Dal Nursing professor and philosophy alumna Dr. Lisa Goldberg (MA’90) has made it her mission to make the healthcare system more inclusive for LGBQ women giving birth.

Through her research and teaching, Dr. Goldberg identifies and seeks to change the structural hetero-normative assumptions of the healthcare system.

When she enters a birthing room, Dr. Goldberg makes a point to ask who everyone in the room is, instead of assuming that the man standing by the bed is the father or that the woman holding the new mother’s hand is a sister or friend.

While she believes that clinicians want to provide inclusive and equitable birthing experiences for queer families, the gaps that exist in healthcare education and training often leave them lacking the knowledge to do so.

Through her teaching, Dr. Goldberg aims to equip the next generation of nurses with just this kind of education and training. A pilot project this past year allowed some of her fourth-year nursing students to put their classroom lessons into practice through LGBTQ community health placements.

Read more in “Health-care system challenging for LGBQ women giving birth” on thechronicleherald.ca.

Photo credit: The Chronicle Herald Staff (Christian Laforce).