Spit-up On My Shoulder

You may have heard of birth doulas, but there are also doulas who are trained in postpartum support. A postpartum doula provides in-home care, usually for three to four hours at a time, to help new families adjust to life with their baby. Since so many of us don’t live near family, the postpartum doula is like the aunt or grandma that would have come to help when families lived closer to each other.

Postpartum doulas care for the baby and older siblings, perform household chores, run errands, provide breastfeeding support, or just let the new mom take a nap or have a good cry. A doula is there to provide emotional, physical, and informational assistance so the mother can focus on resting and bonding with her baby. Doulas can answer your questions about handling a newborn and provide information on local resources for parents. They are also trained to watch for signs of postpartum depression (see my 1/31/07 post for more on PPD.)

As Sally Placksin notes in her book, Mothering the New Mother (in my opinion one of the best books ever about new mom care), a doula is “one who nurtures the new mother by performing those tasks that comfort her and free her to be with her baby.”

Some doulas offer special expertise such as massage therapy, vegetarian cooking, or baby-proofing. There are also doula services that provide overnight care. Fees typically range from $15 to $35 an hour, depending on the doula’s level of experience, services provided, and the cost of living in your area.

To find a postpartum doula near you, check the links in the left-hand column under Doulas. Next time I’ll discuss questions to ask when you are interviewing a postpartum doula for your family.