Tideshifts is a year-long, virtual container for midwives and student midwives practicing in any setting in any location. Thoughtfully designed to build a nourishing, collaborative, non-hierarchical collective, our time together will be spent learning, processing, and supporting each other. Far from being another “course” that spoon-feeds “expertise” to a group, the Tideshifts cohort will be a space of radical co-creation where each individual is celebrated as a source of inherent wisdom and strength. The cohort is kept intimate so that we can be authentically in relationship with each other, establishing connections that both feel safe enough to facilitate the deep work required of us and meaningful enough to sustain us long after the end of the program.
Our programming moves in rhythms of biweekly group calls composed of different elements: Currents, Estuaries, Harbors, and Shoals:
Currents
So named for the continuous and directed movement that exist both on the ocean's surface as well as in its depths, and flow both locally and globally, Currents are group discussions about the forces that affect us personally as midwives, shape our practice, and trickle down to the lives of our clients. These could be clinical practices, socio-emotional demands, or "business" concerns. Winds, water density, tides, coastal and sea floor features, the moon and stars, and even the earth's rotation drive ocean currents. What are the analogues in midwifery? Let's process them as a group.
Estuaries
So named for the bodies of water found where rivers meet the sea, and where fresh and saltwater mix to produce unique and productive ecosystems of plants and animals, Estuaries comprise group work around specific cases and clinical scenarios. We may role play informed consent together, grapple with the management of particular scenarios (such as premature rupture of labor, second stage of labor, complications, and so on), or analyze specific cases together. Regular sessions for cohort open case review will also be provided.
The topics and activities in our Currents and Harbors will be chosen responsive according to the particular cohort’s needs.
Harbors
Harbors are named for the landforms where a body of water is protected and deep enough to allow anchorage, and are our reading groups. Our harbors are places where we can anchor our practice of midwifery in the history, theory, and hope other writers and thinkers have offered. Harbors readings are chosen by consensus-based decision making. Readings chosen by the 2023-2024 cohort included Medical Bondage by Deirdre Cooper Owens, Let This Radicalize You by Mariama Kaba , Birth Work as Care Work edited by Alana Apfel, Health Communism by Beatrice Adler-Bolton and Artie Vierkant, Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness by Da’Shaun Harrison, and Dawn by Octavia Butler.
Shoals
In bodies of water, Shoals, or sandbars, occur where the waves are breaking and sediment builds. For our purpose, shoals are 1:1 meetings with Robina: a place for the sediment to rise up, for us to sift through the sediment, or for us to walk together between waves. Shoals are directed by the Tideshifts member and can be used for whatever purpose they want: to process particular cases or interpersonal or professional relationships; to discuss or review clinical management or research; to ask questions of Robina's own experience; to work through the nitty gritty of building a practice or choosing a job; to grieve or celebrate; to ponder self preservation in this intense calling; and so on. You can show up to your shoals knowing exactly what you want to talk about, or you can see what comes up organically: it’s up to you. Each member gets one 45-minute long Shoals call per quarter (so 4 over our year together), with potential for extra support during periodic open office hours when there is an acute need for more support. Robina is also always available via email.
Tideshift members also receive access to a private community to further deepen our connections and support for one another.
