Resources
Scroll for recommended and trusted sources
of information and wisdom that can provide additional insight and clarity on your journey.Websites & Research
Evidence Based Birth
Rigorously researched, clearly written breakdowns of common birth practices, interventions, and hospital policies. One of the best tools for making genuinely informed decisions — I refer to it constantly.
The Birth Hour
A podcast featuring hundreds of birth stories from a genuinely diverse range of families, including LGBTQ+ families and people with all kinds of birth experiences.Ask Penny
Ask Penny is a free, personalized research tool from Zenith Health that provides clear, evidence-backed answers to pregnancy questions— cutting through the noise of social media and outdated advice. I recommend it to my clients as a trusted resource for navigating the many questions that come up throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period.Queer Conception — Kristin Liam Kali
A practical and affirming guide to getting pregnant outside of heteronormative frameworks, covering at-home insemination, fertility awareness, and the full range of queer family-building pathways.
Journey to Parenthood — Eric Rosswood
A roadmap for LGBTQ+ prospective parents exploring every path to having children — adoption, foster care, surrogacy, assisted reproduction, and co-parenting — told through real family stories.
The Argonauts — Maggie Nelson
A genre-defying memoir about love, gender fluidity, pregnancy, and what it means to build a queer family, written in real time as Nelson's partner transitioned and she carried their child.
Pregnant Butch — AK Summers
A graphic memoir following one queer, masculine-of-center person through pregnancy — honest, funny, and deeply specific about what it feels like when your body and your identity are in unexpected conversation.
Reproductive Justice: An Introduction — Ross & Solinger
The foundational text for understanding reproductive justice as a framework — not just the right not to have children, but the right to have them, parent them, and do so in safe and supported conditions.
Why Did No One Tell Me This? — Hailes & Spivak
An honest, illustrated, inclusive guide to pregnancy and birth that treats the person having the baby as an intelligent adult — practical, funny, and written for a new generation of parents.
Body and Soul — Alondra Nelson
A scholarly recovery of the Black Panther Party's largely forgotten health activism — free clinics, sickle cell campaigns, and a founding belief that healthcare is a human right, not a privilege.
Nine Golden Months — Ou, Greens, Belger
A trimester-by-trimester guide to nourishing yourself through pregnancy, rooted in the Chinese medicine tradition of caring for the whole person, not just the pregnancy.
The First Forty Days — Ou, Greens, Belger
The companion volume to Nine Golden Months, focused entirely on postpartum recovery — making the case that the weeks after birth deserve as much intention and care as the months before.
Supporting Queer Birth — AJ Silver
A training resource and honest reckoning with how the maternity system fails LGBT+ parents, built from real stories and designed to change how birth workers show up in the room.
When Survivors Give Birth — Klaus & Simkin
A comprehensive, compassionate resource for understanding how a history of sexual trauma shapes the experience of pregnancy and birth — essential reading for anyone committed to truly informed, trauma-aware care.
The Birth Partner - Penny Simkin.
The essential guide for anyone supporting a birthing person — comprehensive, warm, and evidence-informed.
Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth & Modern Maternity Care - Jennifer Block
A clear-eyed examination of how the American medical system has shaped birth.
Books
NYC Birth Support & Doula Networks
Queer Doula Network
A national directory of queer-identified and queer-affirming birth workers. Where Fierce & Tender Birth Support found its professional community.
Ancient Song Doula Services
A Brooklyn-based full-spectrum doula collective centering Black, Indigenous, and people of color in reproductive care. Nationally recognized for their justice-centered approach.Brooklyn Birth Collective
A Brooklyn-based collective offering childbirth education and birth support resources rooted in community and equity.
The Doula Project
A New York City organization providing free and low-cost doula support across the full reproductive spectrum, including birth, abortion, and pregnancy loss.
Carriage House Birth
One of NYC’s most respected birth worker training and doula matching organizations, based in Brooklyn. I completed my doula training here. They also offer childbirth education, newborn care classes, and doula matching for families.Woven Bodies
An integrative reproductive health practice offering doula training, childbirth education, acupuncture, herbal medicine, and somatic coaching. Their Woven Bodies training is a rigorous, justice-centered approach to birth work. Partner organization of Carriage House Birth.NYC Community Health & Family Resources
NYC Citywide Doula Initiative
The City of New York’s program connecting pregnant New Yorkers with free doula support. A landmark program — now permanent — that is changing how birth support is delivered across the five boroughs.Family Equality
National resources and community for LGBTQ+ families at every stage — from family building through parenting.