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A ‘Doula’ is a woman who cares for a mother-to-be and her partner before, during and after childbirth. The word Doula is Greek and is used to describe the most important women in a Greek household who cares for the mother. Doula’s use their training and experience to support your decisions before labour, your decisions are empowered and informed during labour and a postnatal Doula will ensure your first few weeks are as smooth as possible, enabling you to relax into new motherhood without worrying about meals, cleaning, other children, pets and others.
Birth Doula – a Doula to support you and your partner antenatal and during birth
Whether you are preparing for a natural, home, hospital or c-section birth your Doula will be there to support you and your partner antenatal and during your birth. Her role is not to replace your birth partner’s role, but to enhance it and involve them at a level they are comfortable with.
Reasons why you might employ a Birth Doula;
- You have other children
- You don’t have a birth partner
- Your partner wants be involved but doesn’t know how best to go about it.
- You or your partner are worried or anxious about the experience
- You want a knowledgeable woman to be consistent support throughout your labour
- You had a traumatic or emotional previous experience of birth
What to expect when choosing a Birth Doula: You should expect to have a no obligation, free meeting with a couple of birth Doulas to ask them questions about their availability, experience, skills etc and choose the Doula whom you and your partner feel most comfortable with. A Doula who has completed Doula training and gained a qualification (based on Doula UK) and is completing her first few births may charge up from £150 and Doulas who have completed a professional interview and are a recognised Doula, they are likely to charge between £400-700 depending on experience, additional skills and geographical area.
Postnatal Doula – a Doula to support you and your partner after birth at home
This is when you might need a caring woman the most, perhaps a Doula who has experienced birth themselves and whom you can talk to about your experience. You may be concerned that you may struggle with a newborn, a Doula can help you feed, bathe and settle your baby and support you in as many ways as she can. You may need some household chores completed around the house like washing up, laundry, cleaning or perhaps you need nutritious meals made and frozen so all you need to do is warm them up!
There are many things you may not think about regarding taking your baby home and what will need to be done so your postnatal Doula is there so you don’t need to think about them, you can concentrate on you and your newborn.
What to expect when choosing a Postnatal Doula: You may expect to pay (based on Doula UK) £10-£15 per hour for your postnatal Doula. Interview a few and ensure you have picked the most suitable postnatal Doula for you and your partner. You can book her in your pregnancy and she can be available when you have had your baby. You may not realise you would like a postnatal Doula until a few weeks after birth; you can still find a postnatal Doula to support you.
The Maternity Network ensures their therapists have qualifications and insurance. The Maternity Network takes not responsibility for the treatments or services provided by the therapists listed in this site. We do our best to ensure they are qualified but cannot guarantee this information as they are self employed, not working for the Maternity Network.
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