139: Transgender and Gender Queer Perinatal Mental Health

Today’s show begins to scratch the surface in bringing more information, knowledge and advocacy to the perinatal period for transgender, gender queer, and gender diverse people. We are discussing pronoun use, the stress and anxiety transgender people may encounter during conception, pregnancy, birth and postpartum and other stressors related to interactions and misunderstandings from their healthcare providers. Thanks to Abbie Rolf, BA for continuing this conversation with us.  Abbie Rolf is a Master’s level graduate student in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. They are a behavioral health student intern at Metro Inclusive Health in St. Petersburg, FL. Abbie is a member of WPATH, ALGBTIC, and is actively working toward becoming a gender specialist. Abbie’s intersectional identities include being queer. This and other minority identities inform the lens through which they practice. Abbie is sex-positive and kink-aware. Abbie’s areas of interest include gender-inclusive perinatal mental health, grief/loss, trauma, and consensual non-monogamy. Show Highlights: Think of “transgender” as an inclusive term to include anyone who lives in a way that their gender is incongruent with their sex assigned at birth Under the umbrella of transgender are binary gender, gender queer, non-binary, and agender---”ways pepole can self-identify their nuanced gender experience” Don’t assume a person’s pronoun based on the way they present The best way to find out someone’s pronouns is to introduce yourself and your pronouns and ask how they want to be addressed To be known authentically, it’s important to use the right language to identify ourselves and others Part of bringing awareness to gender issues is to acknowledge that there can be no assumptions based on the way a person presents The microaggressions in misnaming and misgendering people  How transgender people are affected by the constant state of being unseen and unvalidated Unseen stressors in the mental health system and how awareness of gender bias in the postpartum may be a manifestation of gender dysphoria   Resources: Abbie’s Professional Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Abbie-Rolf-BA-Graduate-Student-Mental-Health-Counseling-INtern-224253768482880/ Transgender Perinatal Mental Health for Professionals (closed Facebook group) https://www.facebook.com/groups/TransgenderPerinatalMHForProfessionals/ www.PracticeWithPronouns.com National Transgender Discrimination Survey:  https://transequality.org/issues/national-transgender-discrimination-survey Pronoun Options: http://www.transstudent.org/pronounsgraphic.jpg Gender Identities Overview: https://www.genderspectrum.org/the-language-of-gender/   For Birthing People and Professionals: Facebook Group: Birthing and Breast or Chestfeeding Trans People and Allies: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TransReproductiveSupport/ Queer Birth Project: https://www.facebook.com/QueerBirthProject/ The Feminist Midwife https://www.facebook.com/FeministMidwife/