Doulas Making a Difference: Gillian Cullen from Birth Mark

Perinatal Wellbeing - The Podcast about Prenatal, Pregnancy & Postpartum Health

Content Warning:
Postpartum psychosis and suicide

Hello and welcome to Perinatal Wellbeing episode #23. Today Gillian Cullen she/they Full-spectrum doula, CST practitioner, founder and CEO of Birth Mark joins me to talk about starting Birth Mark, a charity dedicated to providing full spectrum doula support for marginalized and at-risk communities throughout the GTA and Hamilton. Gillian started Birth Mark from the ground up and is doing incredible work in the community to raise awareness, advocate for better care of those in the Perinatal period and provide amazing doula care access to people in underserved communities.

In this episode Gillian really broke down the deep impacts that the pandemic has had on birthing parents. Gillian shared with us what Doula support looks like and how Doulas at Birth Mark support their clients who are birthing babies. And Gillian provided their insight about gaps in mental health services in Ontario and the advocacy work they do to try and fill gaps in these services.

Highlights:

2:04 - Gillian’s background and starting Birth Mark

6:36 - Barriers to starting Birth Mark

10:37 - Birth Mark’s Core values, services and outreach

18:07 - Impact of the Pandemic on Birth Mark

35:49 - The loss of a Birth Mark’s client Flora to postpartum psychosis

39:44 - Gaps in reproductive care in Ontario

43:48 - Having Doulas provide support to help reduce the burden on the healthcare system and diversifying the healthcare systems

48:37 - What do Doulas do?

58:40 - How you can support Birth Mark

1:01:14 - The benefits of having a doula

1:03:35 - What would Gillian like to see and change in the perinatal community
Resources:

You can find us at www.perinatalwellbeing.ca on Instagram @perinatalwellbeing_ontario or by email [e-mail]

You can find Gillian on Instagram and Facebook: @gillian.doula.cullen and on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gillian-cullen-a73798193/

Birth Mark’s website is https://birthmarksupport.com

You can donate to Birth Mark here: https://birthmarksupport.com/donate

Instagram @birthmarksupport

Facebook @birthmarksupport

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