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Post Partum Doulas

Post partum doulas work with the new mother and her family, providing support, encouragement, breastfeeding advice (if required) and practical help as the new family adapt to their new role and circumstances. In essence her role is to "mother the mother".

A postpartum doula helps a new mother with the baby, she will also take charge of the household care. She will give you baby care tips, cook, clean, run errands, help care for older siblings (or spend time caring for the newborn so mum has time with the older children) and more depending on the mums needs. She will also likely be a good source of breastfeeding tips and will nurture the mother so she can better nurture her baby! A doula 'mothers the mother', providing a sympathetic ear and serving as an antidote for isolation that many new mothers experience.

What does a postpartum doula do ?

Here are some of the services a doula may provide:

Maternal Care - emotional support, knowledge of postpartum health, breastfeeding support
Newborn Care - bathing, changing, feeding and comforting
Sibling Care - reading stories, supervise at playground, playing games. Quiet time with your newborn while someone looks after older children.
Household Chores - light housekeeping, meal preparation, grocery shopping
This also allows the new Mother to spend time with her baby while someone else does the housework.
Undisturbed rest time while someone listens for the baby

How Does the Postpartum Doula "Mother the Mother"?

By listening.
"Cushion" her and the baby. Give her permission to rest, eat and care for nothing but herself and her baby.Don't expect her transition to motherhood to be smooth. The adjustment is different for each woman, and with each baby.
Make it clear that she does not need to be able to do everything at once.
Praise her
Help her to follow her instincts. Praise choices that she makes.
Help her to have breastfeeding success, to build her self-confidence.
Help her to learn what to expect from a newborn, so she recognizes her baby's behaviour as normal.
Help her to enlist the support of peers, to ease the adjustment into parenthood.
Teach and help her to use coping skills such as concrete problem solving.
Teach her skills such as "kangaroo care", so her baby is more content.
Offer her timely referrals, to avoid problems becoming emergencies.

You can expect your postpartum doula to:

provide in-home care from birth up to six weeks
meet once before the due date for interview and baby preparation
be on-call two weeks before the due date and be available to begin service 48 hours after birth
create a package of hours to suit your individual needs. For example, 4 hours a day, 4 days a week
assist with household chores, light meal preparation and siblings