Who we are & how we show up
A magazine that sees you first.
Everyday Birth Magazine is a biannual print and digital publication about pregnancy, birth, and parenthood — centering the stories of families too often left out of the picture. Inclusive representation isn't just nice. It's necessary.
Witness
We see each other.
Steadiness
We steady each other.
Knowledge
We equip each other.
Our story
It started in a waiting room.
Everyday Birth Magazine began as an idea in an OB-GYN waiting room — sitting with magazines that didn't reflect the full reality of pregnancy, birth, and parenthood.
It launched by Mother's Day of its first year, nurtured by the community of birth workers and families it was built to serve. The magazine exists because the most welcoming kind of reading material wasn't there — and someone decided to make it.
Eight years and sixteen issues later, that's still the work: an independent publication, made with care, that lives inside the same clinical spaces it was born in — and carries our values into them.
Our mission
We help create spaces where a diverse array of parents feel welcomed, informed, and supported as they navigate pregnancy, birth, and postpartum — offering thoughtful information that helps families understand their options, ask questions, and make their own decisions within complex healthcare systems. Rather than a single narrative of birth, our work reflects the many paths families take.
Lindsey Bartell · @lindsey_eden_photography
what we believe
Six things that shape every decision.
01
Belonging before information
A reader has to feel seen before they can be reached. We build trust first. The information follows.
02
Authenticity in storytelling
We center actual families, actual births, and actual experiences — not idealized versions of what birth is "supposed to" look like.
03
Knowledge is not prescriptive
We give people information and then trust them to use it. We're not here to tell anyone what to do — we're here to help them decide.
04
An "us & us" mentality
We work within existing healthcare systems — our magazine literally lives inside them — carrying our values into all kinds of spaces.
05
Diversity is not a feature
Representing the full spectrum of families, birth experiences, and care choices isn't a goal we work toward. It's a baseline we start from.
06
A buffer of safety
Where conversations about birth can feel rushed or intimidating, we help create room for curiosity, learning, and conversation.
the team today
Our editorial team
Founder + Executive Editor
Cheyenne Varner
she/her
Cheyenne is a birth and postpartum doula and graphic designer in Richmond, VA. She created
The Educated Birth, a collection of childbirth education materials for birth workers in 2016, when she couldn't find materials with representation of families of color. She has been learning, creating, and partnering with other professionals to provide more inclusive and accessible health education materials ever since.
associate editor
Naima Beckles
she/her
Naima Beckles, MA, LCCE, CLC, is an educator, consultant, doula, and founding director of For Your Birth. She trains birth workers, develops curriculums for organizations, and serves on the board of directors for Lamaze International. A published author and media contributor, Naima has also developed a specialty expertise in healing related to pregnancy loss.
Part of something bigger
An editorial publication of The Educated Birth
Everyday Birth Magazine is a product of The Educated Birth and The Educated Birth Foundation, where the same values drive education, illustration, and advocacy for birthing families and the professionals who care for them.
Every issue is made possible by the community of subscribers and partners who believe representation in birth media matters.
The Educated Birth Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
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subscribe nowOur Team
Cheyenne Varner
Founder + Executive Editor
Cheyenne Varner (she/her) is a birth and postpartum doula and graphic designer in Richmond, VA. She created
The Educated Birth, a collection of childbirth education materials for birth workers in 2016, when she couldn't find materials with representation of families of color. She has been learning, creating, and partnering with other professionals to provide more inclusive and accessible health education materials ever since.
Janice Formichella
Associate Editor
In addition to being a happy birth advocate and sex health educator, Janice Formichella (she/her) is an experienced reproductive rights activist, a breakup coach, has worked as a content creator for several birth workers, and has an extensive background in intersectional feminism study and work. In 2021, Janice became the Content Manager for The Educated Birth and the Associate Editor for Everyday Birth Magazine.
@janiceformichellaFounding Team
Those who contributed to create the first issue of Everyday Birth Magazine.
This wouldn't exist without each one of you. Thank you always. ☀️
Sarah Choi
Said “Let’s Make it Happen!”
Marketing Consultant and Mama to Max
“I love seeing a good idea become a reality. As a minority woman and a new mother, this cause spoke to me and I would love more of our voices heard.”
@sarahchoi.rocksDeAudrea Rich
Photography’s Finest
From Tappahannock, VA. Graphic Design and Creative Advertising VCU grad.
“I hope my work embodies Shawn Theodore’s yearning to allow subjects who are all too often deemed invisible, not only visible, but relevant in a world where people of color are projected as unimportant and irrelevant.”
@richmethodsVirginia Strobach
The Doodle Girl
Self-taught illustrator with an academic background in developmental + educational psychology.
“When we see people that look like us doing something we have never seen someone like us do before, for the first time, we think, ‘If they can do it, so I can I.’”
@amigahormigaMaria Oya X
Inclusivity Keeper
Maria is a light and shadow worker and afro-futurist that moves with the essence of sankofa and Gertrude Fraser.
“Reproductive liberation (and all forms of liberation) shouldn’t be something one can afford -- healing is interstellar, non-linear and mandatory FOR EVERYONE.”
@plantano__mari
