The NYC Doula community has come together in this time of need to offer virtual labor and birth support to NYC residents. Hotline Labor and Birth Support NYC was launched in response to the ever changing labor & delivery protocols at NYC hospitals and will provide 24 hour access to on-call virtual doulas.
The hotline will be based on Facebook. Pregnant individuals will need to request approval to be part of the private Hotline Labor and Birth Support NYC Facebook group and answer specific questions to join. When the individual is active labor or has the need to connect with a doula, they will visit the Facebook page, locate the phone number of the doula on duty, and connect with them directly.
The group of over 25 volunteer doulas will work in 4 hour shifts and provide virtual emotional and informational support to anyone in need. The service will be donation based allowing for every birthing individual to have access to support. The goal of Hotline Labor and Birth Support NYC is to fill in the gaps in the current care model and ensure that no one in NYC will birth alone.
Doulas are professionally trained in childbirth and are skilled in providing emotional, and educational support to those that are expecting. Due to the current circumstances at hospitals, the NYC doula community is no longer able to provide in person care and has quickly adapted to provide services virtually. They are uniquely trained to be able to assist via phone, text, facetime, zoom, or any other preferred platform. They are also able to coach partners present at the delivery. The hotline does not replace in person doulas, and should only be used by individuals that do not have a current relationship with a doula.
About Hotline Labor & Birth Support
Hotline Labor and Birth Support is founded by Gili Levitin and Golda Fleischman of Inher Body – a boutique pregnancy and birth support collective. The hotline initiative was conceived and launched in a few days and is a testament to the collective caring that doulas bring to the birthing world.
Gili Levitin (MBA, MSc), a former scientist, is an eco-minded mom, a certified HypnoBirthing childbirth educator, a birth doula, and a mentor. Gili founded Inher Body in 2010, to inspire, educate, and support families during the precious time of pregnancy, labor, and birth. Gili’s passion and calling is to help pregnant people transform their birth mindset, empower them to realize their full potential, and assist them to find the power within, on their journey to parenthood.
Informed by her scientific training and supported by quantitative evidence, Gili embraces a holistic and organic approach to life – in general – and to pregnancy, birth, and postpartum – in particular. Gili’s work highlights a mind/body connection, collected and experienced through years of Ashtanga yoga practice, meditation, and breathwork. Gili lives in New York City with her husband and their three beloved girls.
Golda Fleischman, a former public defender, is a certified birth doula. She joined Inher Body in 2018 to help support laboring people in their transformative journey. Golda’s passion is in meeting people where they are and helping them use their body to relax into the process of labor. Golda’s extensive yoga background—in ashtanga and prenatal yoga—and her meditation training inform her approach to labor and birth. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and two sweet children.