Radical Birth Collective of Northern Arizona
There is magick in togetherness.
The Radical Birth Collective of Northern Arizona (RBCNA) is a newly organized group focused on creating supportive, sustaining, local community for those who birth and attend birth outside of the medicalized, regulated system. We are for the ones who want to be free. For the ones who hold autonomy, in their births + lives, as one of their highest values.
The space we will work to cultivate at events hosted by RBCNA will center the experiences and needs of those who have or want to birth and live in this way. That sometimes means specific critique of the existing industrialized, technocratic model of birth that exists here in Flagstaff and all over the country.
We are here for the honest, vulnerable conversations and connections that change lives and births. If you’re ready to dive deep, we would love for you to be here too!
What is radical, autonomous birth anyways?
Put simply, it is birth as we (mammals) are physiologically designed to do it! With the mother/birthing person as the *only* authority in their pregnancy + birth. The center of their own spiral.
The word AUTONOMOUS literally means “self law,” having one’s own laws…To fully embody our own divine commandments, to bind ourselves to right relationship with our core values and do the significant inner work it takes to embody that fully.
The word RADICAL literally means “of the root”—and in the context of birth that means cultivating a deep understanding of and trust in the pregnancy and birth blueprints that live in our human bodies. It means that for those of us who attend radical births, we must be irrevocably connected to what it means to truly be *with woman/birthing person*. It means that those who birth in this way know the profound effect their pregnancy + birth choices have not only on their child and themselves, but also on their community and the rest of the world at large. To birth radically is to be consciously connected to the ancient wisdom that courses through our veins.
Putting this all together, on a practical level this usually means radical, autonomous birthers choose to birth outside of the medical industrial complex, including hospitals, birth centers, and licensed homebirth midwives.
To birth autonomously, radically, does not imply a lack of support—in reality it usually means the opposite! Those who choose this path are often incredibly supported by those who wish for nothing more than for the woman/birthing person to keep ALL OF THEIR POWER + AUTHORITY.
Which means...no one telling you what tests to take, no one fear mongering you, no one telling you what, when, or how. No one abusing you, no one putting their hands on you or your baby without your explicitly exhibited desire for that touch.
It means creating your own prenatal care, it means going deeper into your relationship with your body + baby than you ever thought you could. It means healing things in dusty crevices, things you had no idea could be connected to pregnancy or birth (secret: EVERYTHING is connected pregnancy/birth because it is literally just LIFE). It means coming to terms with and integrating the abstracted ideas of risk you’ve been programmed with, your fears, and how you feel about death (birth + death are both the same coin). It means making boundaries, using your voice, and seeking the support that loves you, trusts you, and truly believes in you to be your own authority and birth your baby, your way, on your terms.
If this resonates with you, come hang with us! We want to get to know you <33
