What does a postpartum doula do?

Postpartum doula care looks different overnight versus during the day. Overnight, I have three priorities: Helping you feed your baby, helping you sleep, and supporting your self-development as a parent.

Helping you nurse or bottle feed:
I help you get comfortable, bring you your baby, and help you position your baby for nursing. I help adjust technique to help you get a better latch, and look for signs of issues that may warrant referral to a lactation consultant. While baby is nursing, I can let you enjoy the time one on one with your baby or I can keep you company. I restock your nursing station with breast pads, snacks, and water, so you have everything you need within reach. This looks much the same with bottle feeding, except I am not assisting with latch.

Helping you sleep:
I take care of baby’s needs such as burping and diaper changes. I can also help babies learn night from day - many babies sleep more during the day than at night at first, and need some gentle cues to learn to swap this pattern. Newborns make all sorts of movements and funny noises in their sleep, which often leads to parents feeling vigilant - “Is he hungry?” “Does she need me?” - or even just unable to sleep through the sounds. I observe these, watching for hunger cues, so that I only bring your baby to you when the baby needs you and let you sleep when your baby is just noisy in their sleep. I help with ensuring a healthy environment for your baby that encourages sleep. And, of course, I comfort your baby when they are well fed but having trouble sleeping.

Supporting your parenting journey:
We chat together about your day, your concerns, and your questions when I arrive for the evening. I offer a warm, caring ear for you to share your experience of parenting this new being, and provide informational support within the doula’s scope of practice and resources for additional support if a desire or need for them arises. We can also talk about your birth experience if you would like to share.

Other services that we provide overnight may include:
Helping with mobility after a cesarean or other birth-related recovery needs
Supporting you in using the restroom by filling your peri bottle, bringing you pads, etc.
Setting up a sitz bath
Cleaning bottles
Folding baby laundry

What does this look like in the earlier evening hours?

The fussy hours care style usually includes everything overnight doula care includes, and more. Since most parents choose to stay awake for most of these hours, we are able to spend more time on informational support, breastfeeding support, and emotional support. However, some parents choose to sleep between feeding their baby, and then it is the same care as overnights, just in different hours. Bear in mind that cluster feeding often means these are just catnaps between nursing.

How does your newborn care for parental sleep service differ from doula care?

Newborn care looks like the “Helping you sleep” portion of the doula service described above, but instead of bringing the baby to you when they are hungry, I give baby a bottle so you can sleep through the feedings. I also clean bottles and fold baby laundry when baby doesn’t need me, as in postpartum care. And, of course, since these two services are fully able to be mixed, we can always wrap in some extra emotional or physical support, even if you are mostly wanting a full night’s sleep.

What do your services not include?

Some examples of excluded tasks in any of my service choices include deep cleaning, cooking meals (beyond reheating a dish or assembling a sandwich or salad), giving medications, clipping baby’s nails, or taking baby’s temperature rectally. I also do not babysit (that is, at least one household adult remains home when I am working), and under most circumstances, I serve families whose infants are under twelve weeks (adjusted, if born premature). It is also important to understand that my scope of practice does not include diagnosing or providing medical advice, though I may refer you to a provider if I see something I believe is outside the range of normal. Two common examples of this:
1. If I become concerned about your mental health, I can not evaluate you to see if you have a postpartum mood disorder or provide therapy. I will provide you with appropriate referrals and can help you navigate finding care covered by your insurance.
2. If you ask me to look at your cesarean stitches to see if they are healing properly, I will refer you to your OBGYN. If you wish, I can support you in making a phone call or writing a message in your online portal to make sure you are getting your questions answered to your satisfaction.

Do you sleep during your shift?

No. I stay awake during the night and sleep during the day after my shift, so I stay fresh and at my best when I am with you and your baby. This also allows me to monitor baby’s sleep more thoroughly to promote both healthy feeding and sleep. Depending on your preference, I may spend as much time as possible in the baby’s room, or I may spend baby’s sleep time listening from the next room while folding laundry or cleaning bottles.

What’s the process like of working together?

First, you’ll want to chat with me to make sure we’re a good fit. We can arrange for a free 30 minute zoom or phone call starting with reaching me by any of the methods on the contact page. If you decide to book my services after this meeting, we’ll create a contract for the hours you want. After the paperwork is signed and the retainer fee is paid, we will have a prenatal meeting (or an initial meeting, if your baby is already born) where we will design your personalized postpartum plan. Then, we follow the plan, with room for adjustments as your needs may differ from what you anticipated.

Who should choose doula care vs sleep care?

This is largely a personal preference with some major considerations.

The number one concern in sleep care is establishing and maintaining milk supply. Eight hours is simply too long for newly lactating breasts to go without nursing or pumping. Therefore, for most nursing or pumping families, sleep care needs to be introduced only in combination with doula care and only after milk supply is established, latching or pumping is easy, and baby is past their birth weight and gaining well.

Since families who are only bottle feeding donor milk or formula do not need to consider milk supply, I am willing to offer eight consecutive hours of sleep care from any age for these families, although I strongly encourage all parents to include some doula hours to build confidence and ease with nighttime parenting before they are caring for their baby overnight independently.

There is no cost difference between the care profiles, and there is no need for you to commit to one or the other. In our free consultation, we can provide a general idea of what might work for you, and then we will develop a more comprehensive, personalized plan in your prenatal visit. This plan is flexible for any changes in real time based on your baby’s needs, your needs, and your wishes.

Do you support nursing parents besides the birth mom?

I love supporting all nursing relationships! Breastfeeding and chest-feeding are wonderful for parents and babies, regardless of whether the parent gave birth. If you did not give birth or did not develop breasts, and you want to nurse with milk in a supplemental nursing system, you’ll see a board certified lactation consultant (IBCLC) to get set up with this equipment. If you are a non-birthing parent who has mammary anatomy and you want to induce lactation, you will want multiple visits with an IBCLC that are even better when begun before the birth. In either instance, I’m happy to provide referrals and to support you in implementing the IBCLC’s guidance.

My partner works an irregular night shift schedule. Can you help us?

Yes! If you need a schedule of varying nights instead of the same nights per week, we are able to handle this. In this case, we must require a minimum of three nights per week, since an irregular schedule impacts our ability to take other clients.

Do you ever work past 12 weeks or more than 5 nights per week?

I occasionally can take on clients for longer or for more nights under special circumstances, such as a parent with a deployed spouse, a single parent, or when a single parent/both parents experience a postpartum mood disorder, and subject to availability.

Do you only work the exact hours listed on your services page?

I am available for any 5-8 hour shift between 6pm and 6am.

Do you only work in the cities listed below?

I work throughout the entire Bay Area; however, cities beyond those listed will incur a travel fee per shift based on distance.