Presenter
Jess Permezel
Jess Permezel (they/them) is a queer midwife and community educator with a deep commitment to health and social justice. Drawing on professional expertise and lived experience as a queer co-parent to two amazing donor-conceived teenagers, Jess specialises in LGBTIQA+ perinatal care. They work to ensure queer and trans people and their families receive safe, affirming and respectful care through pregnancy, birth and early parenthood.
Jess runs birth classes designed specifically for queer and trans families, creating spaces where people can prepare for birth and parenting without having to explain or justify who they are. They also deliver professional development for perinatal health specialists, supporting them to build the knowledge and confidence necessary to provide genuinely inclusive care.
As a white settler of Anglo-Celtic heritage, Jess recognises the ongoing impacts of colonisation on health outcomes and is committed to listening, learning and working towards meaningful allyship with First Nations peoples. They believe equitable care is built through community, connection and a willingness to challenge systems that exclude.
Beyond Inclusion:
Affirming Perinatal Care for LGBTQIA+ Families
LGBTQIA+ people are growing their families in increasing numbers, yet many encounter perinatal care built on cisnormative and heteronormative assumptions. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer parents are routinely overlooked, from non-birthing parents treated as visitors to assumptions about donors and relationships, while trans and gender-diverse parents often face misgendering, invasive questioning and outright transphobia. Drawing on the minority stress model, this presentation explores how stigma, anticipated rejection and identity concealment shape perinatal wellbeing, and why doulas are uniquely placed to interrupt these patterns.
Participants will examine how homophobia and transphobia appear in everyday practice, from intake forms to the language used around bodies and infant feeding, and will leave with practical strategies for challenging them. Grounded in Jess’ lived experience as a queer parent and their practice as a midwife and community educator, this session invites doulas to move beyond good intentions towards affirming, trauma-aware care that centres the autonomy, safety and joy of all LGBTQIA+ families.