CT Birth Doula: Finding the right fit.
A CT birth or post partum doula is there for you, so when hiring a CT birth and post partum doula, think about it—what do YOU need to feel most supported? Start with the technical stuff: location, pricing, services offered. And then start thinking about values, ways they can support you, skills that are important to you, what others have said.
While I may be a doula I’ve also hired two birth doulas. Both came to me while finishing certifications—and this was really important to me. As I birth a new baby, they birth a new transition in their career.
It feels very reciprocal, and as someone that has always had a lot of knowledge around birth, and babies, having someone super experienced was never something I felt I needed. True curiosity, being able to feel seen, those things mattered to me so much more when finding doulas or midwives.
You can have all the tools in the toolbox, know all the clinical skills, but if you don’t know something, you need to say I don’t know, and I want to figure this out. The inability to have this honest conversation with me as a patient, and as a client has led me to fire a few doctors. No doctor, no midwife, no doula is going to have all the answers—but having a curious mind, and an honest approach will help them be able to answer any question thoughtfully, and honestly.
First step in hiring a CT birth doula would be to sit down, and have this same honest conversation with yourself: what is most important to you? How do you want to feel in their care? What values are important to you that you need to talk about, and see if they align with? Map these out on paper, and use key terms from this map to start Googling, and asking in parenting groups.
While the CT doula community doesn’t have the biggest SEO and website presence, parenting groups, and Google will definitely provide some options. I always consider location first, less than an hour away is ideal. After that go down the list of must have’s you’ve created: values, price points, services offered…
I’m a big fan of continuous services so someone who can offer prenatal, birth, and post partum CT doula services, plus lactation consulting—huge win in my book. When hiring a CT birth doula, what you’ll learn quickly is having someone involved in perinatal care, not just those first 7-8 months, and the birth, means having someone that deeply knows you, and can support you even more.
While the value in birth and prenatal care is so obvious: preparing for birth, having support throughout the pregnancy, and birth that is solely focused on you, post partum care is just as important.
There’s always the obvious concern here: post partum depression, anxiety, and more. I don’t need to focus on that, it’s something so many people are focused on. What I care about is breaking down some facts about post partum doulas and what they can offer you.
A CT post partum doula isn’t just for childcare, and newborn care—overnights to help you sleep, a few hours a day of support so you can shower, take a walk by yourself, what have you. It’s someone who can help with household chores, caring for the pets, buying groceries, and prepping meals, getting laundry taken care of… It’s a support person that is there to support you at this vulnerable time.
So when thinking about a CT birth doula, and post partum doula, think about what do you need to feel on top of the world at this time. Make that list, ignore what your partner(s) or co-parent(s) might need, what the kids need—that is not who this is for. This is about caring for you so that you can be at your best to take care of them. What do you need?
What’s a full spectrum doula?
Reading through all the different definitions of a full spectrum doula can leave someone feeling a little ...unsure. Here's a specific list of tangible things a full spectrum doula can do to support birthing people.
If you google the definition you get:
“A full-spectrum doula is a community care worker who provides physical, emotional, and other nonmedical support to people during a wide range of pregnancy experiences and life events:
Prenatal: Support before pregnancy, including helping people look at their physical and emotional health and well-being
Labor and delivery: Presence during labor and delivery
Postpartum: Support for up to 12 months after pregnancy
Other experiences: Support for miscarriage, stillbirth, abortion, adoption, and death
Full-spectrum doulas also support members of the LGBTQIA+ community, including those who want to conceive or adopt. They work alongside their clients in a variety of medical and medically adjacent settings, but they are not medical professionals.”
That’s a lot of words to encompass a lot of things…
Let’s break this down more, and gain a better understanding of what care with a full-spectrum doula looks like. I think it’s really hard to look at like what do doulas do tangibly when “presence during labor and delivery” is one of the services we offer. So let’s break things down a little more. These are just a range of options, this is not an inclusive or exclusive list by any means.
Prenatal Full Spectrum Doula Care:
Support exploring birth plan options.
Support researching nutritious meals, and crafting those meals.
Helping plan, and execute a nesting party.
Helping with nesting tasks.
Going for walks, chatting about whatever may come up.
Networking with various support services.
Meeting with midwife or OBGYN services to ensure an advocate is present.
Labor, and Delivery Full Spectrum Doula Care:
Emotional support during labor, and delivery.
Cleaning, cooking, providing snacks/small meals, and beverages during labor.
Help providing options for natural pain relief: using a labor ball, changing positions, back rubs, breath work, and more.
Help setting up for labor, and delivery—think about it like setting the mood, candles if desired, black out curtains, etc.
Navigating communication with the outside world if needed.
Reassurance, and support—that agency/autonomy building.
Post Partum Full Spectrum Doula Care:
Help cleaning the space.
Help preparing or providing options for snacks, meals, and beverages.
Household tasks, and chores.
Newborn care.
Lactation support.
Washing laundry or baby clothes.
Going for walks, chatting about what might come up.
Networking with support services that may be needed.
Advocacy around breastfeeding with pediatrician or other providers.
Obviously these tasks encompass a wide range of knowledge and skills. The most important skill is knowing when to refer out and having a comprehensive knowledge of area services, and resources. Being able to network and resource broker is such a valuable skill—founded really on my favorite thing: curiosity.
The reality is, just like any professional in the medical or adjoining fields, we can’t know everything about anything. Having an innate sense of curiosity that allows you to ask questions, to seek answers gives a full spectrum doula such a better skillset than any book can.
In birth and perinatal care, there is so much focus on baby. Just in the transition from nothing, to expecting, to baby here on Earth, there’s a huge focus on baby in friends and family. Having a full spectrum doula allows for a birthing parent to have someone solely focused on them.
In having a support person that is solely focused on a birthing parent, that parent can have support and someone fostering agency, and autonomy. Feeling secure, confident in this process is the biggest gift any birthing parent can really feel. Birthing is full of questions, wonder, contradicting advice, advice no one asked for, and more. Being able to feel really confident in your decisions, and having an advocate there to reaffirm your decisions can make a huge difference in your journey.