FAQs
What is a postpartum doula?
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A postpartum doula is a non-medical professional trained to provide in-home support during the postpartum period. The doula’s role is to nurture the mother-baby dyad and provide support to the family as a whole as they adjust to life with a new baby.
What does a postpartum doula do?
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A postpartum doula provides physical, emotional, and social support to the new mother and their growing family. No two families are exactly alike, so the specific duties vary each time to fit the needs of the individual. However, this often includes companionship and a non-judgmental space to talk about your feelings on new motherhood and your birth experience, feeding support whether breast or bottle feeding, supporting physical recovery from birth, caring for the newborn so that you can engage in self-care, creating systems in your home to make your daily life easier, meal/snack prep, light household chores such as dishes, laundry, or grocery shopping, and information on newborn care topics such as infant behavior and safe babywearing.
How long do I need a doula?
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This is completely up to you and varies from family to family. Length of services tends to range from 2 weeks to 6 months, with most families opting for 4 to 12 weeks of support.
How does the process work for daytime doula support or overnight newborn care?
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Submit an Inquiry: Use the contact form to submit an inquiry with your estimated due date or desired start date of services, and a brief description of your situation and what type of services you are interested in.
Introductory Call: If I am available for your needed timeframe, we will schedule a 30 minute introductory call. This is a time for us to talk about your postpartum plans, answer any questions you may have, discuss how many hours of services you need, and just get to know each other!
Service Agreement & Deposit: If we are a good fit and decide to move forward, I will send you a copy of my service agreement. Once signed, I will send you an invoice for a 25% deposit to secure your dates in my schedule. If the dates are based around an estimated due date, I will consider myself “on call” from 38 weeks gestational age, or 32-36 weeks for twins depending on the type of twin pregnancy.
How does the process work for registry building services?
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Request: Please fill out a contact form requesting registry building services. I will then send you an invoice for the service and an intake form asking about your family and lifestyle.
30 minute Introductory Call: We will go over your intake form and discuss your desired budget, any specific needs and wants you may have, address unique situations, and answer any additional questions.
60 minute Overview Call: Within two weeks, I will complete your registry and reach out to schedule another call. We will go over the registry as a whole, and can talk about any categories where I may suggest a couple options for you to choose from (this is usually strollers and aesthetic-heavy choices like nursery furniture). At the end of this process you will receive a finished registry on Babylist filled with reliable products tailored to your family.
Can overnight support help me if I am breastfeeding?
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Yes! When providing overnight newborn care to a breastfeeding parent, I can take over any non-feeding duties throughout the night. I can bring the baby to you for a feeding, provide any support you need while feeding from assessing the latch to refilling your water bottle, and take over once baby is fed to burp them and soothe them back to sleep so that you can get back to sleep as quickly as possible. If you are pumping, I can also collect pumped milk and used pump parts throughout the night, so that you never need to leave your bed if you don’t want to.
Help! My baby is already here and I am overwhelmed. Is it too late to get support?
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It is never too late! Please email me at giselle@littlebirddoula.com or fill out the contact form on the website, and I will respond to you within 24 hours. I will fit you in on the earliest day available on a shift-by-shift basis, or if my schedule is full and I am unable to support you myself, I will help you find someone who can!
Have Questions? Let's Connect
We start with a conversation to understand your needs, your family, and how I can best support you—before and after baby arrives.