So, you are pregnant. You are so excited! You are doing all the research and finding all the things you want for the baby and for you!
While researching you start hearing about doulas. What they do. Why they are amazing.
How having one can really impact your birth experience!
Of course, you want to have one! You start googling "Doulas in Cape Breton" and you will find a couple of incredible doulas with diverse services to offer you!
You check out the websites and the social media and you book your free consultations and the big moment arrives when you start to discuss the services available and then...you see the price of your investment.
I can tell you that the most common reason I hear for people not hiring a doula is the price.
I am here today to tell you
1. All the reasons why YOU and YOUR BIRTH experience is 100% worth every single penny that you will invest in it.
2. Clever ways to budget for your optimal birth team.
3. The reasoning behind the price tag and how to move past the sticker shock.
If you've been following me for any length of time, you know that I am in love with all things pregnancy, baby and beyond.
Professionally and personally I feel so strongly about ensuring that we recognize the immensity of our birth experiences. That we honour them as we journey into parenthood.
All too often, our experience is reduced down to "Oh, well, as long as you have a healthy baby, that's all that matters."
Have you heard that?
Said that?
I disagree.
I think that YOU matter. I think that your birth matters and it's been shown to have impacts on us after the fact.
Having a positive experience while delivering your baby can shape the way you recover, the way you parent and the way you live.
When you have the support of a trained, passionate and well educated birth professional, you have your entire pregnancy to be empowered, to touch base with yourself and your deepest wishes and fears. You have time to be heard, to be comforted and to have information shared with you.
You build a relationship that will often last long into your parenting journey.
You DESERVE to be that supported. Even with a supportive partner and family, you DESERVE to have professionals around who are with you every step of the way and who know the ins and outs of the experience.
I've seen doulas compared to Sherpas.
As a guide in an unfamilar landscape, who knows the way and has the stamina to be present for the journey.
You wouldn't go climb Mount Everest without a guide, why not have a guide for this transformational, exciting and incredible expedition as well?
You DESERVE to be educated, empowered and in love with your experience!
With a trained doula by your side, you are
1. More likely to have a spontaneous vaginal birth (but we also support cesarean births!)
2. More likely to have a shorter labour (No, it's not magic. We encourage staying upright and mobile. It's simple gravity, baby!)
3. Less likely to want pain medication (But if you do, that's cool too!)
4. Less likely to express dissatisfaction with your birth experience.
Clever Ways to Budget for your Doula
1. On your birth registry or at your baby shower, ask for assistance with covering the fees for your doula. Trust me, you don't need receiving blankets as much as a doula.
2. Hire a doula who is also an RMT! Their packages usually include massage, which can be direct billed for that portion! (Wink! Yes, I'm an RMT/Doula)
3. Work out a payment plan with your doula. (We are definitely open to these!)
4. If you were a wine drinker or cannabis smoker pre pregnancy, put that money aside for the fees.
5. Make your coffee at home and resist eating out as often.
6. Consider cloth diapering and use the money you would have spent on sposies for your doula! Enhance your experience AND help the earth?! Win, win!
7. Think about the amount you spent on your wedding (if you had one.) Look at the amount for a doula. Compare. (This is not a budgeting tip but it will certainly put it into perspective).
Why are Doulas so Expensive?!
Doulas have invested hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars into their training.
They are willing to live on call for up to a month at a time to ensure that they are available for you, day or night. (That means no nights out drinking, no trips, no plans that can't be changed. That might mean missing holidays or birthdays or school trips. )
They do not charge by the hour. Some births last over 24 hours. Some are 2 hours. It is totally unpredictable.
They are professionals.
Too often in our society, nurturing jobs are not valued. This landscape is changing slowly and people are beginning to charge their worth and recognize their value. This work might be passion driven, it might be done predominantly by women but it is worth the cost. It is hard work. Yes, it is joyful. Yes, it is magical. It is also hard. It is tiring. It is emotionally fulfilling (and draining). It is worth it.
We bring the goods.
Our doula bags are amazing! We have spent time researching methods to assist you. We have spent money purchasing tools to support you.
We invest in continuing education.
Any doula worth their salt will be continuously learning and growing. Our trainings are rarely free and need to be taken into account.
Often times we are parents too.
It is challenging to find on call childcare who can show up, in less than an hour, at 2 am.
We do it, because we love our work (but we also need to be able to support that!)
At the end of the day, you deserve to have a doula.
You deserve to see the value in INVESTING IN YOUR EXPERIENCES.
Find the doula who soothes your heart, who gets you and who will enhance your experience and your life!
Find the doula who is invested in your community, who wants to improve the birthing culture, who will stand by you and up for you (if needed).
Find the doula who makes you laugh or cry or whatever it is that YOU need to embody your pregnancy and to recognize the sacred and incredible time you are having.
Find the doula who will empathize, listen, encourage you to use your voice and who will support you 110% during your WHOLE pregnancy and postpartum.
Trust me, we're worth it.
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