Giving Austin Labor Support

What Giving Austin Labor Support does

Giving Austin Labor Support (GALS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2009 in Austin, Texas, that provides free perinatal support services to under-resourced birthing people across Central Texas, with an explicit focus on low-income and BIPOC families. Its core service lines include 24/7 On-Call Birth Support, a Prenatal Doula Program, Postpartum Support, a long-running Jail Support Program inside the Travis County Correctional Complex, and the newer Perinatal Childcare Program targeted at Black Mamas and BIPOC families. Service delivery is executed through a community-trained collective of approximately 50 contracted birthworkers (with roughly 100 new advocates trained annually) supported by a small core staff of five, drawn from a multilingual pool covering Spanish, French, and Portuguese.

The operating stack is intentionally lightweight: Social Solutions Portal (Apricot) for client intake and case management, Neon CRM for donor management, and SMS for care coordination — with no proprietary technology layer, AI system, or research output disclosed. Demand generation combines hospital referrals, a 24/7 phone hotline, an online intake form, bi-annual Community Baby Showers drawing 1,000+ attendees, and social media.

The business model is non-commercial: services are provided free of charge to families, with revenue sourced from individual donations (including a tiered Sustainability Squad monthly giving program ranging from $35 to $2,000 per month), private foundation grants (notably Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas via It's Time Texas and other funders), City of Austin public funding, and since 2022 Medicaid reimbursement through Dell Children's Health Plan as a value-added benefit. Strategic positioning within the Maternal Health Equity Collaborative (MHEC), a coalition of four doula organizations and two parent support organizations formalized in 2020, plus partnerships with Birth Comadres and the Travis County Sheriff's Office, define the organization's institutional footprint.

Name

Giving Austin Labor Support

Legal name

Giving Austin Labor Support

Website

https://givingaustinlaborsupport.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Giving Austin Labor Support is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing free doula, postpartum, jail-based, and perinatal childcare support to under-resourced birthing people—primarily low-income and BIPOC families—across Central Texas, funded by donations, grants, and Medicaid reimbursement.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Maternal and Child Health Services

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Child Care Services (6244)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Child Day Care Services (8351)

akta.pro primary industry

Lactation, Postpartum & Perinatal Support Services (HLAFAJAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Postpartum Family Helper (Non-Medical) (HSAAAGAJ), Newborn/Infant Mother’s Helper Support (HSAAAGAB)

Keywords

• Doula services
• Postpartum support
• Perinatal childcare
• Maternal health support
• Community birth support

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: Individual donations, monthly giving program (Sustainability Squad), and event-based fundraising including the annual GALS Disco and GALS Prom
2. Grants and Foundation Funding: Funding from private foundations, grants from organizations like It's Time Texas and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, and City of Austin funding
3. Medicaid Reimbursement: Services covered under Dell Children's Health Plan Medicaid program as a value-added benefit through GALS advocacy

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Giving Austin Labor Support (GALS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides free doula, perinatal childcare, and community support programs for under-supported birthing people and families in the Austin, Texas area. Its core offerings include on-call birth support, prenatal doula services, postpartum support, a jail support program, a perinatal childcare program, community baby showers, and birthworker training.

Product overview

Giving Austin Labor Support (GALS) is a nonprofit organization (501(c)(3)) offering a suite of wrap-around perinatal support programs rather than a traditional software product. The core service portfolio includes On-Call Birth Support (24/7 labor doula dispatch), the Prenatal Doula Program (with Birth Comadres partnership for Spanish-speaking families), Postpartum Support, the Jail Support Program at Travis County Correctional Complex, and the Perinatal Childcare Program (Childcare for Black Mamas) operated in partnership with the Maternal Health Equity Collaborative. Community programs include bi-annual Community Baby Showers. GALS also operates a Birthworker Training and Orientation program to recruit and develop doulas. All services are provided at no cost to qualifying families, with a focus on low-income and BIPOC communities in the Greater Austin area.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• On-Call Birth Support Free on-call birth doula support for under-resourced birthing people in the Austin, Texas area, providing in-person assistance during labor and delivery.
• Prenatal Doula Program Free prenatal doula services for expectant parents, offering education, preparation, and continuous support during the prenatal period for under-resourced families in Austin, Texas.
• Postpartum Support Free postpartum support services for new parents and families in the Austin, Texas area, providing in-person assistance during the postpartum period.
• Jail Support Program Specialized doula and birth support program serving incarcerated pregnant individuals in the Austin, Texas area, providing prenatal, birth, and postpartum support during incarceration.
• Perinatal Childcare Program Free perinatal childcare services for under-supported families in the Austin, Texas area, providing childcare during the perinatal period.
• Community Baby Showers Community-based baby shower events for under-resourced expectant parents in the Austin, Texas area, providing supplies, education, and community connection.
• Birthworker Training Training program for aspiring and current birthworkers, building the local doula and birth support workforce in the Austin, Texas area.

Quantifiable outcome

• Shortened labor times
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Birth ComadrescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2022Partnership to support Spanish-speaking and Latine moms with culturally specific doula and holistic perinatal care. Spanish-speaking families may be matched with a Birth Comadres doula through the Prenatal Doula Program.
• Dell Children's Health PlancoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2022GALS is proud to offer Doulas to Dell Children's Health Plan Medicaid programs as a value-added benefit. Families on this Medicaid plan have access to GALS services covered by insurance.
• Maternal Health Equity Collaborative (MHEC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative of four doula organizations (Black Mamas ATX, GALS, Healing Hands Community Doula Project, Mama Sana Vibrant Woman) and two parental support organizations (Hand to Hold, Partners in Parenting) working to make Austin more equitable for perinatal care.
• Travis County Sheriff's Office and Travis County Correctional ComplexcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership providing programming and doula support for pregnant and postpartum incarcerated individuals for over 7 years. Includes weekly support groups, birth support at hospital, and lactation transport program.
• WIC (Women, Infants and Children)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for ongoing lactation support for families in the Jail Support Program.
• Austin Public HealthminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership providing pump supplies for families in the Jail Support Program lactation transport initiative.
• Partners in Parenting (PIP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Maternal Health Equity Collaborative providing parental support. Co-hosts bi-annual Community Baby Showers reaching 1,000+ people.
• Black Mamas ATXcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember of the Maternal Health Equity Collaborative. Centers Black women in leadership and community work. Joint programs include childcare for Black Mamas.
• Mama Sana Vibrant WomancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember of the Maternal Health Equity Collaborative providing culturally specific perinatal support to communities of color.
• Healing Hands Community Birthing ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember of the Maternal Health Equity Collaborative contributing to wraparound community doula support.
• Hand to HoldcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember of the Maternal Health Equity Collaborative providing parental support alongside doula organizations.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Mama Sana Vibrant Woman: Mama Sana Vibrant Woman is a fellow MHEC member delivering culturally specific doula and perinatal support to communities of color in Central Texas, with directly overlapping services, partners, and target population as GALS.
• Healing Hands Community Birthing Project: Healing Hands is the fourth doula organization in the MHEC collaborative, providing wraparound community doula services for BIPOC families in the Austin area with the same model and population as GALS.
• Ancient Song Doula Services: Ancient Song is a community-based doula organization serving BIPOC families in New York/New Jersey with birth, postpartum, and childbirth education programs, operating the same community doula model as GALS.
• Hand to Hold: Hand to Hold is an MHEC member providing parental support for families with perinatal needs, co-hosting GALS Community Baby Showers and bundling wraparound services for the same BIPOC families GALS serves.
• Mothering Justice: Mothering Justice is a Detroit-based organization providing doula and perinatal support to BIPOC families with a parallel community-led, advocacy-driven model and similar funding mix.
• Birth Comadres: Birth Comadres is a strategic partner of GALS delivering culturally specific doula and holistic perinatal care for Spanish-speaking and Latine families through the Prenatal Doula Program, sharing referral flows and service model.
• Partners in Parenting (PIP): Partners in Parenting is an MHEC member and co-host of bi-annual Community Baby Showers, providing parental support programs to the same Central Texas families GALS serves with perinatal childcare.
• Black Mamas ATX: Black Mamas ATX is a co-member of the Maternal Health Equity Collaborative (MHEC) and provides community doula and perinatal support specifically for Black birthing people in Austin, serving the same culturally specific population as GALS.

Broad incumbents

• National Birth Equity Collaborative (NBEC): NBEC is a national nonprofit focused on birth equity research, policy, and training, operating broader advocacy and capacity-building initiatives that intersect with GALS's mission and community-doula work.

Emerging players

• Mama Glow: Mama Glow is a maternal health platform offering doula training, perinatal support, and content/media, with partial overlap to GALS's birthworker-training and community-doula service lines.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/GALSupport
• Facebookfacebook.com/GALSupport
• Instagraminstagram.com/galsupport
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/galsupport

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Giving Austin Labor Support