What is a Postpartum Doula?
Many people know what a birth doula is, someone who gives emotional support and knowledge and understanding of the birth process to individuals while giving birth. But what is a postpartum doula? A postpartum doula is someone who provides support in the three month period after birth. You can think of a doula with the acronym NEAR: Nurture, Educate, Assess, and Refer:
Nurture: A postpartum doula will give support to the postpartum family, helping to satisfy the families emotional and physical needs. A doula can do this though listening, doing dishes and other light household chores, going on a grocery run, and being an unbiased sounding board to help you gain the confidence to make decisions for your family.
Educate: A postpartum doula will provide educational materials and non-biased fact-based and research backed information to the family to help them in their decision making, in understanding the safety recommendations for both baby and birth parent, and in understanding what is normal and what is not regarding bodily changes after birth.
Assess: A postpartum doula will assess your physical and emotional well-being and…
Refer: Refer you to a qualified health professional where appropriate. This referral is important as 24.5% of maternal deaths occur between days 2 and 7 postpartum, and 24.9% of maternal deaths occur between days 8 and 42 postpartum (according to an NIH Article on Maternal Mortality, 2022).
When to Hire a Postpartum Doula and What to Look for in a Postpartum Doula
A postpartum doula can be hired anytime during pregnancy. You should be able to provide a birth “date” to your doula upon hiring. Your doula will want to sit down with you to discuss and create your post-birth plan and this is ideally created before giving birth when you have a longer attention span (your baby will take your attention after birth). Does this mean you cannot hire a postpartum doula after birth? Absolutely not! It will just be more difficult for you and your doula to be able to create a postpartum plan and there is a possibility that you may not mesh well with your doula.
Everyone is going to have different criteria for a postpartum doula. You will probably want someone who is knowledgeable and trained in being a postpartum doula. Certification boards take most of that work for you, as they have lengthy requirements for their accreditation. At the time of my writing this, I am still in the process of obtaining my certification from DONA International. If you would like to be one of the clients I use in my application, I am currently offering a 25% discount if you agree to hiring me for 12 hours in the first 12 weeks postpartum, fill out an evaluation form of my performance, and agree to allow me to share details of my experience with the DONA certification board. If this is something you are interested in, we can discuss it at our consult which you can sign up for here.
In addition to knowledge, you will also want to assess personality. Do you have a personality that meshes well with the doula you are meeting with? Do you think you’d be able to open up to this person about any birth trauma or mental illness you may struggle with after birth? When this person listens to you, do you feel heard? Can you effectively communicate your wishes to this individual?
Ok, so you have a knowledgeable doula, they mesh with your personality, but do they offer all the services you want from a doula? Some doulas offer additional services like overnight care, cooking services, and cleaning services.
And one last thing you may want to consider is if this is an agency or an individual? Both have their pros and cons. If you hire an individual, you are sure to get them each time you book an appointment, and they are more likely to wholeheartedly stick with their advertised values. With an agency, you are more likely to be able to schedule appointments at any time you desire and their increased resources can help them in a variety of ways including being able to respond to messages more quickly. Grounding Gwyneth is a brand that I am creating for myself, so if you book with me, you are booking an individual and not an agency or group of doulas.
What to Expect from a Consult
Your postpartum doula will want to know what you want to get out of your partnership, so come prepared to answer questions about what you want. As a part of this, the number of visits you would like out of the partnership will also be discussed. The doula will have guiding questions though, so don’t stress too much about this part if you are not quite sure about what you want yet. The doula will want to know about the household including any pets, other children, anyone else living in the household, and anything else they might encounter in your living abode.
A chance to ask questions. This is a really good opportunity to ask any questions you have about the doula, how they operate, their hours of operation, etc.
The doula will also probably go over a postpartum plan with you at this meeting to help you decide about what you want during your postpartum period. These decisions won’t necessarily have a direct correlation to what the doula will help you do in your home, but they should help make your life post-birth easier.
If both parties are amiable to the service, the doula will likely present a contract of service for everyone to sign. The doula may want an initial payment to reserve your spot on their client list.
The rates for hiring Gwyneth as a postpartum doula are as follows:
3 hour session (BEST VALUE): $140
2 hour session: $100
1 hour session: $60
Gwyneth offers a reduced rate for a yoga or reiki private if booked in the same visit as the postpartum doula visit of $60, a reduction of $15.
In order to schedule a doula session, first schedule the consult above and Gwyneth will provide the link to sign up once each party agrees to the doula contract.