Birth Support on a Budget

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If rates for full doula care seem too high, please read on.  There are many ways I can contribute to you being prepared and supported through your birth. I offer prenatal classes, birth prep consultations, a lower-priced doula package, birth-plan prep sessions, and creative ideas for paying your doula.  Details for all of this are below.

My current fees of $1500-1800 for full doula support are a fair reflection of my extensive experience, skills and knowledge.  Besides the often long and unpredictable hours, there are costs associated with being a professional doula. Some of these are monetary such as training, missing other work-shifts, association fees, parking and all the normal expenses related to self-employment.  Other costs are not measurable, such as missed family events, being on-call (700+ hours per client), and recovery time from long births.  Experienced doulas are worth the expense and in fact are the first to fill their client list.

I also offer a couple of lower-priced doula support packages starting at $1200. They are described below and as a doula support packages comparison chart.  

If you wish to benefit from my expertise but the cost is out of your range, then you might be interested in attending prenatal classes or accessing other services such as Birth Plan Preparation, or working with me and one of the doulas I’m mentoring.

Birth Preparation and Support Packages (please see the doula support packages comparison chart for details of what’s included in each)

  • Lower-cost doula mentorship package:  Work with me and one of the newer doulas I’m mentoring for $1200. Prenatal preparation is vital for having your ideal birth. Therefore you’ll have all prenatal consultations, including creating a birth-plan and any questions answered along the way, with me and the new doula, who is fully and professionally trained, and meets the requirements of mentorship with me. She’s a professional doula who is building her birth experience. The newer doula will be your primary doula for your labour and birth. We both attend the postpartum visit. (I train Birth and Postpartum Doulas of excellence through Birth Ways International.) Many happy clients have chosen this option.
  • Dial-a-Doula Prep & Birth Support for local or far away clients. Includes everything in the full birth doula support package but with virtual instead of in-person support. I’ve supported people in my own town and as far away as Singapore in this manner! $1000.
  • Birth Prep Package without birth doula support:  I educate and set up clients with the same care my doula clients get. It’s up to you to arrange for another doula or perhaps you are not working with a doula at all.  This involves 3 meetings prenatally to go over options, unpack previous births (if applicable), and create a vision of their ideal birth, and extensive educational support (e-mails, client hand-outs, referrals to local health practitioners, help with birth-plans and sibling-prep), a Directory for the Childbearing Year, a Roadmap to Optimal Birth Prep, and a Postpartum Prep list.  These clients have access to the “client-only” section of my site and lots of great info, and we prepare a birth plan together.  They can also ask me questions via e-mail any time through their pregnancy – to pick my brain or get answers to things that come up along their pregnancy. This is currently $500.

To understand doula fees, please see http://www.cordmama.com/blog/2015/3/23/why-doulas-are-expensive-and-why-youre-glad-they-are

If you have a partner who doesn’t understand paying for extra support, please see http://goodmenproject.com/families/new-dads-advice-just-hire-a-damn-doula-jrmk/

Other Options:

  • We can set up a payment plan.
  • Gift certificates for my services.
  • Raise funds e.g. a collection-box at your baby-shower or Mother-Blessing, or ask people to contribute to your doula rather than buying other gifts.
  • Find a less experienced doula, as they usually have lower fees. See The Doulas of Regina for a listing of local doulas.
  • If there’s no way you can pay for birth support, check out the Doulas of Regina  Relief Fund.  They pay for doulas to attend the births of women who qualify based on financial need.