What is a Birth Doula?
In nearly every culture throughout history, birthing people have been surrounded and cared for by other women and experienced helpers during childbirth. The modern doula is a manifestation of this ancient tradition.
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The doula's role is to provide physical and emotional support, information and advocacy to the new family during pregnancy, birth and the immediate postpartum period. The doula offers help and advice on comfort measures such as breathing, massage, relaxation, movement and positioning. Doulas also assist families in gathering information about the course of their labor and their options.
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Doulas do not make decisions for their clients; they do not project their own values and goals onto the laboring person. The doula's goal is to help the parents-to-be have a safe and satisfying childbirth as they define it.
People who are attended by a doula have:
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Shorter labors.
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Fewer complications/fewer cesarean sections.
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Less medical intervention, including labor induction and forceps.
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Fewer requests for pain medication.
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A greater sense of satisfaction with their birth experience.
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More positive assessments of their babies.
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Less postpartum depression.
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Babies with shorter hospital stays and fewer admissions to special care nurseries.
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Babies that breastfeed more easily.
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Better communication and understanding between the birthing persoon, partner, and the medical staff.
How does your partner fit in?
The birthing person's partner plays an essential role in providing support. A doula cannot make some of the unique contributions that the partner makes, such as intimate knowledge of the birthing person and love for her and her baby. The doula is there in addition to, not instead of, the partner. With a doula present the pressure on the partner is decreased so that he or she can enjoy the birthing experience.
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Partners often feel relieved when they can rely on a doula for help and are able to participate at their own comfort level. For those partners who want to play an active supporting role, the doula assists and guides them in effective ways to help the person in labor. If fact, research shows that partners participate more in supporting the laboring person and during the early postpartum care of mom and baby, as a result of the presence of a trained doula.
What's Included
Boston Doula Circle's birth doula package includes these services and benefits:
–A copy of The Doula Guide to Birth book by BDC's director Ananda Lowe, published by Penguin Random House
–Free access to BDC-led workshops on-demand (these full-length classes are 1.5-2 hours each)
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Be Prepared for the 5 Types of Births
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Unmedicated Birth Workshop
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Partner Massage for Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond
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Preparing for Baby & Postpartum
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Preparing for Breastfeeding/Chestfeeding
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A Mind/Body Approach to Nursing
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Pain While Nursing
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Nursing and Sleep Issues
–Free access to the 2-hour official Spinning Babies parent class on-demand, with follow-up Spinning Babies support from BDC doulas
–Monthly phone call with your Doula Guru (team contact person)
–Attendance at Meet The Doulas to meet all BDC doulas who may be supporting you
–Assistance with creating your written birth plan
–One 2-hour prenatal visit in your home
–Unlimited email and text support
–We are on-call for your birth starting from the time that you sign your contract. There are no limits to the dates of your on-call period.
–For a spontaneous labor, we provide telephone support in early labor, then continuous in-person support from active labor until 1-2 hours after birth
–For a medical induction of labor, we provide extended virtual support in early labor (by Zoom, Facetime or speakerphone), then continuous in-person support from active labor until 1-2 hours after birth
–One post-birth visit in your home
–DAILY postpartum check-ins to support breastfeeding for 7-14 days
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Fees
Our fee for birth doula services is $2700
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You may request a payment plan to spread out our fee.
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Doula fees qualify for FSA/HSA reimbursement.
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You can include doula services on your baby registry, so family and friends may contribute to the fee like so:
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For clients who receive MassHealth, we offer a significant discount. Please inquire with us about this option!