All parents know that the first few days after bringing the new baby home can turn out to be quite challenging. This is something that the postpartum doula can help you with. If you have a doula around it will be a lot easier to divide your time and to juggle things to be able to take care of everything.
What is a doula for the postpartum period?
The main job of the doula is to offer information on infant feeding, bonding between the mother and the baby, physical and emotional recovery from childbirth, soothing the infant and everything that the baby needs. Her role is to help the family through the first few days after bringing the baby home.
How does the doula after birth support the family?
There are different kinds of services that the doula offers to her employers but the main point is to nurture the family to help with the transition to a new family life. Her chores include doing things to make parents feel confident, educating and taking care of the needs of the mother.
Just as you may have thought, the postpartum doula works with the families individually to find out about their needs. The duties of the doula include support for breastfeeding, offering help for the recovery of the mother and some housekeeping chores so the mother will not to feel overwhelmed.
In the same time the job of the doula after childbirth also includes running errands, helping with the baby such as bathing, diapering, comforting and feeding, some meal preparation, teaching techniques for soothing the baby, care of the siblings, and to offer information about local parental classes.
Usually the postpartum doula offers her services to the family for a period ranging from a few days to a few weeks after the parents bring the baby home. She could be working for 1-3 weeks, up to 5 days per week. Usually the doulas also offer help with the nighttime care of the baby.
Charges
If you are thinking about having a doula after you give birth you should know that the charges vary according to the part of the country you are living in, the kind of services you require and the skill levels of the doula. The doulas charge by the hour and they have a minimum requirement of worked hours.
The charges of a postpartum doula vary between $15 and $50 per hour. Sometimes you can get a discount if the doula is working for a certain number of hours, if you make an early booking or if she is a freshly trained doula. A doula is a good idea for a baby shower gift.
Doula after giving birth and baby nurse
The difference between the two is that the doula takes care of the entire family including the parents, siblings and naturally the new baby. The baby nurse only handles the new baby.
Now you may realize that at some point you will also need the services of a professional postpartum doula.
