Series 4 Episode 1: Jacynta Krakouer and Indigo Willing on how colonisation and the idea of the “white saviour” have shaped responses to child welfare Artwork

Birthing and Justice with Dr Ruth De Souza

Childbirth is supposed to be empowering, but for many birthing people it is not. For Indigenous women, immigrant women and women of colour, birthing within the western healthcare system can be anything but affirming. It can feel unsafe. In this raw and challenging talks series, health researcher, clinician and nursing educator Dr Ruth De Souza (RMIT University) hosts conversations about birth, racism and cultural safety with change makers working within the maternal health-care sector to break down the structures built on colonisation. This is a series that will give birthing people hope and power when they’re at their most vulnerable.

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Birthing and Justice with Dr Ruth De Souza

Series 4 Episode 1: Jacynta Krakouer and Indigo Willing on how colonisation and the idea of the “white saviour” have shaped responses to child welfare

January 12, 2023 • Season 4 • Episode 1

Synopsis:
What does it mean to be part of a community without access to your birthing stories? Dr Jacynta Krakouer, a Mineng Noongar social worker and Dr Indigo Willing, a sociologist and adoptee from Vietnam contribute a powerful discussion about the history and politics of out-of-home care and inter-country adoption addressing justice, kinship, and belonging. Jacynta and Indigo bring their lived experience and their community advocacy into dialogue with a critical analysis of the institutions and mindsets that underpin how children are born in the lands now known as Australia.

Notes:

Links to Jacynta's work
ResearchGate
Google Scholar
Separated at birth: Racism and unconscious bias in perinatal health services
The Family Matters report 2022
First Nations families need support to stay together, before we create another Stolen Generation
First Nations children are still being removed at disproportionate rates. Cultural assumptions about parenting need to change

Links to Indi's work
Research Gate
Google Scholar
Siren Spotlight: Hybrid academic careers in sport—bridging scholarship, community, and consultancy work
Podcast interview on The Vietnamese with Kenneth Nguyen
Erika Hayasaki presents "Somewhere Sisters" with Indigo Willing
We Skate Queensland

Music
Music in this episode includes ‘Developing Peace Health Wellness’ by Luca Tomassini, and ‘Native American Dream’ by AudioLion used under an Audio Standard Licence from Adobe Stock.

Birthing and Justice is written and produced by Dr Ruth De Souza on the traditional and unceded lands of the Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nations. Sound editing by Olivia Smith.