Weeeeeeelcome back to Systems Saturday 👋, your weekly reminder that birth is never “just birth.” This week we’re talking about the patriarchy. Here’s the thing: this world was designed by men, for men. And birth has been no exception. (Also in no way can we possibly cover the entirety of how the patriarchy impacts birth in one caption.) The modern birth room isn’t designed around mothers. It’s designed for the obstetrician, historically, a white man. The position of women birthing on their backs? Popularized in Europe not because it’s physiologically helpful, but because it made the doctor’s job easier (and yes, people love to repeat the story about Louis XIV’s voyeurism, but either way, it comes back to male-centered control). If we go further back, we see the witch hunts of the Middle Ages, a campaign that criminalized midwives, herbalists, and women’s knowledge. Across the world today, women’s problems are still dismissed, femicides go unpunished, and maternal health is treated as secondary. Women are regularly excluded from decision-making about their own bodies. That’s the patriarchy at play. Which is why reclaiming birth matters so much. Because birth is strictly ours. This space is ours. And when we lean into it together, we rise up within it, and with each other. At Wombs of the World, that’s the work: helping birthworkers see the system, name it, and build something better. Because when mothers rise, we all rise. #SystemsSaturday #PatriarchyInBirth #BirthJustice #MaternalHealthRevolution #WombsOfTheWorld (fb)

Along with the incredible core workshops led by @partera.___yuu, @birthmatron and @parteradianaku, we also have a whole line up of other incredible birth keepers joining us in Berlin for three days of workshops, ceremonies, conversation, and magic. @claarush and I have been working on this project for over a year and now we are six weeks out!!! Get your ticket and join us in Berlin! ✨✨✨October 15-17! #wombsoftheworld #globalbirthwork #maternalhealthmatters #birthjustice #birthwork #doulatraining #traditionalmidwifery #wombwork #medicineforthefeminine (fb)