Doula

kalmte214

I am interested in a natural birth and having a doula present.  I'm running into 2 problems--first, not many doulas are willing to travel to where I live and second, I don't know if we can afford the $1k for a doula's services.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has had these dilemmas.  Any thoughts, advice, or suggestions?  Thank you!

babyLOLO13

1k for a doula!? There are WAY cheaper doula services than 1k.  That's extreme. 

kellyk17

I'm in NYC and we hired a doula in training (meaning they have done less then 10 births) for $500. I can't imagine it could more expensive then here. We found her through word of mouth, but have upi yo the doula website? 

https://www.dona.org

oliversmommy32912

Try www.doulamatch.net to see if you can find one in your price range.

kalmte214

I have the dona.org site, but hadn't found the doulamatch.net site yet. 

Thank you!  I'll have to check for doulas in training as well!

aylafsu88

Have you thought about finding a student doula/newly certified doula?  These are doulas who are in training and need to attend a certain number of births.  Maybe a doula will know someone who is a student doula or newly certified who needs to attend births.  GL!

MamaWombat

You might also ask some of the 1K doulas for referrals to doulas-in-training. At least one doula group where I live has interns who offer the same services for much less.

robyn2201

We used a doula in training for DD1's birth. She was great! 

Suggestions on ways to find one would be to contact several doulas in you area and be straight forward about not being able to afford their services and ask if they knew of anyone working on their certification. Also check your local bump board and FB to see if they have a Natural birth group.

msjanet02

hey, you're me about 2 months ago!

i knew i wanted a doula, but as i searched for the kind of doula i wanted and interviews a few, i realized what i wanted was $1K- $1300. my DH and i definitely couldn't do that. i had to be upfront about what we could afford, which was $500-600. the doulas i spoke to said they would help me out by connecting me with other doulas who would work with that price range. i also asked friends of doulas they might know.

one friend did some work for me, and told me he knew someone willing to work with my budget. i met her, we clicked, i said yes within a day. her normal fee is over 1K, so i felt really lucky. she has attended more than 80 births, spent a week at The Farm with Ina May Gaskin, studied indigenous midwifery in other countries... i mean, i was blessed. 

keep up the search and the stars will align. u'll find someone that works! go with your gut!

Ardmhs83

Wow!!!  I really want a doula for my next birth as well, but def can't afford 1K! :-(  This saddens me, I really hope you can find someone b/c I know how important it is.  I hope I can as well when the time comes.  You will have to post again letting us know when you find one and if you were able to for a good price!

Magpie314

Some areas run higher than others. Around here we are on the lower end, but we have a few who work on a sliding scale for those who can't afford it, and we also have some who will barter ("Build me a chicken coop and I'll doula you!") etc. Ask around. If you don't get an answer from one person, ask more. See if there is a local moms facebook group; that's where a lot of us (the doulas) connect with moms in our area. Good luck. Every woman who wants a doula should be able to have one. 

Magpie314

Also: don't discount the idea of a doula who isn't certified. I'm not, right now. I deployed to Iraq, and when I came back I was told that my certification had expired and I had to go back through all the training again. I had over 60 births under my belt at that point, and I didn't feel like a year in Mother Nature's Cat Box had erased my experience. Now I just make sure that I give people lots of names of couples they can check up with (most the time I don't have to; most of my clients are referals from previous clients). 

mrsblueeyes

The doulas in our area run 1k-1.4k, but it was just too much. I used doula.net and found a wonderful, amazing doula for 600 who is not yet completely DONA certified and is 1/2 through her nurse midwife training