A team of women is providing pregnant women with support during and after they deliver.

Emilie Rodriguez is the founder of Ashe Birthing Service, which is based in the Bronx.

“A doula is a companion but also someone giving emotional, spiritual, mental, physical support, not just through pregnancy and childbirth but also postpartum,” says Rodriguez.

Since Ashe Birthing Services was born in 2016, the team of four doulas from the Bronx and Brooklyn has worked with about 400 families in New York City and the tri-state area.

In New York City, Black women are 12 times more likely to die of complications related to childbirth than white women, according to the New York City Health Department.

“Our goal is to support the family and make sure they feel empowered walking away from it,” said Rodriguez.

Now, after being denied Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans from the federal government and unemployment benefits during the pandemic, Ashe Birthing Services turned to the community this past summer and raised more than $40,000 through GoFundMe.

Through a direct link to resources, Ashe Birthing Services and its partners will launch a directory, which will help families find birth workers of color – including obstetricians, doulas and lactation consultants.

The website will launch in about three weeks.