Postpartum - Newborn Feeding & Care
The 4th Trimester - The Weeks Following Baby's Birth
What Does a Postpartum Doula Do?
Postpartum doulas are trained to care for the family unit because each member of the family experiences their own recovery and transition when a new baby comes home. Parents of the new baby may have other children, may have lost their own parent, or simply live so far away that family support is not available. A postpartum doula’s role changes slightly with the needs of each new family.
Doulas enter the home with experience and familiarity with newborns, maternal and paternal recovery, and suggestions that help save time and energy in everyday life. Bonding with a new baby is easier when you have had a nap, a meal, a shower, and some company. It’s easier for children to settle when they resume their routines as smoothly as possible, and have their own needs met with minimal disruption.
Postpartum doula support aims to decrease feelings of isolation and improve sleep. Meeting these two goals decreases the likelihood that you will experience postpartum mood disorders, and depression.
Unlike birth support, postpartum support is scheduled in advance, and often changes over the course of a contract.
Support is available at sunrise (6:30am-10:30am), day hours (8am-4pm), overnight (8pm-6am), which gives flexibility to each new family to bring in help at the times that are most helpful to them. During the day shifts, meal prep, kitchen tidying, and baby’s laundry are ways of caring for mother and baby. When the home is organized and clean, there is time for a nap, a chat, or peaceful bonding.
Doulas Support The Family In Transition -
Hourly Rates for 2025 $70 for day/$75 for overnight
Postpartum Mood Disorders
Symptoms Are Temporary and Treatable - Ask for Help
PPMD is the umbrella for the health conditions that can affect new mothers, during pregnancy or in the postpartum period. Take the time now to learn what the symptoms can be, and share them with your partner or family members, so they know how to best protect your wellness. An excellent source of information and resources is Postpartum Support International.
Some families who experience PPMD’s reach out for doula support on short notice, which is a helpful bridge between birth, therapy and diagnosis. Sleep deprivation during the first few weeks can definitely make it difficult to adjust to life with a baby. A doula will understand what you are experiencing, reinforce the idea that you will not lose your baby because you ask for help.
The Baby Blues do not hang around for long, and they are not as upsetting if you understand how much change your hormones are doing in the first two weeks. Knowledge about what will happen IN your body is as important as the physical changes in your appearance, because being prepared reduces anxiety.
Postpartum Doula vs Night Nurse
Totally Different Roles for Similar Clients
This is an important topic for new parents to learn. Doulas are trained, certified and insured (most of the time) to understand and recognize typical postpartum recovery, as well as newborn behavior. This is the reason a doula will enter your home with the goal of sharing newborn care & comfort, breastfeeding practices, preparation of formula & bottles, meal prep and tidying of the common areas. Night nurses are not usually with you for any task other than caring for the baby.
Night nurses are usually not nurses, and some have deep knowledge while others do not. The doula will provide resources for other specialities, and offer insight when recovery is normal and also when it needs more specific intervention. Depending on your budget, benefits, and lifestyle, make the choice after you have vetted the person who will be handling your baby once you get home.
Fertility Benefits Cover Postpartum Doulas
You Have 6 Weeks Worth of Doula Time, Thank your employer
This topic cannot be covered enough, in my opinion. So many of my clients have no idea that they have fertility benefits at all, never mind the details of the coverage. During a handful of introductions, clients have told me that they did not know they could get a doula with their first baby until a co-worker told them. Others mention where they work, and I tell them I have or have had a client who also works for the same company, who is being reimbursed for all expenses related to my service.
This coverage is usually worth from $12,000 to $60,000 lifetime benefit. There are restrictions on how long the coverage remains in place after the birth of a baby, what type of certifications a doula must have, and the appropriate ways to use them. Every new family deserves postpartum support, and you will be grateful if that help can come without a hit to your bottom line. I am well-versed and experienced in working with Carrot, Maven, and out of network with commercial insurances that cover certain doula benefits.