Birth Doula Services

• Two face-to-face meetings with the birth mother and any other partner(s) she wishes to have. The first meeting is free, generally lasts 90 minutes to two hours, and is used to determine compatibility in personalities, birth philosophies, and general “I want to do this with her” feeling. I will never take it personally if someone elects not to use me. This is YOUR birth, and you need to have it YOUR way. 

• If desired, I can be in attendance at one of your last month’s prenatal appointments to go over any questions with your doctor. (Please let your doctor know at the meeting prior that your doula will be attending the next meeting.) Please let me know your scheduled appointment two weeks prior so that it does not conflict with another birth mother’s appointment.

• Phone calls & E-mail Support: Feel free to call me at any time with questions or concerns. I am available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week starting two weeks prior to your birth for possible labor calls and concerns and two weeks after your delivery for any postpartum, breastfeeding, or infant care questions. All clients will have my direct cell phone number. Otherwise, you may e-mail me or call me as needed during the day with any other questions or concerns. Medical questions should be relayed to your medical care provider. If I cannot be instantly reached, a message should be left on my voice mail.

• Home Labor Support:  I will be more than happy to meet you at your home once you feel you are in labor and would like my services to begin. (It is up to the mother. Some may feel more comfortable going through their daily routine without additional support.) Sometimes (and depending upon the time of the day), I may suggest we go walk or even up and down the stairs of the hospital to get labor progressing. When contractions reach 5 minutes apart or are too painful to bear, I will need to meet you at your laboring location (hospital, most likely, and home only if a licensed midwife or doctor is present).

• Hospital Labor Support:  I will meet you at the hospital when you elect to go to the hospital. This may be when contractions are 5 minutes apart or when they are just too strong to bear. It may be when you and your doctor elect to induce your birth. It may be when your water breaks with no contractions. Whenever you go to the hospital, I will meet you there whenever you want me to arrive. I will attend at the following area hospitals with the given realistic response times in parentheses:
• Wenatchee Valley Hospital (20-minute response time) 

In the case of an emergency c-section or traumatic birth, it will be at your doctor’s discretion as to whether s/he will allow both your partner and your doula in the operating or birthing room. While my primary role will be that of birth support, I should be available to take some pictures, if you desire, for you as well.

• Postpartum Care:  I will remain with you after birth for about 30 minutes to an hour, sometimes longer and occasionally shorter. (You may just want to be alone with your new love, or you may want some assistance with breastfeeding or postpartum contractions care.) My goal is to see the birth mother settled in and comfortable and then to gracefully exit. If desired, I will be able to take a few photographs for you during this time as well. 

• Breastfeeding Support:  If desired, I will provide the birth mother with breastfeeding support after birth. Depending upon the circumstances of the birth, this may be initially after birth or several hours after birth (as in the case of a c-section). I will also be available for telephone and e-mail support for breastfeeding questions two weeks postpartum.

• Postpartum Follow-up:  I will either call you or see you in person about one week after your birth to get feedback on your birth experience and answer any more questions that you may have. 

Do you have one or more backup doulas for times when you are not available? What are your availability and response times for support?

 At this time I do not directly work with a backup doula. I am currently a stay-at-home mother with a 15-minute response time for weekday back-up childcare for my own children. [When choosing your doula, you should always consider her availability due to any full-time or part-time employment and/or conflicts with access to after-hours or last-minute childcare for their own children.] If I have any planned vacations, I will let the birth mother know before any paperwork for services are signed. After a birth is scheduled, no vacations will be planned 10 days before or after her due date without her consent. If a vacation is scheduled during another time of her pregnancy, the birth mother will be notified so that she knows I will not be available for consultations during that time. I will not schedule overlapping birth support. This means I will not schedule a birth mother with a due date within 2 weeks of another mother.

Do you have any personal birth, religious or professional background information that should be shared with clients that may affect how you provide services?

 My first pregnancy was uneventful and “easy” – yet I ended up with an emergency c-section under general anesthesia. Complications continued for both my newborn and me. This experience provided me with first-hand knowledge of “the scary event of having all your best birth plans go wrong.” Because my emergency c-section was directly caused by a complication with an epidural, it did make me less supportive of epidurals. [I like to disclose this fact outright, but it does not mean that if a mother chooses to have an epidural I will not be fully supportive of her decision. I just like all birth mothers to know that “no epidural” was my personal preference for my subsequent births.]

After my c-section I had to find four different doctors willing and supportive of doing a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) for four additional births. I can appreciate the added complications during a VBAC delivery, what concerns a doctor has and why s/he may desire certain precautions and the additional issues that may arise during birth.

I have had one birth induced by the breaking of water. I have had one birth assisted with Pitocin. I have had some births requiring sutures. I have had four vaginal births with no pain medication of any kind provided. I have had excellent nursing support in hospitals for medication-free deliveries, and I have had extremely poor nursing support for a medication-free delivery. I can say that my best delivery was my last one which was with the assistance of a doula. That was my primary turning point for becoming certified. Although assisting mothers in their birth process has always been a passion of mine, after having such an invaluable experience with a doula, I wanted to be certified.

I am a practicing Christian and attend a Protestant service weekly. I am comfortable praying with my clients if they wish to have this as part of their birth experience. At the same time, I am very supportive of a client including a different religious preference as part of their birth experience or having no religious aspect included in their birth experience. My ultimate desire is to follow the wishes of the birth mother so that she can have the birth experience she desires.

Last, I do need to disclose that I am married to a physician. I do enjoy discussing my birth families with my spouse because the families are important to me. However, I do not discuss any medically related issues and cannot ask him any questions on your behalf. Please let me know if you do not want me to disclose any information about you with my spouse.

What is your fee? What does it include, and what are your refund policies?

I charge a flat-rate fee of $450 for all services. A $50 nonrefundable fee will be charged upon retaining my services. If you attend a full childbirth education class, generally 12 or more hours, I will deduct $50 from my fee. The remaining $400 (or $450 without a class) may be paid in installments but is completely due at least two weeks prior to the due date or upon delivery, whichever is earlier.

In the unforeseen event that I am unable to attend your birth because of speed of the birth, no additional fee will be charged. I will still arrive at the hospital for postpartum and breastfeeding support. If your pregnancy results in a scheduled c-section where my services do not exceed 2 hours (to include hospital supportive care, postpartum care, and breastfeeding care, the remainder due will be only $100). If I must cancel my birth services with you, I will refund all fees paid for birth services. If your birth results in an unplanned c-section and I have rendered supportive services up through the time of the unplanned c-section, all fees are as the same as if it was the regularly planned vaginal birth.

What guarantees can you make as a doula?

I can only guarantee my strong desire to provide the best support for you as the birth mother and for any partner(s) in the birth. Even with the best plans, I can make no guarantee that your birth plan will be successfully be met. Any doula who makes guarantees is one that may have her own interests overriding the best interest of the mother and baby. I cannot guarantee an unmedicated, procedural-free, or vaginal delivery, but if these are your goals, I can guarantee to provide doula skills and knowledge to greatly increase your odds of reaching that goal.

What limits do you have as a birth doula?

Although my graduate degree is in counseling, I cannot legally serve as your counselor. I can make recommendations for therapy, but I cannot be your actual therapist.

Although I have experience in medical procedures, I cannot serve in the capacity of a licensed medical professional. Thus, I cannot take your blood pressure, perform fetal assessments, check your cervix for dilation, perform alternative treatments, recommend alternative drugs for inducing labor, etc. I cannot assist in the actual delivery of your baby.

I cannot drive you or any other family member to your place of birth.

Although I can support you in your birth process by explaining birth options and even provide my opinion if you request it, I cannot make any birth decisions for you. Like all doulas, my opinion falls within the limit of birth support knowledge and not medical knowledge.

May we meet to discuss our birth plans and the role you will play in supporting me through birth?

Absolutely! In fact, I believe this must be a mutually agreeable and likeable relationship. It is important that we all feel comfortable with each other.

May we call you with questions or concerns before and after the birth?

Yes! I am available for general questions related to your birth experience by telephone or e-mail before your birth. I am available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week starting two weeks prior to your birth for possible labor calls and concerns and two weeks after your delivery for any postpartum, breastfeeding, or infant care questions. All clients will have my direct cell phone number.

When do you try to join women in labor? Do you come to our home or meet us at the place of birth?

I meet you at your home or at your place of birth, whichever is part of your birth plan, when you call me to come. I am fully aware that your birth plan is ever involving. You may initially decide for me to meet you at your hospital, but when birth begins, you may actually decide for me to assist you at your home. In essence, I will join you in your labor when you decide to have me join you.

Do you meet with us after the birth to review the labor and answer questions?

Yes! I will either meet you in person briefly or over the phone to review your labor experience and answer any questions that you may have. Ideally, I’d like to meet with you within two weeks of your birth, but I fully understand that your free time is precious, and I want our meeting to be more beneficial to you and than to me.

It looks like we may be a good match! What is my next step?

Call or e-mail me and let’s set up a time to meet in person. Ideally, you should have any other birth partner(s) that you want at your labor involved in our meeting. At this meeting, I will listen to your concerns and wishes for your birth experience, answer any of your questions, and ask you a few questions about how I can best help you meet your goals. I’m sure there will be some things that I may bring up that you may have never thought about before, so have a pen and paper ready! This initial meeting is free of charge.

If you choose to have me as your doula, I will ask you to sign some paperwork. This will include: (1) Letter of Agreement detailing my services, limitations, and fees; and (2) a Confidentiality Agreement so that your healthcare professionals and I can discuss your care during your birth. I will then require $50 (cash or check) for retaining my services.