NYC Doula Collective

This past Thursday we had a chance to meet and ask questions of a few midwives from the new midwifery group at NYU. We’re excited to see this new option for pregnant folks!

We know it’s on your minds! Our co-director, Tymaree Cook-Renaud, talks to news about the birth climate in NYC during COVID-19 🎥 She’s joined by homebirth midwife and founder of , Tanya Wills.

Doulas and midwives are working really hard to keep up with safe, affirming care for pregnant people and care providers during this uncertain time. So let’s keep this story in the news! Watch the video and share away 🙏🏼 Bonus points: call your representatives! Get this on their radar - we can’t do this without you 💪🏽

What are your favorite podcasts about pregnancy and birth?? Let us know in the comments! Our pick of the week is Birth Matters by local childbirth educator Lisa Taylor ().
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On episode #7, Lisa features the story of a birth attended by one of our beloved former Collective members Alden Moore! .alden supported Kat & Tom who share their positive, empowering story of their 2nd son’s rather efficient birth at home with midwife Cara Muhlhahn (featured in the film The Business of Being Born). This birth followed their much more challenging first birth in a hospital environment, which largely informed their decision to give birth at home the second time around.

It’s all hands on deck when supporting pregnant and postpartum parents! So grateful to community partners like Flex PT who provide critical care to the families we work with. Our doulas know the importance of holistic support for your body during and after pregnancy, which is why we want to talk about your pelvic floor! Fun fact: In France, pelvic floor therapy is a routine part of postpartum care

Hop on over to to learn more and catch Dr. Ariella modeling some exercises you can do to promote recovery. Dr. Ariella’s Pelvic Floor Therapy expertise supports (to name a few...) decreased pelvic pain and pressure, discomfort during in*******se, incontinence, and rehabilitation for other perinatal conditions.

P.S. We 💖 that Flex PT is a family affirming space! That’s co-founder Jade and her cutie babe pictured above.

Join us for the 2019 5k in Prospect Park — Oct 5th, race time 10am! We’ll have a table at the fair after the run, so please come say hello!! Consider donating to this cause which is near and dear to our hearts. Link to donate in bio!! The midwives who practice in NYC climb mountains to be seen and heard in the medical system. In the past year, 2 local hospital birthing centers have closed. These were primarily used by midwives to deliver people who wanted the option of birthing centers in hospitals with the support of a caring midwife, rather than starting with a more conservative approach that most obstetricians take. *Not all!!* Some OBs are awesome! But the hospital systems in general are tough to navigate and often disregard midwives— except the tough ones, and we love them for it!! i know I’m missing a few practices who deliver in NYC hospitals, all the midwives who serve the clinics and public hospitals... WE SUPPORT YOU!! THANK YOU so much for what you do!! Special shout out to (who was an NYCDC doula before becoming a midwife) for holding it down in GA. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏The homebirth midwives are putting their hearts and selves on the line to serve the people that want to birth this way. Insurance doesn’t pay them nearly enough for what they do. To take back birth, we must support those who are willing to see it as a beautiful process, to trust bodies to birth normally, and treat what comes up. It’s such a delicate balance to hold space and serve in this way. These midwives are real live superheros. and all the NYC homebirth midwives we are not connected to on IG, we appreciate your wisdom, trust, passion and protection. 💜

Pregnant? Signed up for a childbirth ed class yet?? Join Melissa McCrumb - an NYCDC doula, lactation counselor, educator extraordinaire - to prep for the physical + emotional aspects of labor and the ways you can be in control of your birth experience. You’ll get to talk advocacy, comfort, and involving your partner or/and community in supporting your birth! Hop on over to melissathedoulanyc.com to grab your spot for November or December - $250 per family 🙌🏻

It's a Know Your "Labor" Rights event that you won't want to miss! Join legal and reproductive health experts to learn about the employment rights of pregnant folks and their decision-making rights regarding their health care and birth plan.
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Must RSVP at (bit.ly/napwKYLR) and provide matching ID. This event is free and all are welcome to attend.
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6:00 PM Refreshments | 6:30-7:30 PM Program

Panelists include:
Chanel Portia-Albert, CD, CPD, CLC, CHHC, Founder and Executive Director of Ancient Song Doula Services
Allegra Fishel, JD, Founder and Executive Director, Gender Equality Law Center
Indra Lusero, JD, Staff Attorney at National Advocates for Pregnant Women
Co-sponsored by the NYU Law Reproductive Justice Clinic

We’re live!! The NYC Doula Collective has birthed a new website! Please send all of your pregnant friends our way! Our doulas are happy to hold your hand however you need us to.🐛🦋☀️

You may have noticed that our website was wonky for a bit. We’re happy to say that after a brief bout of technical difficulties, it’s up and running again. Now that the bugs are at bay, the best way to reach us is through our contact page or emailing our referrals coordinator directly at [email protected]. We hope to hear from you soon!
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Once per month our Collective gets together as a whole to talk about the action we can take to make our lives as doulas and the lives of our clients whom we serve that much more satisfying. Our general meetings always include delicious food, constructive conversations, tears and birth stories. This month, we focused on strengthening our collective model by giving each of our members a piece of the pie in terms of the workload it takes to run a multidimensional organization like ours. We recognize that it takes a village to grow, and that each of our voices are valuable and important!! This group of powerful doulas is forever evolving, and with each new idea born, we hope to take steps toward sustainability in this work and deeper support for the families we work with. 🥳💥🦋

Our very own is expanding her practice into eastern & ! Check out for all the support you might need throughout your childbearing year❤
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Come and see me sometime I'm so excited to be the newest doula to join the team!

Three years strong and totally amazing from the start! Aida has supported so many families since she joined The Collective. They’ve all been lucky to have her by their side, and so are we. Learn more about her practice at innatusbirth.com and ✨
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"Aida was our doula at the beginning of her practice 3 years ago in 2016. She was knowledgeable, personable, caring, calming, supportive and more! ...we highly recommend her!"

NYCDC doulas showing up with a wealth of knowledge and skills! From photography to breastfeeding support and more, check out what one parent had to say about her experience being supported by one of our mentors and devoted doulas, Kori ✨
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“Kori is awesome! My husband and I chose to work with Kori because of her energy -- we felt it would compliment both of ours and be an asset during my birth.

I gave birth in July of 2018 at Mount Sinai West. I had to be induced, and Kori was extremely knowledgable about the induction process. It's a long one, and she was a trooper, camping out in the delivery room for about 30 hours. She brought an oil diffuser which was so relaxing, and used counterpressure on my back to relieve pain during contractions.

Kori had lots of experience both with the hospital and and my OB practice (86th St). She knew my doctor's preferences which helped prepare me for the birth experience. All of her expertise and industry knowledge meant that I didn't have to ask many questions of the hospital staff and could focus on relaxing and laboring.

Kori took incredible photos of my husband catching the baby and great family shots immediately after our son was born. She ensured we both got to do skin-to-skin and helped immensely with breastfeeding.

In short, Kori was a divine presence who provided amazing birthing support. I recommend her highly!”

Pretty freakin' cool!

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The next time your kid asks, "Where do babies come from?" perhaps you can show them this! 🔬
This incredible 3D rendering by captures what we can only imagine an egg looks like when surrounded by s***m. 🥚🏊‍♂️
Then - in an instant - 💥BOOM💥 one little guy makes his way through and one of the most miraculous things in the universe all begins...
WHERE WERE YOU TOLD BABIES COME FROM???
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When parents hold babies, who holds them?? Beautiful post on postpartum realness by
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Gut check- do you look deeply into the eyes of people parenting babies and toddlers? Do you look for their essence and call it ever forward with gentleness and an actual practical showing up? Do you enter postpartum spaces ready do serve- whether you’re trained to or not? Have you considered how their body might be feeling? Who may have touched them in hospital and in what way and what that may have brought up? Do you take in the fact that their circadian rhythms are beyond broken and that enough food, let alone the “right” kind may feel like a lofty goal? Parents deserve to thrive- but most are just trying to survive. We need more than cute swaddles and “helpful” sleep charts. We need more than an empowering meme or even an occasional support group. We need to be SEEN. We need to be HELD. We need to have our god damn dishes done. The trope “The bigger the kid the bigger the problems” is so wildly unhelpful and patronizing to people in postpartum. They don’t want or need to hear that. They need to sleep. They need to have the space held to shower. They need to know that things actually do get incrementally more manageable because one day they will sleep at nighttime again. We need to be real about how sideswiped and abandoned people are in early parenthood. The bar is so low for what “showing up” looks like. This picture was taken one day while I was waiting for someone who had said they would come by for a visit. I had cleaned the house and bought nice snacks and boiled the kettle. They never showed up. I rallied and taught myself a new tandem carry after having a good lonely cry. Then I took that deep disappointment and vowed to use it as fuel in the fight to make postpartum people visible. If you have been through the postpartum period - what did you need? What do you wish people knew about the postpartum time? ✨🔥🌊🌲❣️✨

As birth workers, we know that you can’t pour from an empty cup. Self-care is vital when your job is providing unconditional support. That’s why .doula and teamed up to create a space for doulas and birth workers to fill up our cups. Check out the link in our bio to sign up for Wednesday’s session. We hope to see you there!
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Over here at The NYC Doula Collective we get the value of doulas, and so do the families we work with! Check out what Abigail had to say about the support she received from one of our stellar doulas, and learn more about Susannah at www.susannahrosenfield.com ✨
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"I’m celebrating my daugther Esther’s first birthday by finally writing a testimonial for Susannah, who helped her come into the world a year ago today! When I think of the experience of Esther’s birth, as I’ve been doing a lot over the past few week, Susannah is such an integral part of the story that I can hardly imagine it without her. My birth did not go as planned (do they ever?) — I had hoped to deliver in a hospital birthing center without epidural, but the baby took her time and as 42 weeks approached, I was looking at an induction. I was very anxious about it and Susannah was such a source of help to me in the days leading up to it, talking to me as much as I needed, offering resources of all kinds: she was reassuring yet also totally understanding of my fears. When I was finally in labor, Susannah spent the entire day and night at the hospital with us, giving essential support and guidance to both me and my partner. As everyone else came and went throughout the long hours of labor, Susannah was always there, a calm and knowledgeable and endlessly generous presence: giving me whatever help and comfort I needed, letting my partner get much-needed rest, communicating with the nurses and midwife when we were exhausted or confused. She helped me feel ok about my eventual decision to get an epidural, and rubbed my feet and legs for hours afterwards when I was numb and uncomfortable. She brought lovely oils — people who came into the room commented on how nice it smelled! Hard as it all was, Susannah actually made the whole thing fun — chatting with us, laughing with us, listening to music. Earlier in my pregnancy, I was a bit of a doula skeptic: I had a fantastic midwife and a capable partner, and I wondered whether it would be overkill to have someone else there. Well, having gone through it, I would now say that a doula is indispendable, and that Susannah is the best there is.”

repost “Let's get real about the ideal. It sucks. It doesn't represent us, and it doesn't even try to. It refuses to acknowledge that people of all sizes, shapes, ages, skin colors, genders and abilities exist and are worthy of being seen, heard, and valued.”
- Megan Jayne Crabbe from "Body Positive Power: How learning to love yourself will save your life"
Photo: of
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