the feminist librarian reads

By portraying doula services as an extravagance, Hartocollis dismisses both doulas’ availability and potential significance. Doula care is not always expensive. There are many organizations in New York and elsewhere that provide accessible options, such as Ancient Song Doula Services (ASDS), a Brooklyn-based group that centers the experiences of women of color. They provide doula training and services at low to no cost. If I were writing that Times article, I would have followed ASDS Founder and Executive Director Chanel L. Porchia-Albert to one of her births, and seen the ways her support changes the experience of the women she’s working with—very few of whom live in lofts in the Financial District.