Cost of Hiring a Doula

winofairy · July 2012

I'm curious what the average cost is to hire a doula? I know the answers will vary but can any of you give me an ideas?

sarahintx05 · July 2012

Ours is $550 in SC.

cedenton · July 2012

We're paying $200 for a doula-in-training. She will probably be certified by the time our baby comes, but when we hired her she had just submitted her paperwork and said it takes 3 months to go through.

Highest I saw in my area (southeastern VA) was $500 for someone with MANY years experience and was a massage therapist.

robertandmegangriffin · July 2012

$200-$400 in Oklahoma

StefandTodd · July 2012

Sacramento, CA area - $800

robyn2201 · July 2012

About an hour outside of LA and it ranges between $500 and $1,000.

RockyMtnMama · July 2012

About $300 - $800 in our area.

nosoup4u · July 2012

DS1 - $700, 5+ years experience, Ann Arbor, MI

DS2 - $1000, 10+ years experience (and she had finished MW school), Chicago

amandaleigh1 · July 2012

Wow, everything is cheaper in the rest of the country it seems. My doula is on the inexpensive side inmy area at 1,000. They can be as much as 2,000 or so in Seattle. I would wonder what you are getting for some of the lesser prices. Standard doula service around here includes 2 prenatal visits, labor attendance as long as it takes, and 2 postpartum visits. I actually thing I would feel bad about paying less than 1,000 for all of that.

pisceschik · July 2012

Mine is $800, but she is a Hypnobabies instructor as well. I live near Philly.

mccrazy · July 2012

sarahintx05:
Ours is $550 in SC.

Wow, really? I'm in Greenville too and was hoping it was more like $350-400. Guess it depends on their experience too.

BransonsBecca · July 2012

Ours is $500 here in Missouri, which we felt was reasonable.

zaramarie81 · July 2012

Ours is in training so we are literally just paying for her gas. I actually feel guilty considering I KNOW what it's like in my own profession to be poor and in training (and my clients actually pay me even while I am still in training!) so I may insist to hubby that we write her at least a small check or give her a nice gift on top of the gas money when it's all said and done.

ETA: Ours will do 3 prenatal visits, labor in the hospital for as long as it takes plus a couple hours after delivery (she is not allowed to come to our home w/out certification), and 1 post-partum visit.

pixieprincss · July 2012

We paid $950 for ours with DS, a friend charges $1,200. We are outside of DC. Ones with less than 3 yrs experience were closer to $600.

jennadoll87 · July 2012

We're paying 450 in central IL. She is fully certified but on the newer side so she charges less than some of the more experienced gals (around 600 for them).

nurrieum · July 2012

800 is the average I live in IL on the IA border. This covers full prenatal, labor and delivery, and postnatal care. The price varies if you want less care.

Edit: my doula is also a direct entry mid-wife so she comes with that training as well.

punkrockabye · July 2012

I am told that the going rate for a fully trained/certified doula in Chicago can be as high as $1500-2000. We are going through an awesome volunteer doula organization, in which families pay what they can afford for one of the doulas, who volunteer some of their services for people who would otherwise not be able to afford one. We're paying $100, which honestly we really can't even do that at this point since the universe has fully turned against us it seems, but I wasn't about to accept the services free of charge (which you can do, but I just wouldn't feel right).

I guess a downside of the service is that you don't get to interview and pick a doula, but I wouldn't even dream of complaining about that; I'm lucky just to have one. The coordinator assigns a main and a backup for you based on your due date, where you're delivering, and the doula's schedule. We'll meet with her once, twice if we choose, before I go into labor, and then she will come over once I'm in labor and stay through the birth and a couple hours after. I believe she'll make a follow up visit once I have been home for a couple days, too. It's probably a little less interaction than with a traditional setup, but again, I am just glad to have access to the services in the first place!

mollybloom · July 2012

When we looked into them, the average cost was $2000 plus extra for travel expenses, etc. We live in the metro NYC area.

PansyPants · July 2012

We're in RI and ours was $550 and included two prenatal visits, access to her lending library, on-call support for two weeks prior and after my due date, and one postpartum visit and lactation support (our doula is a certified lactation consultant).

She was also our Bradley instructor so we got a little extra time to get familiar and comfortable with her which was important for me.

Celyn · July 2012

$0-$2000 in the San Francisco Bay Area, with the high end usually being someone with monitrice skills, $1200-1600 being the average for an experienced doula, and $500-800 for a newer doula, and $0-500 being a novice.

kincaid44 · July 2012

We payed $350 for ours. She normally charges $650, but since we couldn't afford that, she charged us less. After our wonderful experience with her, we would have payed the $650.

MadameFancyPants · July 2012

In the Nashville area, prices range from $450-$750. Doulas just starting out charge less and it's fairly variable.

CurbsideProphet · July 2012

We are in NC, the average seemed to be about $500 last year when we researched it. It also seemed some were willing to work with you if really could not afford their going rate.