001: Your Chariot Awaits
Get in lovers, we're building a better world for birthing and birthing a better world.
Note: The title of The Birth Realm was originally introduced as a pregnancy membership.
The Birth Realm is now a publication for all people who care about reproductive wellness, justice, and liberation. I invite people currently pregnant to subscribe to the Pregnancy Circle for resources and musings exclusive to childbirth.
Announcing: The Birth Realm
At long last, its official! For the past 3 years I’ve worked as a fullspectrum doula: supporting people in their pregnancy decisions, grief, joys, and transitions. Led by my own traumatic birth story in 2018, I dove into this work with a sincere dedication to improving birth outcomes for as many people as I could.
When I decided to become a birthworker, I knew I would support people mentally, emotionally, and physically. What I did not expect was the overhaul it would do on my entire orientation to caregiving and the universe itself. Witnessing uninterrupted childbirth opened a portal to possibility: not only for birthing but how I lived my own life, too.
This spark burned my life as I knew it down to the ground: termination of a wanted pregnancy, marital separation, facing suppressed wounds by moving into childhood home. It was quite the Saturn Return, and now I am emerging with deeper clarity on who I am, how I operate, and what I am here to contribute in the collective goal of liberation.
Why this, why now?
The state of birthing in the U.S. is in crisis. I created this publication to raise awareness, start conversations, and lead more people to a deeper understanding of the reproductive justice movement, our reproductive wellness, and the opportunity we have to transform how birth is generally discussed and revered.
Whether you plan to birth a child or not, you carry the power of creation. I believe our ability to create is the most powerful threat to the current paradigm. I also believe we are all parents of the next paradigm - here at this moment in time to create something better for the generations to come.
The Birth Realm is holding the vision for what family and home can look like. I hope readers will be inspired to imagine, to take deeper responsibility for our role in this lifetime, and to actively take steps toward personal and collective liberation.
It’s more than just a newsletter.
I am also cultivating community among the radical, magical stewards of the next paradigm.
The Pregnancy Circle is the heart of The Birth Realm. Twice a month we gather live for one trance journey to the astral Birth Realm and one labor mindset class.
Founding Members are welcomed into the Embodied Caregivers community: a group of mothers, caregivers, birth and death workers, and organizers that have been gathering since August 2022 to witness, celebrate, and co-regulate on our individual journeys walking our paths. Founders also receive 4 one-hour mentorship sessions.
What you can expect
At minimum, you’ll be receiving The Chariot in you inbox every Thursday. If you don’t see it, please check your Spam and/or Promotions folders.
As with anything I create, you can expect thoughts and resources that center the needs of the most oppressed. I have been on my anti-racism journey for 12 years and as a mixed Southeast Asian and White women born and raised in the U.S., that is a lifelong commitment. I promise to do all I can to remain in ethical integrity, only invite collaborators that share my values, and receive good-faith feedback with curiosity and humility.
My ultimate vision
At the time of writing this, The Birth Realm is a contribution I intend to sustain as long as necessary and/or possible.
My vision is to be the home for practical, magical, and radical childbirth and reproductive liberation. I aim to create a resource for abolitionist, ancestral birthing and mothering that serves people beyond my own experience and career.
Future plans include a podcast, book, and bringing on paid collaborators who are experts in this field.
If you have the resources to become a paid subscriber, you have an opportunity to make a material ripple in the quest for reproductive and birth justice.
My goal for next Thursday
We’ve barely scratched the surface and next Thursday’s newsletter will include my biggest announcement yet. My goal is to get as many people on this e-mail list between now and then. Please help me make this happen by forwarding this message to 3 friends you think would appreciate my work!
The past three years has felt like an apprenticeship on mastering my emotional energy, the industry of birthing, and the culture of birth work. Now that I ‘ve “graduated” I am ready to share all I’ve learned and inviting my aligned colleagues to share their genius, too.
Thank you for being here for my origin story. I look forward to co-creating this vision for reproductive futures together!
Xo
Siobhan