeping people from feeling isolated really can change our communities and often save lives too.”

This is why the presence of queer doulas in this niche profession is so crucial, says Davis. “Especially now with all of the anti-trans legislation being passed all over the country, there's absolutely a need for folks to be empowered and advocated for and guided through.” The care worker expands on this, stating that oftentimes, too, when people come out as trans, they lose a lot of family members and support. This can make going through things like a miscarriage, abortion, parenthood, and gender-transition incredibly lonely experiences.

Davis says their work has also shifted their own personal journey with identity. “It has shown me a lot of ways that the systems in place to care for us are often not doing that,” they say. “So it's really empowered me to do a lot of research for myself and to care for myself in the way that I care for other people, because I cannot care for other people if I'm not caring for myself first and foremost.”

Their work has also helped them better understand and appreciate the community of fellow queer care workers around them, all striving for the same goal. “It has absolutely shifted my view of community and of that whole thing of doing everything ourselves — because we can't,” they say. “We have to do it with each other to get through it, to get through whatever experiences we have. Especially since there's no maternal and paternal leave that is mandated in this country. So doing postpartum work is really important to me because I get to go and help people through that process of just becoming parents. They are just learning how to care for babies. Or maybe they already have had children and they just need some extra help. It really gives a sense of like, ‘Oh, this is really important work because we are all in it together.’ We keep each other going.”