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Pros Talk
Pregnancy
Episode 6 04/08/2022
with Jacoby Ballard
On this episode we speak with Jacoby Ballard on LGBTQ+ healthcare and transgender pregnancy and birth. What does it mean to be transgender or non-binary? And what would it be like to go through pregnancy, birth and recovery being transgender male or non-binary? We dive into the real-lived experience of pregnancy, birth, and recovery while trans or non-binary with the incredible Jacoby. He opens up about his own experiences and also shares about his work in the perinatal space as a prenatal yoga instructor.
As birth professionals, it’s our job to support our clients and patients through the transformative journey of pregnancy, birth and recovery. Jacoby talks about the vocabulary of inclusivity in the perinatal space. He also discusses options to self-educate about working with queer expecting parents. We also discuss about creating a safe space for LGBTQ+ folks in the birth work and what to do when you mistakenly do or say something offensive to a queer client.
Transgendered people face a higher rate of harassment in the perinatal space. And with gender being so ingrained into social norms of the perinatal space, harassment only increases. Sadly, this means they are also more likely to delay seeking medical help when needed due to fear of discrimination.
Unfortunately, this group, more often than not, feels unwelcomed, excluded or unsupported in the perinatal space. That’s why it is important that we open our hearts, listen, learn, grow and learn how to do better. This discussion brings important inclusion issues to light. We touch upon how we can show up, even if imperfectly, with the love and support that every human being deserves.
Jacoby Ballard is a social justice educator and yoga teacher in Salt Lake City, Utah. He leads workshops and trainings around the country on diversity, equity, and inclusion. As a yoga teacher with 20 years of experience, he leads workshops, retreats, teacher trainings, teaches at conferences, and runs the Resonance mentorship program for certified yoga teachers to find their niche and calling. In 2008, Jacoby co-founded Third Root Community Health Center in Brooklyn, to work at the nexus of healing and social justice.
Since 2006, Jacoby has taught Queer and Trans Yoga, a space for queer folks to unfurl and cultivate resilience and received Yoga Journal’s Game Changer Award in 2014 and Good Karma Award in 2016. Jacoby has taught in schools, hospitals, non profit and business offices, a maximum security prison, a recovery center, a cancer center, LGBT centers, gyms, a veteran’s center, and yoga studios.
Website: Jacoby Ballard
Instagram: @jacobyballard
Show notes: A Queer Dharma: Buddhist-Informed Meditations, Yoga Sequences, and Tools for Liberation
Thank you for listening! If you have a birth professional in mind that you would like for us to chat with, please email podcast@bodyreadymethod.com
