What Is a Doula?

A birth doula is a companion who supports a birthing person during labor and birth. Birth doulas are trained to provide continuous, one-on-one care, as well as information, physical support, and emotional support to birthing persons and their partners.

-Dr. Christine Morton, Birth Ambassadors

Why have a Doula?

Evidence shows that when a birthing person has continuous support in labor such as a doula, they are,

  • More likely to go into spontaneous labor and thus have lower induction rates

  • 39% Less likely to have a cesarean section

  • Less likely to use pain medications

  • Less likely to have a medically assisted birth with the use of vacuums or forceps

  • More likely to have shorter labors (on average 41 minutes shorter)

  • 38% Less likely to have a bad APGAR score at 5 minutes after birth

  • Less likely to have negative feelings about the childbirth experience

Included in Doula Services?

  • 1-2 prenatal visits for education and planning for supporting you best

  • Education around birth options

  • Help creating a birth plan

  • Physical support during labor

  • Mental Support during labor

  • Breath work and mindfullness during labor

  • Reminding the birthing person of their birth plan during labor

  • Informational Support throughout the birthing journey

  • Advocacy

    • Asking the birthing person what they want throughout their birthing journey

    • Facilitating communication between parents and providers

    • Teaching good communication techniques

    • Observing interventions and engaging client in asking questions and consent of procedures

  • Lactation support, especially that first latch

  • Help finding pre and postpartum resources for mental health support

  • 20 Photos of your birth journey

  • 1 postpartum appointment

What is NOT included with Doula support?

  • I do not give medical advise or diagnose conditions

  • I do not do clinical tasks such as cervical checks or fetal heart monitoring

  • I do not make decisions for you nor will they tell a medical provider what to do or not do.

  • I do not take the place of your partner

  • I will not pressure you into decisions based on my preferences

Maggie's Background as a Doula: 

In 2015 I began photographing births. At the first birth I ever attended, my client was striving to not get an Epidural because due to her medical history it was a dangerous procedure. When my client went into transition she looked at me and said “I cannot do this, I need the epidural”. I gave her eye contract and walked her through the next few contractions and assured her that she could and was doing it. About 15 minutes later we had a baby. Before leaving, my client shared with me that though I was there only to document she felt supported by me and had the feeling that she couldn’t have gotten through without the epidural if it wasn’t for my encouragement. In this moment I came to understand the power of a doula and wanted to pursue not only birth photography but also birth support.

Since that first birth in 2015 I have attended over 50 births. Most of the births I have attended over the past 5 years I have been invited in to be the primary doula or provide doula support. In all of the births I have attended, I have had the honor of supporting and advocating for birthing spaces that honor the birthing desires of my clients. I have attended a wide variety of births- hospital births, home births, inductions, birth center births, c-sections, VBACs, high risk pregnancies, IVF births, and water births. Because of my background I have learned a lot about how to support a wide variety of birthing needs.

In early 2018 I went fully into the world of doula work and got certified with Coral Slavin with Well-Rounded Maternity LLC. At the same time I took a course with Spinning Babies and incorporated these practices more heavily into my doula support. My approach to doula work is client focused and diverse. In my prenatal I spend a lot of time working with women and their partners to figure out what support measures will most benefit them and doing a ton of education around how to ask questions, communicating your needs, what the birth process entails, and how to listen to your body. I am constantly growing and learning how to support birthing families better!

I often have people hire me as their doula and birth photographer. This is awesome because it limits the amount of people in the room and saves a significant amount of money. Many people ask me how I am able to do both. This is a key question to if I am a good fit for being both for you- I only am able to be both a doula and a birth photographer for a family if the mother already has a birth partner that they feel can really support them physically and emotionally. When I am playing the role of both photographer and doula I am able to provide a lot of education on the front end and verbal and emotional support in the birth room, but when I am photographing my physical support is of course limited.

Virtual Doula

This is a great option for families who feel like they just want a little more education and support but distance, hospital policy, finances, or local support options are limited. If you hire me as a virtual doula, ALL services are done in a virtual setting including labor support.

Virtual doula services include

  • 1-2 virtual prenatal sessions. In these sessions we will:

    • To go over your hopes for your birth

    • Discuss potential barriers to your birthing desires and how to overcome them

    • Develop a birth plan

    • Do some education around the birth process and options in the birth room

    • Go over pain management plan

    • Discuss tips for partner support during labor

    • Go over how to communicate well with your providers

    • Plan for postpartum

  • 24'/7 phone, Facetime/Skype, text support from 38 weeks gestation until baby is born. This includes unlimited support during your labor.

  • 6 weeks postpartum support via phone and text to help navigating life with a newborn, breastfeeding, and birth recovery.

Investment

Doula Services are $950 and include 1-2 prenatal visits, labor support, 1 postpartum visit, 20 photographs from your birth. To add on a full photography package that documents your full labor and delivery story as well as newborn images within the first 2 hours of birth is an additional $200.

Virtual doula services are $500 and include 1-2 virtual prenatal sessions, 24/7 virtual support for your labor and moments surrounding, and 6 weeks virtual postpartum support.