When Should I Hire a Birth Doula?

If you’re considering hiring a birth doula to help you through the process of labor and delivery, you may be thinking about the timing around finding and hiring the right person. Keep reading for tips on choosing a birth doula and when to hire them. 

What is a Birth Doula? 

Think of a doula as your expert labor, birth, and postpartum expert. Doulas are trained to support you and your partner through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum as well. 

Research shows that using a birth doula is associated with a decreased use of pain relief medication during labor, the incidence of C-sections, length of labor, and negative childbirth experiences.

What Do Birth Doulas Do?

There are many things that doulas provide during each stage of the process, but here are a few examples:

• Providing valuable information about what is actually happening in your body both during labor and postpartum to help you understand and give clarity.
• Walking you through procedures and processes. 
• Helping with your physical comfort. This can be done through different means of touch, massage, and breathing.
• Creating an ideal birth environment.
• Meeting basic needs during the chaos of labor.
• Emotional comfort, encouragement, and support.
• Support in feedings post-labor. 
• During labor and delivery, doula services mainly include physical and emotional support to help you push through and bring your beautiful baby into the world. 

When to Hire a Birth Doula

It’s important to get started on the process of finding and hiring a doula as soon as possible. You’ll ultimately want to aim to have someone secured by about halfway through your pregnancy or 20 weeks if possible. Take a look at our recommended timetable below.

4-8 Weeks

This is typically the time period when you find out that you are pregnant. Congratulations! 

8-12 Weeks

This is the time period we recommend that you begin doing research on doula options, asking friends/connections about those they have used, and building a list of those you want to reach out to for further conversation and consultation.

12-16 Weeks

This is the time that you’ll want to hone in on your options, schedule consultations, and begin to narrow down your choices. By this point, you’ll probably also begin to think more about your birth plan and what you want out of labor and delivery in order to be able to share that with a doula.

16-20 Weeks

Complete any outstanding consultations, narrow down your options, and secure a doula for your labor and delivery.

You’re ready to move forward with your newly hired birth doula!

Find a Birth Doula in Cleveland, Ohio

If you live in and around Cleveland and are looking for a birth doula, we’d love to chat with you! We’re passionate about helping you create the ideal support team for your growing family through a number of different services including birth doulas, postpartum doulas, newborn care education, sleep training, and more.
See all of the services we have to offer and fill out our info form to learn more right here.