At eight months pregnant, Alizah Silver had a lot on her mind.
Her husband and sons, aged 1 and 4, evacuated from their Topanga Canyon home as the Palisades Fire approached. Her husband’s income from construction work was also disrupted, and they were paying for an Airbnb on top of rent.
“It was just stressful and so much anxiety,” says Silver.
Three weeks after the evacuation and still out of their home, Silver gave birth to her daughter Charisma on January 31. Her family does have a home to return to, but they continue to move around to avoid ash and air pollution.
This means the help Silver had lined up to take care of the kids and household tasks hasn’t been there. “Every day is changing,” she says.
lizah Silver beams from an inflatable birthing tub after delivering baby Charisma on January 31 with the assistance of a midwife. Photo courtesy of Alizah Silver.
The first few months after giving birth can be challenging both physically and emotionally, so when the Los Angeles fires hit, local birth workers and organizations who understood the stakes sprang into action.
Now the outpouring of generosity is helping families not directly affected by the disaster. The needs are there, they say.
“You birth, and then the focus is on the child, which is beautiful and wonderful,” says Rachel Scandling, a mom of two children and head of the nonprofit Mama2Mama, which supports mothers and birthing people during the postpartum period. “But there's also a human who has gone through an intense transformation.”
Mama2Mama started a cash fund for fire-affected families, and then paired 50 families with therapists, doulas, and lactation consultants at low or no cost. Silver’s family received six free doula visits, in which a caretaker helps with the baby and does light housework and meal prep — a service Silver describes as “life-changing,” and something she wouldn’t have been able to afford on her own.
Scandling says the number one concern they are hearing from families is housing, including from moms caught up in the current housing crunch as fire-displaced people look for temporary shelter.
Imani Quinn rests with her daughter Saffron, born prematurely, in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Saffron will be in the hospital until her March due date. Photo courtesy of Imani Quinn.
That’s one of Imani Quinn’s big worries. Quinn attended a recent event at a home in Pasadena, hosted by Mama2Mama. The group provided families with breakfast and distributed free supplies like diapers, hygiene kits, breast pumps, and frozen meals.
Quinn was searching for a new lease when the fires broke out. She says her options kept falling through because of the flood of applicants for each open unit. “It [exacerbated] an already challenging situation,” says Quinn.
A single mom, Quinn gave birth to her first baby on January 29 — nine weeks before her due date, after a hospitalization for life-threatening high blood pressure.
“Mass devastation and then a preeclampsia diagnosis does not go well together,” says Quinn.
Now her daughter Saffron is in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit but doing well. Her friends started a fundraiser for her, and Mama2Mama found Quinn rental assistance and paired her with a doula.
“As a first-time mom, it's been really nice to have people that show up and support you,” says Quinn. They “take a lot of the burden off from dealing with big life catastrophes.”
Support for moms and families:
Los Angeles Infant and Maternal Relief Drive organized by doula Jalyn Taylor.
Free postpartum planning sessions with Mothership Rising.
Emergency shelter for single mothers with Haven for Hope LA.
Life After Birth and The Mother Circle are partnering to provide essential support through an initiative called Haven for Moms.