Why are Doulas "so expensive?!"
In today's solo episode, I'm talking about why Doulas are "so expensive"
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Here's an overview of this episode:
Understanding why a Doula prices her support investment the way she does.
What a typical breakdown of services provided are.
Tips for paying for your support if you don't have the whole amount.
Most Doulas are willing to take payment plans.
How valuable a Doula can be for your pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
🌸 Whether you're a first-time parent or a seasoned birther, this episode will give you valuable insights on whether a Doula is worth the cost to you. 🌸
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Email: Petra@birthingcometrue.com
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✨ Check out the transcript here! Why are Doulas "so expensive?!"
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Transcript:
So today I wanted to talk to you about why doulas are so expensive. So I've heard this statement so many times and I'm not going to lie and say that I wasn't on the other side of this statement. So when I first thought about doulas, getting a doula, I saw that they were anywhere from 1, 000 to 2, 000, and in some other areas, they're even more expensive than that.
And I was like, Oh my gosh, this is a huge expense. How am I going to ever afford this? And So, you know, once I started to dig into it when I was preparing for my VBAC, my vaginal birth after three cesareans, I saw everything said, get a doula, get a doula. This is how you'll be successful or will help you be more successful.
So I was like, I have to get a doula no matter how much it is. And I believe her price was 1, 200 at the time. She has since raised it. It was 1200. Yeah, I think it was 1200. Um, and at the time we had just moved into a new house and our rent was three times what we were used to paying. So it was tight. It was really tight and it was hard at the moment, but I was like, I have to do this.
Like I need one. I felt like I needed one. Once I broke it down, I was like, okay, this is worth it. And I want to tell you, like, It is worth it. Like they are worth doulas. And I'm not just saying this as a doula, but I'm saying this as a person who received care from a doula, who also thought that it was so expensive to hire a doula.
It's not, it's really not. You get way more than what you pay for. Okay. And I would actually love to give you like a breakdown of what the cost looks like. Okay. So. If you hire me, so my current rate is 1, 500. And if you're just like, Whoa, 1, 500, what the hell? I get it. I get it. It's like a sticker shock. You know, you see that initial price and you're like, Oh my gosh, like I can't afford this right now.
I get it. I totally get it. And I'm also going to share with you some options for payment, like how you can pay it if you don't just have 1, 500 laying around. So what you're actually getting. with your 1, 500 when you hire me. So this is what you're getting. Before we even decide to work with each other, I devote 30 minutes to an hour for free of actually having a consultation with you to see if our paths even align, to see if our values and our beliefs align, to see if we even want to work with each other.
Okay? So you get that free 30 minutes to an hour of just chatting. We just chat about everything. Um, whether it be what I offer or how I could individualize a plan for you. Okay. So after that, we decided to work together. Okay. This is what you get. You get my online birth education course, which is a pre recorded birth education course that you can take on your own time, take at your own pace.
It is 11 modules and it goes from pregnancy to postpartum and everything we talk about in this course helps you prepare mentally and physically, whether it's a hospital birth or a home birth or a birth center birth. And um, so besides that course, you also get a birth planning session with me. So this could take anywhere from one to two hours.
I don't have a hard stop on the timeframe. Um, we just talk about everything, um, that you expect to happen, what interventions you're willing to accept or not accept, and how you want me to support you during your labor. So we do this birth planning session together, and then we also do a postpartum planning session.
And this can also take about one to two hours, just depends on your needs. So we will talk about how you are going to plan for your postpartum. So what that looks like. Are you going to make freezer meals? Are you going to have somebody else make freezer meals for you? Are you going to have a support system?
Are you going to have somebody stay with you? Are you going to have somebody walk your dog? Are you going to have somebody do your laundry? Um, so that's what we're going to talk about. Um, your breastfeeding, how you want somebody to support you and on your journey. Um, I will also have this session with not just you, but also your partner because you both have to be on the same page.
huge lifetime event that you guys are going through. Even if this is your sixth child, it could be different than every single child you've already had. So I like to talk with you and your partner so that we can discuss things that you guys might not have discussed yet and might might've felt even uncomfortable for you guys to discuss.
And here I come to help initiate that conversation, even things that you might not even thought about yet. So those are a couple things that you get right off the bat. And then you also get weekly check ins. So I check in with you weekly and we talk about how you're doing. And then you get those weekly check ins with me just to chat about whatever.
Um, you can text me pictures, you can anything, anything, everything is personalized to you. So I don't offer the same package for everybody. Yes, the price is the same. But the package looks different for everybody because what you want, somebody else might not want that. So everything is individualized.
It's, I offer personalized care to you, to you and your family. Okay. So we get those weekly check ins. We talk about your fears. We go over your concerns, anything that you want that goes along with your pregnancy, your birth and postpartum. And then once we get to about 37 weeks, um, I'm on call 24 7. 24 hours a day, seven days a week until you give birth.
And that could be at 42 weeks. So essentially I'm on call for your birth for five weeks, a potential of five weeks. Okay. So after that, you know, once you go into labor and you tell me, even if it's like a per drama labor, which could be labor that happens days or even weeks before you have your baby, like if you call me or text me and like, I need you, I need your support.
I go to you, okay? So there's not like, um, time where I'm gonna be like, Eh, no, I, I don't think I'm gonna go because I don't think you're in active labor. You don't need me. No. Once you tell me you want me or need me because you're in labor, Um, even if it's, um, like, you don't realize it's prodromal labor, you think it's, you know, active labor or real labor starting, I will go.
You know, I'm on call for you. So after that, once you are in established active labor, I'm with you. So even if you are like in labor for 48 hours, I'm with you the entire time. I will not abandon you throughout that time. Okay. So if you, if you think about it, let's say your labor is 48 hours. I'm going to do my math on my phone.
Okay, say your labor's 48 hours, okay, and I want, let's say, 20 an hour. That's like a typical going rate, okay? So if I'm, if I'm wanting to get paid 20 an hour and I'm at your labor for 48 hours, What does that look like? That's, right there, that's nine hundred and sixty dollars, okay? So right there, that's almost a thousand dollars, if you have a 48 hour labor.
That doesn't even include, like, our prenatal visits, which can be, you know, one to two hours a each. And I'm just saying on the low end, if I wanted to get paid 20 an hour, just cause that's like a good, easy rate to, um, calculate. But that doesn't include like, so once you do give birth, I am there for one to two hours afterwards to help you establish breastfeeding if you want my help with that.
Um, I'm not a lactation consultant, but I do know how to initiate breastfeeding and what helps. Um, So, I'm there for you for those 1 2 hours postpartum. You know, if you wanted me to stay longer, I even would, like, it's no, there's no ever hard stop on the hours that I'm there with you. It's just how much support you want or need from me.
So, after that, after you give birth and I leave, you know, and during that time when I'm there, I help clean up. I help get you your... Postpart, your first postpartum meal because a lot of people forget about that. And we also chat about that before, like, what do you want to eat right after you give birth? Um, and during birth.
Um, so it's just all those little things, you know, that you might not have thought about, but are really key and important to helping you heal postpartum. So after your, after you give birth and then you are home. Now, depending on whether you want a placenta encapsulation, I would also take your placenta with me from the hospital or your birth location, wherever that might be, and then I would go home and start working on that.
So Bye. After that, um, if you did give me your placenta to process, I would have it back to you within like 48 to 72 hours and then I would actually go to your house to drop it off and then we could sit and talk and debrief. So with every birth that I attend, whether you have placenta encapsulation or not, I go to your home.
Um, I try to go within a week of you being home because I want to really debrief about your birth experience. So we'll talk about it. We'll talk about what you liked and maybe what you didn't like. And if something felt traumatic or disturbing, we'll talk about it and we'll work through it. And I also have resources that I give you.
Um, to help work through that birth experience. So whether it was positive or negative, either way. And then, so I'm with you in that postpartum visit for one to two hours. And then I also offer a second postpartum visit where I will go and say, if you want to, I don't know, take a shower or, um, You want to just take a nap and I will take care of your baby while you're doing that or I will take care of cleaning up your house while you're just cuddling with your baby and enjoying that time.
So other things that are included. So that's the thing. Okay, so I'm going to tell you, I'm going to give you a list of everything that's included when you hire me. So when you hire me, you have access to birth education course. You have access to my lending library, which I have about 12 birth specific and postpartum specific books.
Breastfeeding as well. And then you get two to four prenatal visits with me, which can be one to two hours long. You also get a birth planning session. postpartum planning session. And then I'm on call for your birth for 24 seven for up to five weeks. And then after that, you get 24 seven support from me until you get support from me from the start of your labor.
If you want me there till the end and into your postpartum, I help you with breastfeeding. And then you have those one to two postpartum visits from me. Okay, so A lot of it is also drive time, depending on where you live. I could be driving 30 minutes to two hours. It just depends on where you live. So that's not even, I'm not even including that in the total.
That could be gas money, wear and tear on my car. So all of those are expenses that go into what I do because it's not like you can just come to my home and give birth and do all the things here. I mean. To a certain extent you can because we can also you can opt for virtual visits But you know, that's that's a whole different thing.
We would talk about that. Like I said, every plan is tailored to you. Okay, so Anyways, I just wanted to go over that and talk about like how much I hear that a doula is so expensive And why are they so expensive? Well, you know if you want a birth experience In a, to happen a certain way, you know, sometimes it really helps to have a person who is specialized in birth, you know, so you are paying for the knowledge we bring, you are paying for the physical and emotional support that we give.
So to me, In my perspective, it is worth it. It is, I would pay 5, 000, honestly. And I get it, not everybody's financially privileged. I'm not. I'm still working my way to being financially free, you know? So I get it. I had to borrow money from family. I borrowed money from family. to pay for my doula services because I didn't have 1, 200 to just be like, here you go, take my money.
So there are some options. One company I love that helps with paying for your support, whether it's birth doula support, postpartum support, or lactation support, anything that has to do with that cleaning services, food services. Be her village. I talk about them so much because I think they're so incredibly important to help support moms in this season.
So be her village. I'll leave a link below, but it's possible. It's like, Oh, say, okay. So if you don't know what it is, be her village is a gift registry. But for support. Okay, so it's first support services to help support moms and families on this journey. And what it is, is you have a link and you can share it and then people can actually donate to your registry fund to help support your services to pay for your services.
Doulas are so important and can help so much. So anyways, that's it for this episode. I hope it was helpful or gave you a new insight. If you have any questions or want to chat deeper into this, please let me know. Go ahead and DM me on Instagram at birthing come true. I will leave the link below next time.
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