When to find a doula?

Kate070

Hello!

This is my first time posting here; as you can see from my ticker, I'm not very far along :-P  This is my first, but I've always had the idea that when I gave birth, I wanted to do it naturally.

I'm lucky that there is a hospital only about a mile from my house which offers a natural birthing center within it.  I'll be seeing midwives and will have options like water birth.  Very excited!

I keep hearing about how valuable doulas are for natural birthing mothers... for those using them (or who have in the past), when did you go about finding one?

aylafsu88

I contacted doulas when I was 16 weeks and meet with a few for an initial interview around 19 weeks. I signed a contract with the doula I felt the most comfortable with at 20 weeks.  If you know you want a doula you should meet them and pick the one you feel the most comfortable with early.  Doulas tend to take about 2 clients a month so you want to book early. 

tokenhoser

Start looking as soon as you feel comfortable making plans. The earlier you're booking, the more selection you've got, as PP said - most doulas can only take 2-4 clients per due month. I booked around week 16 this time and closer to 24 weeks with my first.