What is a postpartum doula? Services, costs, and how doulas support postpartum recovery

A postpartum doula is a health care professional who specializes in supporting new families through the “fourth trimester,” the first three months after birth. When you’re in the midst of the tender, messy, and sometimes overwhelming transition to parenthood, a postpartum doula can provide hands-on, emotional, educational, and practical support.

Postpartum doula services

Postpartum doulas use their expertise in the care of new families to support postpartum recovery and make life with a new baby easier. From supporting infant feeding to preparing snacks to cleaning bottles and pump parts, a postpartum doula brings compassionate, experienced care to your family after you give birth. 

Postpartum doulas may offer both daytime and overnight in-home care. Daytime shifts are typically shorter and focused on parental education and support, as well as infant care. Overnight shifts can last 8-12 hours, and are generally centered on taking care of the newborn so parents can rest. 

Some postpartum doulas also offer care via telehealth, to answer questions and check in on how postpartum recovery and infant bonding is progressing.

In general, doula services include:

• Education on infant care and behavior
• Hands-on infant care, during the day or night 
• Support for postpartum recovery

Postpartum doula services generally do not include:

• Nanny or babysitter services, such as a care for older siblings, or care for an infant while parents are out of the home
• Deep cleaning, such as vacuuming or cleaning bathrooms
• Running errands outside the home, or doing personal chores that are unrelated to the care of the infant and birthing person

Postpartum care

Postpartum doulas provide care to birthing parents and new families to aid in postpartum recovery. That can look like support with the logistics of daily life (like baby laundry, bottle washing, nursery tidying and more), help with breastfeeding or formula feeding, and emotional and mental support for the experience of matrescence (or, the transition into motherhood). Some call postpartum doula care “mothering the mother.”

A postpartum doula might come in at the the beginning of a shift and set up a cozy spot for mother and baby to nurse, check in on how postpartum recovery is going, then teach parents how to swaddle and lay baby down safely in the bassinet. They provide holistic, open-ended care that is tailored to each family and their needs throughout the days, weeks, and months after birth. 

Newborn care

Postpartum doulas also provide extensive care for babies. They have training in all aspects of newborn care, like baby behavior, soothing, lactation and bottle feeding and more. They help with tasks like dressing, diapering, and educating parents on best practices for supporting healthy baby development. Although newborns are too young to be sleep trained, postpartum doulas may also help families with healthy sleep routines and general sleep shaping. 

Postpartum doulas can provide care during the day or night. For overnight care, this means the doula is taking care of the baby while the parents are sleeping. It can involve typical baby care like diapering, dressing, and feeding. A postpartum doula can feed baby a bottle (formula or pumped breastmilk), or even bring baby to bedside and wait while mom breastfeeds. Overnight care is especially popular because it allows parents to get more rest as they recover from birth. Note that if you do hire a postpartum doula for overnight care, it doesn’t mean the doula stays up all night: if baby is asleep, it is generally ok for the doula to nap during overnight shifts, unless otherwise discussed.

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Benefits of postpartum doula services

The work of a postpartum doula plays a huge role in postpartum recovery. Not only does their general care support your overall recovery from birth, they are trained to monitor for any postpartum complications, such as excess bleeding, swelling, headaches, and more.

In addition, if you had a Cesarean birth, a postpartum doula can help with wound care and support you with other aspects of recovery from surgical birth. Most postpartum doulas are also trained to recognize the signs of postpartum mood disorders and can provide referrals for mental health support, should you need it. 

Hiring a postpartum doula to provide support during the night can allow you to get more sleep, which can also be hugely helpful for your postpartum recovery and mental health. Although there isn’t specific research on postpartum doula care and sleep, there is evidence which shows that associations exist between maternal sleep and mood over the first two years postpartum. 

In general, research indicates that working with a postpartum doula can facilitate overall maternal responsiveness and competence. In other words, having this kind of support at the beginning of motherhood can help you feel more confident overall and be more responsive to your child! 

Postpartum doula costs

The cost to hire a postpartum doula can vary based on multiple factors, like where you live, the doula’s own experience and training, whether they work independently or through an agency, and if they provide specialized care. Generally, postpartum doulas work on an hourly basis and the range in the US is anywhere from $25 to $75 an hour. 

It is common for postpartum doulas to offer their services in packages of hours. So, a family could buy a package of hours to use after giving birth and use them as needed, or work with the doula to make a regular schedule for postpartum support. 

Some doulas also offer sliding-scale options or payment plans. It is also possible to book a postpartum doula through a community organization or use funds from your FSA/HSA or an employer program like Maven or Carrot. If you live in the growing number of states where Medicaid covers doula care, including Illinois, you can also get a doula through Medicaid. 

Hiring a postpartum doula

If you know you want to work with a postpartum doula, it’s a good idea to look for doulas and interview them in the during the second or third trimester part of your pregnancy, as this means you will have a better chance of finding someone who feels like the perfect fit for your family. It’s still possible to hire a postpartum doula after giving birth—after all, you may not know that you need one until you experience life with a needy newborn! 

To find your best doula match, ask for referrals for doulas from families in your area, and interview a few doulas to see who you like and connect with. In your doula interview, ask about training, certification, experience, and anything else that is important to you.  If you have specific expertise you’d like the doula to have (like experience with twins, babies who have been in the NICU, or specialized training, like in massage or nutrition), that will be important to address up front with potential doulas. 

Above all, you want to hire a doula who will make you feel safe, secure, and cared for during the transition into parenthood. 

How to become a postpartum doula

Interested in becoming a postpartum doula? It’s a great career for those who want to care for families. The first step is to find a postpartum doula training through a doula training organization like Partum Health’s EMBRACE program, DONA, CAPPA, Birthing Advocacy, or others. 

Usually, training happens in an in-person workshop, but online options are increasingly more common. People studying to be postpartum doulas will learn about normal postpartum physiology, newborn care and behavior, feeding and lactation support, emotional and mental support during the postpartum period, including perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, and more. Some postpartum doulas seek additional training in specific postpartum care approaches, such as Ayurveda. 

Generally, student postpartum doulas will need to take classes in CPR and infant care, learn about breastfeeding and safe formula preparation, read books on the postpartum period, and compile community resources for families in their area. Usually, postpartum doulas who want to become certified will provide a certain number of hours of care to postpartum families and submit evaluations of themselves to their training organization so they can earn their certification. 

Comparisons

Postpartum doula vs birth doula

Although both are trained to support new families, birth doulas and postpartum doulas provide different care and have different roles. 

Birth doulas focus on care and support for people during pregnancy and birth. They provide continuous support during birth and help families with comfort, advocacy, and emotional and mental support during labor. Most birth doulas provide some level of postpartum support, like a visit after birth, but are not extensively trained in newborn care and postpartum physiology and do not work on an hourly basis,

Some doulas may provide both birth and postpartum care. This can be great because you can work with just one person for your birth and postpartum experiences, growing a relationship and building trust. 

Postpartum doula vs night nanny

Postpartum doulas provide holistic care for the whole family and often work during both the day and the night, depending on your needs. Night nannies typically work overnight and only care for the baby, rather than the entire family. 

While both provide hands-on newborn care, postpartum doula care is more broad and includes more care for the full postpartum experience. In some cases, the terms are used interchangeably, although only Certified Doulas can use that protected title.

Postpartum doula vs newborn care specialist

While the care that postpartum doulas and newborn care specialists (sometimes abbreviated as NCS) can be similar, there are some real differences. While postpartum doulas care for the whole family, newborn care specialists can only for the newborn. They are experts in newborn care, including feeding, sleep, and establishing routines. They may work during the day, at night, and even travel with families.