Pride Month 2023: Hannah Slavitt
“For me, Queer people are some of the most intentional and thoughtful parents, because becoming a parent as a Queer person requires strength and creativity and adaptability. I also find that by nature of the process, Queer people really have to ask themselves questions about what makes a family, and the many ways to build a family. And I think this leaves space for respecting diverse kinship bonds, and really encourages community-building. There's been a lot of progress in the postpartum world about building your village, but one of the strengths of the Queer community is community-building.”
Hannah Slavitt, PMHNP-BC, IBCLC, is a Board Certified Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner at the Center for Perinatal Wellness. Hannah has several years of experience as a registered nurse in the women's health setting and is an IBCLC certified lactation consultant. She completed her nurse practitioner clinical training at the Women's Behavioral Center at Women and Infants Hospital.
Hannah has a background working with pregnant and postpartum clients, infertility and pregnancy and infant loss, PMDD, endometriosis and the perimenopause/menopause transition as well as experience working with LGBTQ+ families. She provides individualized medication management for clients over the course of these lifespan events in addition to supportive counseling and relevant psycho-education.
This blog is made possible by a sponsorship from Sage Therapeutics. All content on this page has been curated by the Mass. PPD Fund without input from Sage Therapeutics, Inc.
June 2023 | Interviewed and edited by Jessie Colbert, Executive Director, Mass. PPD Fund
This Pride Month, the Mass. PPD Fund is happy to share perspectives on what the family-building journey can mean for LGBTQIA+ parents from Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Hannah Slavitt, PMHNP-BC, IBCLC (she/her). Hannah provides medication management and supportive counseling at the Center for Perinatal Wellness, a group practice specializing in maternal mental health and fertility challenges, as well as lactation support as an IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) in a community hospital.
In our conversation, Hannah discusses the inspiration behind her work, some unique strengths and challenges Queer parents bring to family-building, and easy ways for providers to be more inclusive of all families.
The Fund has been lucky to partner with you at a few points in your career journey, from postpartum nurse and lactation consultant, to your current practice as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. What has inspired your path to where you are today?
From college and maybe even before then, in high school, I think I always had this sense of wanting to work in the world of reproductive justice, work in advocacy for minority identity birthing people and families in the full spectrum of what that can mean [lesbian/bisexual/trans/Queer]. Like most postgraduates, I struggled figuring out how I would actually implement that. In a really important year, right after college, I decided that becoming a nurse would be the best way to live that life that I wanted. I actually went to nursing school thinking I wanted to be a midwife and work as a birth worker.
During the course of nursing school, I was able to work with my mentor at her practice providing psychiatric care for parents and children at a local homeless shelter, and I just kind of felt like that was where I belonged and where I could do the most good. So, I actually kind of cultivated my registered nurse career to allow me to gain experience in all the different aspects of reproductive care. I always had my eye on becoming a [perinatal] psychiatric nurse practitioner. It just made the most sense to provide integrated care, it’s the kind of holistic approach that best serves patients and provides the best outcomes.
What is your clinical focus in your current practice?
In my practice I see people who are navigating the full spectrum of the reproductive experience, including infertility, loss, pregnancy, postpartum, and breastfeeding struggles. I also work with patients experiencing PMDD [Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder], menopause, and endometriosis. And I continue my work as a lactation consultant at a community hospital and doing home visits in the community.
We know that, unfortunately, LGBTQIA+ perinatal parents have greater rates of mental health challenges due to discrimination, stigma, conception or adoption complications, denial of parental rights, and more. How do you see these issues touching the lives of the patients you serve?
I think many members of the LGBTQIA+ community come to the reproductive space – both OB/GYN care and psychiatric care – with a history of potential discrimination. It takes a toll to wonder before every single appointment, if you're going to be seen and accepted as your whole human self, while also getting the specialized care that can come from having a certain identity.
But one of the things that has been on my mind a lot this Pride Month is making space for Queer joy. Part of my job is to help people find joy in the reproductive space, whereas they may not have necessarily experienced that before. For me, Queer people are some of the most intentional and thoughtful parents, because becoming a parent as a Queer person requires strength and creativity and adaptability. I also find that by nature of the process, Queer people really have to ask themselves questions about what makes a family, and the many ways to build a family. And I think this leaves space for respecting diverse kinship bonds, and really encourages community-building. There's been a lot of progress in the postpartum world about building your village, but one of the strengths of the Queer community is community-building, because we may not always have had our immediate family be supportive.
Outside of mental health care, how we can we as advocates make family-building more Queer-friendly?
There's no blanket statement in any of this, but for most Queer people, their journey to becoming parents intersects with a fertility clinic. So I think having supportive providers who understand the unique joys and struggles of family-building as a Queer person can make a really huge difference. And within that world, I would love to see more conversations about fertility preservation for trans folks. That’s such an important part of care, and I don't see that as much as I would like.
Beyond the fertility journey and infertility providers, one of the things I'd like to see in general OB/GYN care for Queer birthing people is an awareness that these patients are coming to you after a potentially very difficult emotional and financial journey just to get pregnant, and may need a little extra attention and healing. No one comes to pregnancy or postpartum from a neutral place, but for Queer families there inherently had to be this journey.
In the course of your career, have you seen any improvement in attitudes and awareness toward Queer birthing people and LGBTQIA+ family-building?
In my work as a lactation consultant, I feel very lucky that I work for a hospital that's very dedicated and committed to the LGBTQIA+ community. So maybe I have a bit of a rare, unique experience. I do definitely see an overall progression, with young providers who come up with the kind of education that I had. I also see a lot of willingness to learn [on the part of] older providers, and that they look to their younger colleagues to help them along, and I'm very impressed and touched by that. No one has to be perfect, right? I think there's beauty in the conversations.
Sometimes there's this pressure in the social change world to bring about, like, a seismic shift. That is a lot of pressure and can be kind of overwhelming. I think small changes can go a long way, the things that everyone can do: just asking people what their pronouns are and sharing yours, asking who's in the room with the patient [not assuming the gender of a spouse/partner or other support person], and asking who’s in a patient's support system. Having conversations and asking questions without being afraid of saying the wrong thing or looking stupid. That really makes a difference for people.
What is your favorite part of your work?
My favorite part of my job is watching people come into their own, and walking alongside them as they learn and heal and grow. I don't see it as my job to tell people what to do, or what's best for them, but to give them the resources and support they need to make the decisions that are right for them and their family. My role is to facilitate that, and when I see that happen with my patients it just makes everything worth it!
Recommended resources:
Fenway Health LGBTQIA+ Family & Parenting Services
Massachusetts Parentage Act Coalition
Queer Conception: The Complete Fertility Guide for Queer and Trans Parents-to-Be by Kristin Liam Kali