Birthing in the Fire
On Racism and Reproductive Health in America
A 70-minute workshop with a 65-page companion workbook designed to deepen understanding of how history, structure, and lived experience shape Black maternal health outcomes in the United States.
Access to this video page and all associated content is for individual use only. For group viewing, organizational licensing, or facilitated sessions, please contact our team.
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A portion of proceeds from this workshop supports the work of The Educated Birth Foundation, expanding access to reproductive health education and resources for communities and organizations.
About the Workshop
This workshop explores racism in reproductive health in the United States, with a focus on Black maternal health disparities, obstetric racism, and the structural factors that shape pregnancy and birth outcomes. It is an invitation to examine reproductive health through a structural lens — one that accounts for history, policy, and the cumulative conditions that shape pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experiences today. This is not a comprehensive account of everything that could be said. It is a focused, intentional deep dive into the context that helps explain why disparities exist — and why they persist — and perspectives on what we can do to combat them.
Why This workshop exists
Birthing in the Fire exists because pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care in the United States cannot be understood — or improved — without reckoning with the role of racism in shaping who is kept safe and who is put at risk. This workshop creates space to examine how historical and ongoing systems of harm show up in reproductive health, why mistrust of medical institutions is evidence-based rather than irrational, and how lived experience becomes biology over time. It is designed to build shared understanding, responsibility, and clarity about what dignified, equitable care actually requires. By grounding the conversation in history, data, lived experience, and proven models of care, this workshop equips participants to engage this work with honesty, humility, and sustained commitment — recognizing that meaningful change is possible, but will not come to pass on its own.
about the facilitator
Cheyenne Varner is a birth and postpartum professional, childbirth educator, and the founder of The Educated Birth. Since 2016, she has supported families through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum while also developing educational tools and resources used by birth workers and healthcare professionals across the U.S. and internationally. Since 2020, she has been building and facilitating trainings focused on racism, structural inequity, and reproductive health — supporting birth workers in developing a deeper, more grounded understanding of the context in which care is provided. Her work centers on making complex, often overlooked systems visible, and translating them into practical, applicable insights for those supporting families during pregnancy and birth.
What's Included
70-minute workshop video
A guided, structured presentation walking through history, hierarchy, and reproductive health in the U.S.
65-page companion workbook
A comprehensive resource designed to deepen understanding, support reflection, and move toward application
Transcript access
For accessibility, reference, and continued learning
Who This Is For
Birthing in the Fire is for birth workers, healthcare professionals, educators, students, advocates, and organizational leaders who are willing to engage honestly with how racism shapes reproductive health in the United States. It is designed for people who want to move beyond surface-level conversations and build the capacity to understand history, sit with complexity, and take responsibility for how care is practiced, funded, and structured. This workshop is especially relevant for those working in perinatal spaces who want to deepen their ability to offer dignified, equitable care grounded in evidence, lived experience, and accountability.
What This Workshop Covers
Through both the video and the companion workbook:
• The role of dehumanization in shaping early systems of care
• How power adapts across time to maintain unequal outcomes
• The structure of caste, white supremacy, and racism in the U.S.
• The concept of weathering and cumulative stress exposure
• The history of medical racism and reproductive harm
• A deeper understanding of obstetric racism
• Real-world case studies that illustrate pattern, not exception
• What responsibility and action look like in practice
Sliding Scale Access
This workshop is offered on a sliding scale to support broader access while sustaining the work behind it. If you have the financial capacity, we encourage you to select the full rate. Your purchase helps support the ongoing development of these materials and contributes to expanded access through The Educated Birth Foundation. If a lower price point makes this workshop more accessible to you, please feel free to select that option. No proof of need or justification is required.
$60 — Supported rate
For those who would not be able to access without a lower price point
$75 — Standard rate
For those able to pay the full price of the workshop
$100 — Pay It Forward
Supports the sustainability of this work and helps make lower pricing available to others
get access for $60get access for $75get access for $100This Workshop Supports The Educated Birth Foundation
A portion of proceeds from this workshop supports the work of The Educated Birth Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to expanding access to reproductive health education and resources. TEB Foundation partners with community organizations, birth workers, and care spaces to distribute materials, support programming, and reduce barriers to informed, dignified care. This connection is intentional — the same structural inequities explored in this workshop are the ones the Foundation is actively working to address through access, education, and resource redistribution.
donate nowUsage + Licensing
Access to this workshop and its accompanying materials is granted for individual use only.
By purchasing or accessing this content, you are granted a limited, non-transferable license to view the workshop and use the materials for your own personal or professional development. This license does not permit sharing, reproduction, redistribution, recording, public display, or facilitation of this material with others — whether in part or in full — without prior written permission.
This includes, but is not limited to:
• Screening the video in group settings
• Sharing the recording, transcript, or workbook with colleagues, teams, or clients
• Uploading or distributing the content on external platforms
• Incorporating the material into trainings, presentations, or curriculum
If you are interested in using this workshop within an organization, training program, classroom, or group setting, we offer institutional licensing and live facilitation options.
Please reach out to discuss appropriate use and access.
All content remains the intellectual property of Cheyenne Varner and The Educated Birth, LLC, unless otherwise credited. Unauthorized use or distribution may result in legal action.
About The Educated Birth
The Educated Birth is a reproductive health education platform dedicated to creating clear, accessible, and historically grounded materials for families and professionals. Our work focuses on translating complex concepts — from physiology to structural inequity — into tools that can be used in real-time care, education, and advocacy.
We develop visual resources, curriculum materials, and educational content that are used by birth workers, healthcare providers, and organizations across the United States and internationally. At the core of our work is a commitment to representation, accuracy, and context — ensuring that pregnancy, birth, and postpartum education reflects the full realities people are navigating.
Birthing in the Fire is one part of that broader body of work.
© 2026 Cheyenne Varner and The Educated Birth, LLC. All rights reserved.
last updated on april 14, 2026
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