The HoPE Program
The HoPE Program provides free doula care to anyone who is pregnant or recently gave birth at either Elmhurst Hospital or Queens Hospital in Queens, New York City. HoPE doulas provide support in-person or virtually, depending on your needs and preferences.
We match you to a doula based on your language and neighborhood so that our doulas can connect you with community resources that right for you.
HoPE Doulas will support you from the beginning of pregnancy to 1 year after giving birth, and any where in-between!
Pregnancy: During pregnancy doulas will meet with you a total of 4-8 times, depending on when you request a doula.
Labor/Birth: During labor, doulas will support you the entire time and for two hours until after the baby is born. Then the postpartum period beings.
Postpartum: After you give birth, your doula will meet you once every week for four weeks, and then at the 3 month mark, 6 month mark, 9 month mark, and 12 month mark after birth. If you have difficult circumstance and need more support, our program team will work with you to provide the level of support you need.
If you are interested in receiving free doula care in Queens, New York City, please contact us.
The Growing HoPE Program
In 2024, the HoPE program expanded to Growing HoPE in order to provide better doula care for birthing people experiencing housing insecurity or justice involvement.
Our team recognizes that those who are experiencing homelessness and/or incarceration face many gaps in care and are impacted by factors such as limited access to health care , multiple illnesses, racism, and other social issues that can make it difficult to receive pregnancy care, and cause health challenges for both mom and baby.
We believe that doulas who are knowledgeable about these challenges can help bridge the gaps between birthing people, community services, and hospitals and that can help reduce some of the challenges faced by birthing individuals.
If you are experiencing housing insecurity or justice involvement, please contact us to receive free doula care in New York City.
Our Programming History:
In NYC, pregnancy-related death is 8x higher for black women, and 2x higher for Hispanic and Asian women than white women. One in every 100 babies born in NYC is brought “home” to a shelter; those experiencing homelessness have lower health access and higher rates of birth complications. Additionally, 15% of justice-involved people experience homelessness in the year before they are incarcerated. Most women incarcerated are of reproductive age, 90% have experienced violence, and 4% are pregnant. Both homelessness and incarceration disproportionately affect people of color. These disparities are caused by many factors, including racism, care access, co-morbidities, and social determinants of health.
Doula care, specifically community-based doula care, is one critical strategy towards mitigating these disparities. Doulas are lay-support people who provide support through pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. Doulas provide non-medical & non-judgmental educational, emotional and physical support. Doula support has been shown to reduce preterm birth, cesarean sections, postpartum depression, and increase birth satisfaction and breastfeeding. Community-based doula care goes further by providing more inclusive care, as community-based doulas share lived experiences with their clients and connect them to vital resources in the local community, providing more comprehensive care.
Thus, the Helping to Promote birth Equity (HoPE) Program was developed to provide full-spectrum doula care, free-of-cost, to anyone who is pregnant, giving birth, or gave birth at either Elmhurst Hospital or Queens Hospital. In order to better serve our local community members experiencing housing insecurity/homelessness, and/or involvement/incarceration, an additional specialized program, GROWING HoPE, was created.
The HoPE & Growing HoPE programs have been developed in partnership between Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine’s Arnold Institute of Global Health, NYC Health + Hospitals, Ancient Song Doula Services, and Caribbean Women’s Health Association.