What to Look For When Choosing a Doula?

Let’s Talk Doulas!

Have you ever heard of a doula? Do you wonder what they do? Should you have one?

What is a Doula? A Doula is a trained, community-based non-medical professional who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to a pregnant person. They will continue support throughout pregnancy, at labor and delivery and continue support after pregnancy period or during the period up to one year after pregnancy. Each doula offers a different time frame of support.

Every expectant mom who is preparing for birth has thousands of questions during pregnancy, labor and after. A doula is a great resource to not only answer your many questions but to provide you with support throughout all stages of your pregnancy, labor, delivery and post-partum. So, I wanted to see if I could give you some help in deciding to get some top things for you to look for from a certified doula.

When choosing a doula, you should take the following into account.

1)      How long have they been in the birth world? What is their experience not only in years but how many births have they attended?

2)      What is their personality and does it meet yours? You want a doula who has the same level as you whether you are an introvert, extrovert, out spoken, quite, etc. You want a doula you can connect with and will be able to meet your needs.

3)      What is the latest training they have received? When were they certified or when was their last training. A certification isn’t required but a doula that has been in the birthing world for a decade has the experience to help and provide you the support and knowledge you may want. Training is important and valuable.

4)      What comes in the packages they offer

1. How many prenatal doula visits?
2. How many postnatal doula visits?
3. When will they arrive during labor?
4. How long will they stay?
5. Will they travel?
6. Do they assist with lactation and are they lactation certified.

 5)      Do they accept your insurance? (Some state certified doulas do accept Medicaid)

When choosing your doula if they don’t have a lactation certification and you plan to breast feed make sure you connect with the hospitals or midwifes lactation consultant to receive the help you need.

Every birthing mother deserves a doula to provide you with support during your birthing journey. If you are interested in finding a doula the best time to start searching is between 4- and 6-months gestation but it’s not too late if you have reached your 3^rd trimester. Remember experience is golden!

Here are some great resources:

Doulas of the Roanoke Valley:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2142750759303376

List of Virginia State certified Doulas:

https://www.vacertboard.org/doula-registry