Central New Hampshire's Empowering Birth and Beyond

A trained birth doula is a birthing professional skilled to provide continuous physical support, emotional comfort and non-clinical informational support during pregnancy, labor, birth and the early postpartum time.
dad wearing scrubs after birth of child

Regardless of the number of times you have given birth, the act of birthing each baby holds its own fears and unknowns. A doula can help you and your partner to gather information, provide education, provide physical support and being a reassuring calming presence during the time leading up to the birth all the way to the weeks following birth. Birth doulas are also trained towards assisting families in navigating any unforeseen events and supporting the mother in deviating from her birth plan when it becomes necessary. The doula stays with you throughout the entire labor experience, offering continuity of care, easing the transition into the hospital environment and through nursing shift changes.

What types of birth does a doula help at?
A birth doula also known as a labor doula can provide support for any type of birth. The mother may choose to have a medicated or unmedicated birth. The mother may also choose to have a vaginal or cesarean birth out of choice or medical necessity. Doulas can also be of assistance at many birth settings, hospitals, birth centers or at home under the care of a midwife. The doula does not provide medical care; instead she works directly for you as a compliment to your healthcare team.

Annie providing counterpressure on laboring mother's back

What does a birth doula do?
The answer to this will depend on your individual needs. Some women want a gentle, reassuring presence at their birth to help them with breathing and comfort measures, others want a full-blown labor coach to help facilitate their birth plan, still others just want an extra person on hand to take pictures, coordinate relatives, watch kids and run birthing related errands. We don't go into births with any personal preconceived ideas of how it should play out or what the doula's role should be. We’re here to discover what your individual wants and needs are, then exceed them in every way possible with a customized plan for you.

As part of our birth doula packages we do offer the following included services if you desire:

A telephone/personal doula interview
An initial no-cost, no-obligation consultation
Application review
Assistance with preparation of your birth.
Assistance in helping you to find answers to any pregnancy, labor, birth or postpartum questions you may have. Along with explanations of medical procedures & alternatives your healthcare provider may have offered to you.
Availability to our extensive lending library of books. To see our selection of books you may visit our pregnancy/labor library or our postpartum/parenting library and contact us with which books you may like. We do also offer videos and computer programs for loan.
At least one prenatal visit to among other things discuss your birth plan, goals, and your entire birth support team’s roles.
Contact with you after every prenatal appointment you have with your healthcare provider to discuss progress changes and answer any questions.
On call time starting 2 weeks before your due date 24hrs a day.
Availability of Primary or Back-up Doula
Phone or email contact during pregnancy and on-call time, yes you really can call us in the middle of the night if you have questions about your pregnancy.
Continuous one-on-one labor support beginning at home or in the hospital and lasting for at least one hour after delivery, no matter how long labor is.
Emotional and physical support during labor
Techniques, suggestions, and comfort measures for pain relief and to encourage labor progress.
Support to the father/partner in his/her role.
Labor and birth photography if you desire and circumstances allow. When we take pictures our goal is to capture emotions and memories that might otherwise be lost. The kiss your husband sneaks between contractions, the overwhelming joy as baby is placed on mom's chest or the precious first snuggles with your baby. If you would like can even post these pictures online for you the shortly after your delivery so you can share your beautiful child with friends and relatives while you continue to enjoy the precious time with your little one.
Assistance with breastfeeding within the first hour after birth if breastfeeding is desired.
Community resources and referrals.
At least one postpartum visit to discuss your birth and to answer any questions you may have about your individual birthing experience.

*These statistics appear in “A Doula Makes the Difference” by Nugent in Mothering Magazine, March-April 1998.

What is the cost of birth doula services?
siblings at a birth, doula attended birth

Hiring a doula is a wonderful investment as an integral part of creating a birth experience that you can look back on with joy. The all-inclusive, flat rate for the services outlined above is $400*. A deposit of $150* is required to put you on the scheduling calendar.
* Prices subject to change

We believe every woman deserves a doula regardless of their ability to pay, so if our fee seems uncomfortable to you, please feel open to letting us know your needs and we can discuss ways to accommodate your budget.

What if I have a husband or partner?
Doulas can be extremely helpful if you do have a partner or not. We have supported both types of births, though births in which the husband or partner are also present are more common. The job of a doula is not to take the place of the father, or any other chosen primary support person, in anyway. We never replace the support and encouragement of them, we can actually help make the experience much more positive for them by offering suggestions as to how they can better assist you during labor and taking off some of the pressure from him feeling as though he must do everything “just right” during your labor. They may not feel the pain you’re feeling, but they often feel anguish and a sense of helplessness while watching you go through the birth process. Your doula can help in reducing fears that may cross his mind during your labor and birth, making the experience positive for him as well.

Since many times it is the pregnant woman reading all the pregnancy books, and she herself may become overwhelmed by all the information, imagine how the partner feels as he then has the job of remembering all the information to help you in labor. He is expected among other things to immediately become familiar with the process and language of birth, to understand medical procedures and hospital protocols to advocate for his partner in an environment and culture he is usually unfamiliar with. A doula has trained for just this situation and already knows much of this information, she can help your partner to understand the information and provide guidance on the appropriate times to use a tool or technique, provide the information to help parents make decisions and facilitate communication between the laboring woman, her partner and healthcare providers.

We believe that it is very important for him to be as involved as the both of you would like. Your doula will complement the team that the two of you are, and this often draws the couple even closer rather then pulling away in times of stress. If the goal is for Dad to be very involved and “hands-on”, then your doula can encourage him and help him with good suggestions of ways to help you. The doula can also help if he needs a break, needs someone to get him a bite to eat, or just needs someone to listen to his concerns. If the plan is for him to be less involved, then your doula can step in according to what you’re comfortable with. The care for the mom and dad is very different for each couple depending upon their wishes; providing uniquely customized care.

The dad can often support you in some ways a doula cannot. Due to training and experience she will probably be more knowledgeable of the birth process, medical procedures, and of various comfort measures, but he loves you like no one else can. A doula can even free him of doing tasks such as getting more ice chips so that he may remain at your head to rub your face and mummer sweet nothings into your ear. No matter what level of support the two of you decide he will give, his support is important and cannot be duplicated. Dads and doulas work well together, helping each other to help mom and attend to her wants and needs. In working together they can provide the mother with the loving touch, care and attention of a partner as well as the expertise and guidance of a doula.

Where do you provide birth doula services?
We are located in the geographic center of the state which enables us to get to all parts of the state very quickly. We primarily provide support in the central New Hampshire region, but we have provided support in other regions of the state. New Hampshire is blessed to have a great number of doulas available for parents to choose from, if we are outside of your general geographic region we would be happy to discuss who else you may contact for doula services.

How do I get more information?
At your request, we would be more than happy to mail you an information packet and/or schedule a no-cost, no-obligation initial consultation.

You may also contact us by phone, email, or mail. We do check email frequently, so feel free to contact us with whichever method you are most comfortable.