This morning as the city braced itself for the storm's impact, I was thankfully holed up in my warm apartment with my family. I checked my email and found a flurry of communication among the doulas of NYC. With subways down, many of us have no good way to travel across the city; many doulas, however, have pregnant clients in all five boroughs (not to mention New Jersey) who might need labor support services at any time. Doulas near and far began reaching out, posting their locations and which hospitals/potential birth locations are in walking distance in case their aid is needed. This way, if a doula in Brooklyn is unable to travel to her client on the Upper West Side, for example, she has a sister doula to call who can easily reach her client and offer that priceless doula support.
What I took away from this: If you are giving birth in New York City, you have an abundance of support available to you. And if you are a doula, you too can call on your community for aid. Even in a hurricane! FEMA might not have thought of this particular need, but the NYC doulas are getting connected to support one another and their clients.
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