+ provide physical, emotional, and educational support for women and their families during pregnancy, labor and birth, and postpartum
+ provide information and education on various topics related to pregnancy, birth, and postpartum
+ love helping people better understand their options
+ care for our clients, and want them to feel satisfied with their birth experiences
+ stay with our clients throughout the entire labor and birth
+ reassure our clients as labor progresses
+ provide comfort measures during labor
+ support clients who birth:
~ without pain medication
~ with pain medication
~ via Cesarean
+ help our clients feel confident in their choices regarding labor and birth
+ work with doctors, midwives, and nurses as part of a care team to support our clients in the ways that will help them most
+ help our clients feel confident with breastfeeding, bottle-feeding, and newborn care
+ share recommendations and resources in our community that can assist you on your parenting journey
Doulas DON’T:
+ provide clinical, medical assessment or diagnosis of any kind — it is NOT in our scope of practice as doulas to perform cervical checks, take your blood pressure, monitor the baby’s heartbeat, etc.
+ speak for our clients — we empower our clients to speak for themselves
+ communicate medical decisions to our clients’ providers — we offer unbiased, evidence-based information on procedures and methods, remind you of your goals, and help you determine how to best attain those goals, but you must communicate your decisions to your midwives, doctors, and nurses
–>My husband/partner will be with me during labor, so why would I want a doula?
Your husband or partner will be indispensable during labor. He loves you and knows you best – but he might not know labor. Your doula knows labor and will work to provide support for both of you: to reassure you as labor progresses; with comfort measures; with reminders on how he can help you; and by encouraging you to be confident in your birth decisions and ability to give birth.
–>What if my doula can’t get to my birth?
With out team approach, you’ll know who will be with you during labor. Nurses, midwives, doctors all come and go, but one of your two doulas will be with you consistently. If the extremely rare possibility that both your doulas have something preventing them from getting to you (family emergency, illness, car accident, act of God), a backup doula will attend your birth. The doulas we contract with for backup support are also professional and hold to the same standards we do. Every birth doula contract includes a backup doula.
–>How does payment work?
For birth doula services: A non-refundable retainer fee of half your package total is due upon contract signing. This secures your doulas will be on-call for you.
For classes: Fee is payable upon registration for each class.
For HG support services outside of birth doula support: A non-refundable retainer fee of half your package total is due upon contract signing.
All balances for birth doula services and HG support services are due by 36 weeks. Blessed Birth Doula of CNY accepts cash (receipt will be provided), check, or money order.
–>Do you take my insurance?
Unfortunately, most insurance policies do not directly cover doula care. Some insurance companies may reimburse you after the birth of your baby. We are happy to provide documentation for you to submit directly to your insurance company.
