.png)
What Working with a Birth Doula Includes
- Chelsey van der Munnik
- Apr 29
- 6 min read
You've looked at my doula packages but maybe you still have questions…what would we actually 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, Childbirth Education, & Postpartum Planning
Provide Evidence-Based Resources for Your Specific Pregnancy & Birth Symptoms & Needs
Provide Hands-On, Emotional, & Informational 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
Check on your postpartum recovery
Comprehensive support - education, preparation of mind & body, hands-on support
Initial, Pre-Hire Meeting / Consultation
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, as the potential client, and me, the potential doula, want to proceed, I will send the contract to you after the meeting 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 have read and signed the contract and paid the retainer, you and I will schedule your first prenatal meeting, and I will send you 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 21 to 26 weeks in your pregnancy and the second prenatal meeting around 34 to 37 weeks gestation.
In the meantime, I will send information and resources specific to your birth priorities, and I will be available via text and email if you have any specific questions about your pregnancy.
What Happens at Prenatal/Postpartum Meetings with a Doula?
First Prenatal Meeting: Birth Plan Creation, Goals, & Education (21 to 26 weeks)
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?
If you have had a child or children before, I like to hear you and your partner describe the timeline of that or those births. I want to know what worked for you in that birth, what didn't work, and if you had a doula before how they supported you best.
If this is your first pregnancy, I like to go through childbirth education with you and your partner. It's tough to create a birth plan if you don't know the options available to you or what to expect.
We will go through the stages of labor and what those stages might look like and how you can cope through each stage. We'll 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 & comfort measures. 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). And if we have any more labor positions & comfort measures to practice through. We will also nail down my role in supporting you through birth and when I will come to meet you once labor begins. (Sometimes I meet clients at the hospital and sometimes I go to their homes before they head to the hospital to support them in early labor)
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 (which typically lasts about 90 mins), I will either meet you at your home (greatly preferred) or do a virtual call with you. I will listen as you tell me about your birth experience from your point-of-view and how things have been going for you and your family postpartum (physical healing, emotional wellbeing).
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 & the postpartum meeting there is, of course, your labor & 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 may meet you at the hospital once you are admitted and/or are just ready for my support or I may support you at your home before heading to the hospital if you want to labor at home as long as possible.
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/or you just 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 techniques & coaching
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, helping baby get into an optimal position, & pushing
Guiding partner to support during labor & connect with mom & baby
Guidance in early breastfeeding
BE THERE FOR THE CLIENT & HER PARTNER
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!
Comments