“I show up, and I provide whatever support is needed.”
NYC Health Commissioner and FPHNYC Board Chair, Dr. Alister Martin, recently joined the final client visit between Masada Mathew, a doula in the By My Side Birth Support Program, and Amoya, a young woman she has been working with since last summer.
On a sunny afternoon at Mapes Park in the Bronx, Masada explained to Commissioner Martin, “I show up wherever the client is — whether it’s at their apartment, a shelter, in the doctor’s office, or, if they’re in an unsafe situation at home, then a park.”
No matter where they need her, Masada shows up.
Masada joined the By My Side team two years ago as part of the Citywide Doula Initiative’s expansion. Her first experience with the program was as a client herself: she delivered two children alongside a doula who is now her coworker and friend. The next year, Masada was providing that same service for pregnant New Yorkers.
Amoya is one of the many clients she supports. Over the course of Amoya’s pregnancy, Masada encouraged her to leave an abusive partnership and helped her navigate moving between domestic violence shelters in Brooklyn and the Bronx.
Asked by the Commissioner about the issues she helps her clients with Masada replied, “I show up, and I provide whatever support is needed. I help my clients learn to be new moms; I help teenage moms with their needs, and I help moms address domestic violence issues. I’m here to support them.”
It was Masad and Amoya’s last formal meeting on paper, but Masada reassured Amoya it would not be the end of their relationship: she keeps up with past clients and sees their kids grow older. She celebrates their wins — for instance, one of her former clients just moved into an apartment thanks to financial support from The Bridge Project, which Masada referred her to. And she is there if they ever need someone to call in a difficult moment.
That’s the kind of life-changing support doulas provide.
Since NYC launched the Citywide Doula Initiative in 2022, the program has reached more than 3,900 New Yorkers. There have been no pregnancy-related deaths among participants, and mothers in the program have fewer preterm births.
This is public health working for New Yorkers.
The By My Side Birth Support Program and the Citywide Doula Initiative are part of the support and services NYC offers to new and expectant parents through the New Family Home Visits Initiative. Learn more about FPHNYC’s work supporting maternal health programs and how you can help.