Postpartum Doula in Austin
Fourth trimester support to ease your transition home
All about postpartum doula services in Austin, Texas.
A postpartum doula service assists new parents with their physical, informational, and emotional needs. Postpartum doulas can help identify a baby’s unique cues, provide breastfeeding guidance, assist with caring for other children in the home, and even perform light housework. These services include both day visits and overnight support.
A postpartum doula in Austin may be the best investment a new family can make to ensure that their transition home with their new baby is as smooth as possible. At a time when so many things are changing and this new little person is demanding all of your attention, having a little guidance and support can go a very long way.
Being responsible for a brand new human is a 24 hour per day responsibility and sometimes what you really need is a break. During the first three months after birth, while your baby is at their most fragile, a postpartum doula is a great way to give yourself that much needed time to yourself. Knowing there is a trained professional caring for your new baby is an important part of being able to fully relax and recuperate.
While not a replacement for a full newborn care class, a postpartum doula is an excellent resource to answer your questions as they arise. There will be so many finer points to caring for a newborn that just don’t occur to you until you are in the moment and nee to make a decision. An occasional visit from a postpartum doula gives you a great periodic opportunity to answer those newborn care questions.
Beyond the benefits of access to a postpartum doula’s wealth of information, new parents also benefit from the emotional support they provide. Knowing birth and the specific fears and troubles that often accompany it allows your postpartum doula to be an empathetic presence who can hold space for you and help you process your experience.
The challenges of breastfeeding a newborn are not to be taken lightly. From correct latching to boosting production to safe storage, there are so many facets of breastfeeding to consider. A postpartum doula can help with breastfeeding tips and guidance when your baby arrives home. A full class on breastfeeding is still a great idea. Then you can use your postpartum doula to fill in the gaps and answer lingering questions that arise.
When you can’t sleep for days on end, even the most basic necessities can sometimes become too much to handle. Your postpartum doula is focussed on getting you the support you need. If you need some healthy meals that nurture your post-labor body and allow you to maximize your breastmilk production, then that’s the support they will provide.
It’s important to maintain your mental health as you transition your baby home. With so much to do in those early days, keeping the house clean can simply fall to the wayside. But there are few easier, faster ways to improve your inner perspective than to clean up your outer reality. Your postpartum doula can support you with light housework to help you keep your life in order as you focus on the new life you’ve created.
Price estimate $35-$45
A daytime visit from a postpartum doula often lasts about 4 hours. The visit focusses on caring for the baby, answering questions, and giving the new parents time to organize their lives and have some daytime to themselves. The goal of daytime doula visits is more supportive and interactive than a night doula visit.
Price estimate $40-$70
A night doula visit from a postpartum doula is focussed on getting the new parents a full night of sleep. Knowing the baby is in professional hands allows parents to fully relax and get rested for the next day. A night doula (sometimes called a night nurse) helps sooth and feed the baby to help them get back to sleep each time they wake up through the night.
A Daytime Package of postpartum doula support includes multiple days of assistance. Generally visits last 4 hours but they can be made longer upon request. Daytime postpartum doula visits cost less per hour than night doula visits.
A nighttime package of postpartum doula support is spread out over several evenings. Night doula visits generally last 8 to 9 hours so that you can get a full night of sleep. When a doula stays at your home overnight, the cost per hour is usually more than a daytime visit.
When you purchase a one month postpartum doula support package, you’ll receive a mixture of daytime and nighttime doula visits. These visits are generally enough to have 2 of each type of visit per week. If you prefer to spread them out over three months, you can always reduce the frequency to make them last longer.
A full package of postpartum doula support is a three month package. The visits are split between daytime and nighttime visits and can be packed into a smaller timeframe if you like. Postpartum doulas prefer not to extend the three month package beyond that timeframe because after three months, most babies are mature enough to not require certified newborn care. At that point parents can utilize more traditional childcare assistance.
Postpartum doulas are certified by various doula education organizations. The newborn care education postpartum doulas receive is highly detailed but less in-depth than birth doula education requirements. Be certain your postpartum doula is certified and qualified to give you newborn care advice and guidance before you agree to partner with them. Without a certification establishing their knowledge, they would just be a traditional childcare support person and you would not have the assurance of specialized newborn support training.
If you would like to learn how to become a postpartum doula, you should start by researching the requirements with DONA International. Then search locally for schools that offer postpartum doula certification. Before committing to a local school, look online for your options to receive national training in an online environment. There is a vast need for postpartum doulas at present and as the service becomes more well known, the need only grow larger. It’s a great time to consider becoming a postpartum doula.