How do you make time to care for yourself and your growing family in the aftermath of a city-wide emergency? This was the question that model, photographer, and doula Taylor McKay Smith had in mind when she pulled a team of midwives, doulas, and other birth workers together to create Haven for Moms , a drop-in center for pregnant and parenting Angelenos affected by the fires, which opened last weekend at Riverbank Wellness Center in Mid-City. In addition to many racks’ worth of donated clothing, and bags of infant and child supplies donated by local organizations like Baby2Baby and Perelel , Haven for Moms offers free checkups with midwives and lactation consultants, prenatal acupuncture and massage, physical therapy, Reiki, sound baths, and other health and wellness treatments intended to replenish mothers all too accustomed to placing their family’s and community’s needs ahead of their own—even (and especially) during an emergency. Smith, who began doing virtual doula work with expectant parents during the COVID-19 pandemic, recalls the interaction that inspired her to create Haven for Moms.
“I was volunteering with my friend’s boutique in Santa Monica that she turned into a donation center after the fires, and I met a mom who had just given birth,” she says. “She was telling me that her baby was really sick and had lost consciousness and that their home burned down on the day he was released from the NICU. I immediately gave her my number her and offered he.
