About Ancient Song
Ancient Song is a national birth justice organization working to eliminate maternal and infant mortality and morbidity among low-income Black and Latinx people. We do this by ensuring that all pregnant, postpartum, and parenting people of color have access to high-quality, holistic doula care and services regardless of their ability to pay. We provide doula training and services, offer community education, and advocate for policy change to support reproductive and birth justice.
We work to achieve our mission by:
Providing direct doula services to low-income people of color;
Training community members to become full-spectrum doulas;
Distributing necessary resources to doulas and community members;
Offering evidence-based education on birth and reproductive justice;
Advocating for comprehensive policy change to eliminate racial and income inequities in birth outcomes.
Our Core Values
Community
We center the voices and experiences of the community that we serve in all of our work. We recognize and give voice to the joys and pains people of color experience when accessing healthcare services in their communities.
Family
Family is the nucleus and strength of any movement. Whether biological or created, it’s a place where we can feel safe and centered. And able to go out and do the work within the community. We center family.
Reproductive Justice
The reproductive justice framework serves as a foundation of our work. We believe people have the right to have children, not have children, and parent those children in safe and healthy environments with necessary support.
Birth Justice
The birth justice framework is a foundation for our efforts. Birth justice is achieved when individuals regardless of race or gender identity are able to make informed decisions during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum for themselves and babies. Without fear of coercion into unnecessary medical interventions, reprisal for refusal of care, and/or face inadequate medical care and are able to express their full human rights around their reproductive health choices.
Racial Justice
Ancient Song Doula Services is committed to addressing implicit bias and racism within healthcare systems by shifting the narrative and advocating for policy change.
Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Individualized Care
We provide full-spectrum services in a way that is culturally and linguistically appropriate. We see people as individuals and work to meet them where they are. We understand that needs are fluid and based on the time, space, and place the individual is in. There’s no one way to assist someone, so our services are individualized to accommodate everyone’s needs.
Meet the Team
Chanel Porchia-Albert
Founder & Executive Director
Anabel Rivera
Bi-lingual Perinatal Coordinator, New York
Rochelle James-Delmas
Perinatal Coordinator, New Jersey & Special Programs
Aisolen Marcial
Lead Perinatal Coordinator New York
Snanobia Pack
Administrative Assistant
How We Serve Our Community
Service Provision
Ancient Song provides full-spectrum doula services to low-or middle-income families, especially people of color, including those with fluid gender identities, teens, people pregnant while incarcerated, people in maternity shelters, survivors of sexual assault or trauma, and people with a history of substance use or mental health issues.
Training
Ancient Song trains a workforce of full-spectrum doulas to address health inequities within Black and Latinx communities. Our doulas are trained to understand the midwifery model of care, which covers the full spectrum of physiological, physical, and social well-being of families and communities we serve. Our doulas provide abortion, birth, postpartum and antepartum care services. Since 2012 ASDS has trained over 2,000 people to become doulas.
Community Education & Resourcing
Ancient Song provides individuals with the skills they need to make informed decisions about their reproductive health choices through workshops, conferences, and training. Our community education initiatives are expansive and include the renowned Decolonize Birth Conference. We also ensure our community has the resources they need to realize their reproductive health decisions, for example by maintaining a Care Closet where our clients and community members can access infant care and parenting supplies such as car seats, playpens, and diapers.
Policy Advocacy
Ancient Song seeks to address systemic inequities by advocating for equitable reproductive healthcare at the local, state, and federal levels. Since our founding, we have led birth justice initiatives that bring together stakeholders and community members to address and build collective understanding and action. The birth justice political framework is integral to our efforts to center those clients who are most likely to face discrimination, medical neglect, and have their voices silenced or ignored when seeking care.
Donate to Ancient Song
Help us continue providing culturally aligned, high-quality care to Black and Latinx people regardless of their ability to pay. Donate now. Your contribution helps us pay doulas provide care in their communities to the people who need it most.