What Does Working With A Birth Doula Really Look Like?

So, you’ve read what’s included when you hire me as a Birth Doula on my services page. 

But you still have questions…what would we do / talk about during a prenatal meeting? What does a doula actually do while at your labor and birth?

Snapshot of What A Doula Does:

• Birth Plan Creation & Preferences

• Provide Evidence-Based Resources

• Provide Hands-On Support During Labor

• Objective & Calm Presence No Matter the Type of Birth You Have

• Guide Partner Through The Birthing Process & How To Best Support

• Process Post-Birth Emotions With You

Initial, Pre-Hire Meeting / Consultation

Every doula I have met or heard speak on a podcast meets with a potential client (either in person or virtually) before said doula is hired. 

This meeting is a time for you, the potential client, to ask me, the potential doula, questions about what I do, my philosophy around pregnancy and birth, and just any other questions you may have for me. During this meeting, I will also ask you a few questions and get to know you better and your birth preferences. 

Having a doula that you easily connect with and feel comfortable with is important because the doula will be there for a very intimate and transformative experience. If you didn’t feel like I was right for your birth I would not want you to hire me. 

It is important to me to preserve your birth experience - and if that means that I am not at your birth and I am not your doula then that is what I would want you to do. I will do my best to point you in another doula direction if this is the case.

If you, as the potential client, and me, the potential doula, want to proceed, I will very quickly after the meeting send the contract to the client and we can get started!

I'd love to chat with you. Book your free consultation here!

After Contract Is Signed To the First Prenatal Meeting

After you, the client, have read and signed the contract and paid the deposit, you and I will schedule your first prenatal meeting, and I will send you client intake forms to fill out.

Depending on how many weeks along you are when you hire me, we may wait to put a date on the calendar for your first and second prenatal meetings. I like to do the first prenatal meeting between 28 to 30 weeks in your pregnancy and the second prenatal meeting around 34 or 35 weeks. 

In the meantime, I will send information and resources specific to whatever trimester you’re in, and I will be available via text and email if you have any specific questions about your pregnancy.

If you book my signature doula services package, your pregnancy nutrition coaching session and private yoga & labor preparation session can be scheduled at any time in your pregnancy, even before our first prenatal meeting.

What Happens At Prenatal/Postpartum Meetings With a Doula?  

First Prenatal Meeting: Birth Plan Creation & Preferences (28 to 30 weeks)

This is a big piece of what we’ll do at your first prenatal meeting, which is an in-person meeting. 

I work with you and your partner / primary support person to help you visualize the birth you want and be clear with each other your desires. What would labor and birth look like if everything went exactly to your desired plan? I also ask lots of questions to get you to think and to open discussion.

We will talk about different medical interventions, the risks and benefits of these, and how these might or might not fit into your birth plan / preferences. We’ll also get really specific about how you want the birthing space to look and feel during labor and if there are things that you definitely don’t want to be said or done in your birthing space. 

Your partner will join in with questions or comments and I will help the two of you communicate feelings you are having as labor and birth get closer. I will guide your partner through the birthing process and how to best support you. 

During this meeting we will also act out different laboring positions. I think it is essential to move your body in different ways throughout pregnancy, including various positions that aid in labor progression or pushing because then you aren’t trying to figure it out during a contraction!

Second Prenatal Meeting: Preparing For Labor, Birth, & Postpartum Planning

We will talk again about your birth plan and preferences (as things may have changed). 

This meeting is an in-person check-in on how you are feeling and how you are preparing for labor and birth. We will talk about plans you have in place for different pieces of your life for when you go into labor (older children, pets, work). 

We will talk about breastfeeding, pumping, and formula feeding and your plans or questions you have surrounding that. We’ll go over your postpartum planning and boundaries and address any lingering questions or concerns you may have surrounding birth or the immediate postpartum time. 

Between the first and second prenatal meeting I am still available via text and email to answer questions or send specific resources your way (this availability is detailed more in the contract).  

Book your free consultation here to get started!

Postpartum Check-in With Your Doula (About 10 Days Post-Birth)

At this meeting, I will either meet you at your home or do a virtual call with you. I will listen as you tell me about your birth experience from your POV and how things have been going for you postpartum. I will answer any questions you may have or fill in any gaps in the labor / birth timeline that you may have missed (you were busy laboring!). 

I will provide resources and referrals to other professionals if you have a specific need in your postpartum healing. This might include a pelvic floor therapist, a mental health professional, a lactation consultant, or a nutrition consultant. 

I will also make sure you and your partner have or can get the personal support you need to weather the newborn stage. Sometimes this looks like just reminding you that you can ask for help and that many people around you want to help but may not know exactly what to do. Sometimes that looks like setting up a meal train for you. Whatever I can do to help!

Labor & Birth

When Does a Doula Get There?

Between the second prenatal meeting and the postpartum meeting there is, of course, your labor and the birth of your baby!

It’s hard to detail exactly what this will look like because it will be so unique to your birth setting and when labor begins and how labor begins. But certainly I will be available and want to know if you think labor has begun. I am on call for clients beginning at their 37th week of pregnancy. 

(The following are 'guidelines' and may be different for your birth depending on the arrangement we discuss at your prenatal meetings or your needs at the time labor begins.)

If you’re planning a hospital birth, I would meet you at the hospital once you are admitted and ready for my support.

If you’re planning a home birth, I would join you at home when you begin to feel that your contractions are ramping up and you need my support. 

If you have a scheduled induction (which can take several days), I may come to the hospital in the early phases of the induction to check in with you and make sure you have what you need and answer any questions you may have. Then I would leave and return when contractions begin or when they start Pitocin or when you feel you need my support. 

Scheduled and emergency c-sections are greatly based on the individual situation. My level of and ability to support would be discussed when the time comes. 

Ultimately, every birth is on its own timeline and thus will be a bridge that is crossed when we get to it. 

What Does a Doula Do During Labor?

This will be different for every client. 

But here is a snapshot of what this might include:

• Aromatherapy

• Deep breathing exercises

• Verbal affirmations and reminders

• Massage, hip squeezes, physical comfort measures, hot or cold packs, and position adjustments to provide comfort during childbirth

• Guidance in any communication barrier between mother and healthcare personnel

• Advocacy when birth plan is being overlooked by care team

• Advocacy when client decides to change their birth plan in labor

• Tips for advancing through labor and pushing

• Guiding partner to support during labor

• Guidance in early breastfeeding

• BE THERE FOR THE CLIENT

  
  

Like the last bullet point says, as your doula I am there for you and your needs during your labor, birth, and early postpartum. I am on your team working toward a positive birth experience even if every single one of your plans change. 

You're interested in hiring a birth doula and I'd love to chat with you.

Book your free consultation here to get started!