The big concern that usually comes up when considering a doula – can we afford it, and can we justify spending that sort of money?

Pregnancy – a time when families are facing new challenges and increasing pressure. As a doula I often hear how having a doula sounds like a brilliant idea, but is just not an option – it is too expensive, I have too many other things to get, I don’t see the value in having one. Yet for families who have had a doula, they rave about how it was the best money they spent. Here is a look at what a doula with Belfast Baby Company costs and what those costs measure up against.

A standard birth doula support package is approximately the same cost as:

27 take out meals or 14 meals at a mid-range restaurant. 61 bottles of wine (that’s 1.4 bottles per week over the length of an average pregnancy). 220 lattes (roughly a coffee out per day during the duration of pregnancy). 4 pints of beer per week

What are you actually getting for your money when you hire a birth doula?

Your first meeting with our doulas is free, it is an opportunity to meet and see if they are the right fit for you. Our doulas Emma and Leslie work together with each client meaning you will meet both of them at that first visit.

Phone and Email Support:

Once you book with Belfast Baby Company and pay a deposit you will have support from our doulas right away. During working hours you can call, text or email with any questions or concerns right the way through the pregnancy. Maybe you have an antenatal appointment coming up and you want to chat, or you have some worries about getting ready for baby’s arrival.
As an example, let’s say you book your package at 22 weeks of pregnancy and use this service for 1 hour per week until the birth around 40 weeks. That is 18 hours of support.

Face to Face Support:

Two antenatal sessions will be offered as part of this package. Each session is 2 to 2.5 hours and will cover a range of information and skills.
14 hours labour support, once labour starts and you would like your doula to come to support you she will come to your home or the hospital to be with you. During this time she will be there to help in a variety of ways from being a source of information, offering tips to your partner, using her range of massage and physical support skills and ensuring you feel confident in your ability to birth your baby in the whatever way you wish to do so.
Once you are home and settled let your doula know when you would like her to call for a postnatal visit. This 2 to 2.5-hour session will give you the opportunity to discuss the birth, the support you had, any questions you have and get some practical tips for life with a new addition to the house.

On-Call Support:

From 36 weeks of pregnancy until the baby is born your doulas will be on call. Emma and Leslie have a shared on-call system to ensure that 24 hours a day 7 days a week are covered. If the baby was to arrive at exactly 40 weeks it would add up to 672 hours on-call time, or at 42 weeks it would be an astonishing 1008 hours! During the on-call period, your doula will be ready to come to support you once you give a phone call to request. This means that she must be prepared at all times whether it is 2 am or 10 pm. It really is an exciting time for a doula, although we never get over the anxiety of making sure our phones are on full volume.

So let’s look at that breakdown of that as an example:
Face to face support: 21.5 hours
Phone and email support: 18 hours
On-call support: 672 hours
Package cost £550

Without including the on-call hours that works out at £13.92 per hour. Even adding in just two days of on-call hours it comes down to £6.28 per hour!

But is it worth it?

Here are some quotes from people who have had a doula:

Our past clients

“Discussing our birth preferences with Leslie helped us to decide what kind of birth experience we wanted, and gave us the confidence to discuss our wishes with medical staff.  We believe that her support and faith in us put us in a strong position to have the natural birth that we wanted.  On the day, we were lucky that things worked out as we had hoped, but having her beside us also made us feel better able to tackle the situation, however it unfolded.”

“Emma was with me for my induction in the Royal. I couldn’t have done it without her, encouraging me, helping me understand what was happening, and the massages for contractions!”

“Leslie is a wonderful doula, and without doubt her working alongside us made a dramatic and positive difference to our experience of labour and birth.  Her priority was to understand what we were experiencing, what we hoped for, and how she could support us.  She was caring, knowledgeable, sensitive and a great listener.  She gave us valuable advice and emotional support both as we prepared, on the day, and even afterwards in her follow-up visit.”

“Emma was an amazing doula, she helped me feel confident and even excited for the birth! During the birth she was so calm and encouraging. I know that having the support of a doula like Emma is a huge part of why my birth was an incredibly positive, empowering experience. I wish every woman could have a doula like Emma!”

Evidence-based birth support for doulas:

https://evidencebasedbirth.com/real-life-stories-doulas/

https://evidencebasedbirth.com/the-evidence-for-doulas/

Talk to us about hiring a doula, we are always happy to answer any questions you may have. Most people have some reservations before they make up their mind to hire a doula, but everyone who has worked with us has been delighted with the support they received and more than happy with the money they spent.