What is a birth doula anyway!? Below I’ll share everything you need to know about doulas and how to hire the right one, so let’s dive in!
Three things we’re going to talk about today
What is a doula’s role?
Different types of doulas
Affording a doula
How to find and pick a doula
Ways a doula can benefit you
And so much more!
What is a Doula?
A doula is there to support a woman and her family during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. She is there to offer physical, emotional, and spiritual support during this transforming time in a woman's life. A birth doula can help fill the gap that exists in prenatal care. By sharing her knowledge on all things pregnancy, birth,, and postpartum, she helps women to be informed, confident and comfortable. A doula is an advocate and protector of the mother's wishes. She helps the mother feel confident in advocating for herself, and if needed will advocate on her behalf.
A doula is not a medical professional, and will not perform medical duties. Unlike a medical professional, a doula will remain with you your entire labor. Your OB, Midwife, or nurse has many other patients and responsibilities as well. A doula is there as an additional support person who is an expert in natural birth and passionate about helping women achieve the birth they desire.
A doula's role is different from what a husband, partner, friend, or mother can offer, although they do overlap beautifully. A doula does not replace other people on your birth team but rather adds to their ability to support you well. A doula helps your husband or other partner help you! She will advise on pain coping techniques and positions, encourage the whole birth team to drink water and nourish their bodies, rest and so much more so that they can best support momma too. A doula helps you prepare for birth ahead of time and incorporate the information, techniques, and decision-making skills you learned into the intenseness and uncertainties of the labor and birth process. A doula is a guide and calm reassurance for both mom and other birth support present.
What are the different types of doulas?
Doulas have many different specialties and can offer a very wide range of services. For instance, there are fertility doulas, birth doulas, postpartum doulas, bereavement doulas, doulas that only teach childbirth education, and more! A doula may do one specific thing, such as just attend births, and may consider themselves purely a birth doula. Other doulas do many of these things. They may offer preconception resources or services, attend births, and help moms in the postpartum time as well! Many doulas are full spectrum and have a wide range of services. It is important to decide which kind of support you would like and find the right doula for you.
It is important to remember, that because a doula isn’t a medical professional, not offering medical advice, and is not (usually) associated with the medical system, that a doula does not need to be certified to be a good doula. In fact, many doulas chose to not certify with a governing body to maintain their full sovereignty. An uncertified doula is not an untrained doula. Many uncertified doulas have the time and resources to really take their education into their own hands and find training that aligns with their values and the values and needs of the clients they serve. The only reason I’d advise someone to look for a certified doula vs an uncertified doula would be if they plan on using insurance to pay for their doula. Unfortunately, insurance companies and employers require that a doula is certified and jumps through all their hoops in order to make it harder for uncertified doulas. This also limits the doulas that a mother is able to hire even if she finds the perfect fit. Keep reading below to find out ways to afford a doula without using insurance!
How to afford a doula!
There is a wide range of prices for doula services depending on location, individual doulas, and services offered. You can expect to pay anywhere from $500-$2,500 for birth doula services. Now, this is a huge range! So how do you decide what's reasonable for you? I’d recommend looking at a lot of different websites for local doulas to see what you can expect in your area. But remember, you want to find the doula that is the right fit for you and not base your decision on the price of services alone.
How do you afford a doula though!? Well, here are some ideas. Just like anything you really want, you need to think about this as an investment. One of my favorite things I’ve heard is moms having a doula fund on their baby registry. I think this is such an amazing idea and such a lovely way to make this more attainable. A second idea would be to figure out how much money you can set aside each week or month. You will probably be amazed at how much money you can set aside when you allocate your money appropriately. It may be uncomfortable, but if money is tight, figure out what you can “give up” like eating out, or canceling a few subscriptions so you can invest in yourself and your baby. Also, doulas are often very flexible and may even have scholarships and/or payment plans available.
The last thing I want to note when it comes to affording a doula. Think about how much you spent on your wedding, your last vacation, and your hobbies. Now considering this, how much more important is your health and wellbeing to you now? How important is it to you that you and your baby have the best start possible? Consider this when you are thinking you can’t afford a doula. Invest in yourself, don’t be too proud you think you can do it all yourself. You weren’t made to do this unsupported.
How to find a doula, and how to choose a doula to hire
You could find a doula through a recommendation from a family member, friend, chiropractor, midwife,G or even another doula! Word of mouth is a great way to start! Also a quick google search “doula near me” will often populate great results or websites like doulamatch.net.
Interviewing with multiple doulas will help you to narrow down what kind of support you are looking for and find the doula you “vibe” with too. You want to be able to feel super comfortable with your doula and hopefully be friends with them too! You want to mesh well and probably have similar values as them as well. Having a good relationship with your doula is going to make meeting with them during pregnancy so much fun and having them at your birth feel so right.
You can make a list of questions to ask different doulas to help you organize your thoughts and make the interview process easier! Interviewing with a doula is so low-key! It’s like meeting a new friend for coffee, and even if you don't hire them, no hard feelings, it was beneficial to you both! Remember, doulas also are “interviewing” you! They may have a few questions for you too to make sure it feels like a good fit for them too. Most doulas value the “good fit” feeling on their end too. A good fit is important for the long-term relationship and so that momma can be supported in the best way possible.
How a doula can benefit you!
A doula's worth is so deep and the benefits to mommas, babies, and families are obvious. Here is a big long list, so you can see exactly what I mean!
Increased physical comfort in labor
Enhance labor progress
Reduce stress and fear in pregnancy and the birth room
Help the mother and birth team feel safe and less afraid
Guide and reassure partners
Greater chance of having a spontaneous vaginal delivery
Lower cesarean rates (39% less likely)
Shorter labors (31% less likely to use Pitocin to speed up labor)
Fewer requests for pain medication (%12 less likely to get an epidural)
Fewer NICU admissions
Greater satisfaction with birth
Wow, that was a lot! Now you know what a doula is, the different types of doulas, how you can afford to hire a doula, how to find and hire a doula, and just a few of the benefits a doula can offer. Remember your birth experience matters! And your birth experience will affect you, it will change you! I want you to have the birth of your dreams! So invest in the support you need and deserve to make that a reality!
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I can’t wait to get to know you more!
Two great articles on this topic: https://nationalpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/continous-labor-suppor-cochrane-review-2017-takeaways.pdf
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