Hiring a Doula
I love being a doula, and I loved my doulas! Even though I didn’t have a doula attend my emergency cesarean, I loved having doula support throughout my pregnancy and postpartum! I had a postpartum doula when my husband was deployed and it was lifesaving. As a doula myself, it was easy knowing who I wanted to support me because I knew my options and exactly what a doula was.
When you are hiring a doula, here are some things to consider.
Their training/certifications: Being a doula, I know of several amazing organizations that doulas can become certified with. There are also noncertified doulas or traditonal doulas who learn through mentorships with other doulas. Would you prefer a certified doula? Do you want your doula to have liability insurance and/or their LLC?
My certification required CPR/First Aid training, is that a priority for you when it comes to doula care in for family? Doulas can also be trained in other areas, such as being a certified CLC or IBCLC, childbirth educator, etc. and will often list their credentials on their website or during an interview.
The type of support you are looking for and how many hours: There are several different scopes of practice in doula work such as labor and birth support, postpartum care, infant care, reproductive health doulas and more. Are you looking for a labor support doula to come to your home while you labor or just where you will be giving birthing (whether that be home birth, birthing center, or hospital)?
Are you wanting a doula to provide postpartum support as well, or maybe you only want postpartum support? Does postpartum support mean day time shifts to help you decompress, have a moment to yourself to shower, and someone to talk to while laundry gets done? Or do you prefer overnight postpartum care where you focus on maximizing your sleep, while your doula sleeps near baby and changes them, bottle feeds them or brings them to you to breastfeed, and then changes and puts baby back to sleep?
Do you want immediate postpartum care to support your healing and minimize your heavy lifting those first few days? Do you want postpartum care while your family and friends are visiting, so your doula can act as the buffer and enforcer of your rules and boundaries, and you don’t have to worry about being perceived as the “bad guy”? Do you want your postpartum care to start a few days after you are settled into your home? Maybe you want postpartum care when your partner returns to work or deploys, or maybe you want care after your family has left. My advice to you is to try to narrow down the type of care you think you want, that way you can verify that the doula you hire does offer those services.
Your values/non-negotiables: This is very dependent on who makes up your family and what your values are. Maybe you want a doula who supports you through your VBAC, or you want a doula who will help optimize your positioning while you labor with an epidural. Maybe you have pets in the house and you need your doula to be comfortable around large dogs/not be deathly allergic to your friendly cats. Maybe you have an immunocompromised family member and vaccination status is important to you. It is so important that the doula you are bringing in to support you during some of your most vulnerable hours is aligned with your values and choices, and is unbiased. Your doula should be trained and capable with supporting whatever laboring, birth, or parenting choices you make.
Your budget: I know talking about finances is considered “taboo” to some, but this is important! My husband and I knew we wanted birth support, and by finding a doula earlier in our pregnancy, we were able to effectively budget for labor and postpartum support. I understand being able to afford a doula may be more difficult for some, maybe it’s not within your budget to have labor and postpartum support. As much as I love supporting families through doula work, financially supporting myself and my family is a huge priority. It is ok to ask your doula what the overall cost will be for their services, and to look over their contract before signing! Maybe they offer a birth and postpartum bundle, maybe you just purchase their labor and birth package, maybe you only purchase a set amount of postpartum hours you can afford. If you register on Babylist.com they even have a feature where people can contribute to your doula fund (which I HIGHLY recommend, I seriously think there’s no better gift than the gift of a doula).
I hope these tips help you find a doula to support you in your labor and/or postpartum care. If doula support with me sounds like the right fit for you, I would love to meet with you! Email me at hello@thebirthchronicles.co
And in case you haven’t heard it today, you’re doing a great job!
xo, Kayla
