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November 2014 Moms
JustJainey
member
Interviewing a doula...
JustJainey
member
I'm interviewing a doula this evening and while I have a list of questions that seems comprehensive, does anyone have any advice? Things maybe you wish you had asked or things that you focused on and later didn't really matter? Or is it really just about making a connection with the person?
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Re: Interviewing a doula...
I'm a FTM so can't really comment on things that ended up not mattering, but I've interviewed a few doulas so far and for me its been making a connection, and just asking about their experience- how did you get into this career, how many births, tell me about your favorite birth, tell me about a really tough birth, tell me about a time you had to help your client stick up for herself to get medical staff to follow her birth plan, at what point do you support me in deviating from the birth plan, stuff like that. I also like to know if there's a back up doula, and what exactly the fee includes (going to your house beforehand, staying after birth to help breastfeed, making a post partum home visit, etc.), and any other services they might offer post partum.
Would love to hear feedback on other things to ask that I haven't thought of though- good luck with the meeting!
Read the contract carefully! The one I interviewed had in her contract that she would get paid even if she missed the birth! She was charging $600 for her services.
And she had to reschedule our meeting once (she didn't call to reschedule, I called her her 20 minutes after she was supposed to arrive to see if she was lost and she said "oops, forgot!"), and she was almost 15 minutes late to our rescheduled meeting the next week. Yeah, with that track record I wasn't going to trust she'd even make the birth, no way was I going to hire her with her contract saying she gets paid in full even if she doesn't show up!
DH & I took Bradley Method classes together, he did a fantastic job of being my "doula".
@ejpetey - Will let you know how it goes.
@abbyful - That's one of my questions - thanks! That type of meeting definitely wouldn't fly with me either.
There is a possibility that DH may not make the delivery (despite best efforts) and I really would rather not be alone. So, am hoping this may be a possibility.
Well it turned out really well. I had my questions all on paper, but we ended up just having an hour long chat, which covered all the pertinent information. Including her back up system of a team of other doulas, whom I can meet if I want - just in case (And she was early - A+)
Have talked it over with DH and we're going to go with her. It is especially comforting given our circumstances of his potentially not being able to get to me right away for the delivery. She will even bring me to the hospital, if needed! And she assists with breastfeeding afterwards (which was also on my wishlist)
I'm very excited