Intersectionality: The Human Side of Equalities Activism in Midwifery

Abstract

Minority stress is a term relating to the experience and internalisation of gender, racial and other forms of discrimination, which can negatively affect health.1 However, our understanding of minority stress is too dependent on a focus on specific identity characteristics, which does not allow us to understand the impact of multiple intersecting identities and the impact of being minoritised by mainstream cultures for more than one characteristic.1 In this article, I would like to discuss the concept of intersectionality, and the very real need for midwives and birthworkers to understand the impact of oppression in medical and social systems on people with intersectional minoritised identities. As a cisgendered, white, lesbian midwife and academic, I feel it is imperative that I provide an example of how someone with my privileged background can start to develop an awareness of the lived experience of others and begin to change the ways in which midwifery is practised through raising our professional consciousness.