Community Code of Conduct
Brood’s in-home care services are tailored to fit our Lower Mainland families and their lifestyles, by providing them with a better understanding of their baby’s needs and encouraging them to parent in the ways that feel best for them — all while tailoring our care to fit their family and lifestyle. Every individual who engages with Brood should feel safe and supported. We’ve created this Community Code of Conduct to enable Brood doulas to attend births and provide care in families’ homes — to nourish the entire family unit, by providing gentle, non-judgemental education, and caring for all families without bias. At Brood, we engage doulas and team members of diverse backgrounds, abilities, and experiences. We are a community committed to facilitating spaces without racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of oppression. Our aim is for every person who engages with Brood to be inspired to assess and carefully craft their care to cover all pre and postnatal bases while making sure their needs are mutually supported.
This policy applies to:
Everyone participating in the Brood community (agrees to the following Code of Conduct), including all families under our care, hired doulas, partners, speakers, and extended staff. Brood will remove people from spaces, contracts, and events, and terminate contracts at our own discretion based on the guidelines below.
Where this policy applies:
Engaging with Brood is contingent upon following these guidelines in all associated activities, including but not limited to:
- Contracting Brood team members, including doulas and consultants
- Engaging with Brood community members virtually or co-located
- Representing Brood at public events
- Representing Brood on social media (official accounts, staff accounts, personal accounts)
- Participating in Brood facilitated trainings
- Participating in Brood-supported events, group or person-to-person meetings, and related correspondence
We design our community and our work for inclusion.
Inclusion is essential and must be holistic. For Brood, it’s about creating an environment of involvement, respect and connection, where a diverse range of ideas, voices, expertise and perspectives are expressed and honored. We design our community and our work for inclusion – a process which continues to evolve, grow and respond to needs that emerge. We are respectful of people with different cultural practices, genders, attitudes, and beliefs — and actively listen to them. We strive to accommodate all abilities and facilitate people’s participation whether they are:
While providing alternative ways to contribute or participate when possible.
Words Matter
Language and communication can reinforce systemic oppression related to gender, gender identity, expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neurodiversity, physical appearance, body size, age, race, or religion. We refer to individuals by the pronouns they identify with and respect all dimensions of diversity by using language that respects everyone’s:
- Background
- Family status
- Gender
- Gender identity and expression
- Marital status
- Sex
- Sexual orientation
- Language
- Age
- Ability
- Race and/or ethnicity
- National origin
- Neurotype
- Physical appearance
- Body
- Socioeconomic access
- Religion
- Geographic location
- Lifestyle choices and practices, including those related to food, health, parenting, substance use, and employment.
Deal Breakers
The following behaviors are considered to be unacceptable in the Brood community. Anyone asked to stop unacceptable behavior is expected to comply immediately.
Violation of these guidelines can result in termination of your contract(s) with Brood, in regards to receiving or providing care and may be subject to further consequences, such as disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment. For contractors or vendors, violation of these guidelines may affect the continuation or renewal of any contract(s). You may also be asked to leave a meeting, event, or online space, either temporarily or permanently.
Harrassment:
We do not tolerate harassment in any form. This also includes repeated subtle and/or indirect discrimination. Harassment includes behaviors such as:
- Deliberate misgendering
- Deliberate use of ‘dead’ or rejected names (i.e. a name assigned to a person at birth which they no longer identify with).
- Deliberate intimidation
- Stalking or following
- Harassing photography or recording
- Non-consentual photography or recording
- A pattern of inappropriate social contact, such as requesting/assuming inappropriate levels of intimacy with others.
- Deliberate ‘outing’ of any private aspect of a person’s identity without their consent.
- Knowingly making harmful false claims about a person.
Violence and threats of violence:
Violence and threats of violence are not acceptable, online or offline. This includes incitement of violence toward any individual, including encouraging a person to commit self harm. This also includes posting or threatening to post other people’s personally identifying information (“doxxing”) online.
Discrimination:
Aspects of identity should not cause a person’s contributions to be routinely devalued or minimized, or for the person to be excluded, diminished, or harassed. Bias — explicit, hidden, and unconscious — can also help perpetuate a dominant culture that works to discriminate against some and uphold the privilege of others. An unchecked bias that harms any community member should be discussed with a Brood founder.
Structural Imbalances
We acknowledge that there are inherent power imbalances in receiving and contracting in home care. While pregnancy, birth, and postpartum are incredibly vulnerable and intimate times of life, Brood nonetheless expects our families to uphold these boundaries, We do not condone:
- Coercive behaviors, such as passive
- aggression, deliberate intimidation,
- belittling, manipulation, and gaslighting.
- Demanding and/or guilting Brood team
- members to perform tasks beyond their
- scope of practice.
- Lewd, dangerous, or suggestive behaviors and actions, regardless of shifts taking
- place in your private residence.
- While Brood team members are in your private residence, you must assume behaviors, activities, and ways of being that are deemed to be publicly decent and socially acceptable.
- Probing and invasive questions or gestures regarding Brood team members’ personal lives, health, relationship, or private matters.
- Nonconsensual communications between families and Brood team members.
- Continued communications must be mutually agreed upon, and may span beyond the lengths of your contract.
Personal attacks
Conflicts will inevitably arise, but frustration should never turn into a personal attack. It is not okay to insult, demean or belittle others. Attacking someone for their opinions, beliefs and ideas is not acceptable.
Unwelcome sexual attention or physical contact
Sexual attention or physical contact without affirmative consent is not acceptable. This includes sexualized comments, jokes, or imagery in interactions, communications, or suggestive manners, as well as inappropriate touching, groping, or sexual advances. This includes touching a person without permission, including their hair, pregnant stomach, mobility device (wheelchair, scooter, etc), or tattoos.
Influencing unacceptable behavior
We will treat influencing or leading such activities the same way we treat the activities themselves, and thus the same consequences apply.
Reporting
If you experience or observe behavior, in person or online, that makes participation in the Brood community not a safe and positive community experience for all, please report the incident to hello@broodcare.com. If an incident occurs in an in-person space where a Brood founder is present, you may report it directly to them. If the person in violation of the Community Code of Conduct is a Brood team member, they will recuse themselves from handling your incident. Emails to hello@broodcare.com reach Emma Devin, Lizzy Karp, and Gill Damborg — Brood’s Founders. After receiving a concise description of your situation, they will review and determine the next steps. In addition to conducting any necessary investigation, they can provide a range of resources, from a private consultation to other community support. They will involve other partners of Brood, including legal counsel, only as needed to appropriately address each situation. All reports will be handled in confidence.
We reserve the right not to act on complaints regarding “reverse” -isms, including “reverse racism,” “reverse sexism,” and “cisphobia.”
While this code of conduct is specifically aimed at Brood’s work and community, we recognize that it is possible for actions taken outside of Brood spaces to impact community health.
Consequences of Unacceptable Behavior
Reports of harassment/discrimination will be promptly and thoroughly investigated by the people responsible for the safety of the contract, space, or activity. Brood may take any action we deem appropriate to address the situation.
Anyone asked to stop unacceptable behavior is expected to comply immediately. Violation of these guidelines can result in termination of your contract(s) with Brood, in regards to receiving or providing care and may be subject to further consequences, such as disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment. For contractors or vendors, violation of these guidelines may affect the continuation or renewal of any contract(s). You may also be asked to leave a meeting, event, or online space, either temporarily or permanently.
Attribution & Modifications
This code of conduct is inspired by several codes of conduct, including those adopted by STORYHIVE, Seed&Spark, and xoxo festival.
Brood may amend the guidelines from time to time and may also vary the procedures it sets out where appropriate in a particular case.
Your agreement to comply with the guidelines will be deemed agreement to any changes to it. In the case of Brood amending the guidelines, the most up-to-date version can be found at broodcare.com.
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We work and live on the unceded and occupied territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. Since time immemorial, the original peoples of these lands have cared for their families and communities. We are committed to honouring their teachings, legacy and their sovereignty.
