January 17, 2025 • 17 mins
Unlock the secrets to affording invaluable doula support without breaking the bank. Join us on The Ordinary Doula Podcast as we explore creative strategies to make these transformative services accessible to all, regardless of financial circumstances. Discover how significant the impact of doula support can be for individuals, particularly those facing socioeconomic challenges. From volunteer programs to practical tips like requesting contributions during baby showers, you'll learn innovative ways to pool resources and prioritize your birth experience.
Imagine a world where doula services are a standard part of every birth plan. Learn how advocating for these services with hospitals and insurance companies can initiate change, leading to a reduction in cesarean rates and NICU stays. By sharing real stories and insights, I aim to empower you to actively seek the support that can enhance not only your birth experience but also influence parenting, breastfeeding, and the postpartum period. Let's champion the cause for broader access to doulas, fostering human connections that bring about supportive and fulfilling birth journeys.
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Show Credits
Host: Angie Rosier
Music: Michael Hicks
Photographer: Toni Walker
Episode Artwork: Nick Greenwood
Producer: Gillian Rosier Frampton
Voiceover: Ryan Parker
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome to the Ordinary Doula Podcast with
Angie Rozier, hosted by BirthLearning, where we help prepare
folks for labor and birth withexpertise coming from 20 years
of experience in a busy doulapractice Helping thousands of
people prepare for labor,providing essential knowledge
(00:35):
and tools for positive andempowering birth experiences.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Hello and welcome to the Ordinary Doula Podcast.
My name is Angie Rozier and Iam your host.
Thanks so much for spending alittle bit of time with us today
.
Today I want to talk about thecost of a doula.
Doulas make money ideally right, like they are in this to make
some money.
So there is a cost involved, ofcourse, with.
Doulas make money ideally right, like they are in this to make
(01:06):
some money.
So there is a cost involved, ofcourse, with doulas it's a
service, a service they'reproviding that people pay for.
Simple as that.
Um, some new doulas cost lessthan some seasoned doulas.
The cost varies widelydepending on where you live in
the country or in the world.
I've seen them range, um, youknow, and also it goes up a
little bit every year.
So the range is pretty broad.
(01:28):
Like we can have a range from$1,000 to four or $5,000 in some
of our more expensive areas,but I'd say for most of the
United States the range isprobably 1500 to 2500 is kind of
where we're at Now.
This is 2025.
And that varies widely, right,but that's kind of what you can
(01:49):
expect.
For some people.
That's a pretty extraordinarycost Like a doula, unfortunately
for so many people in right now.
A doula is a luxury item and noteveryone can afford that.
Some people have, you know, allthe luxury items, so they're
going to have a doula.
And one thing that'sinteresting over time is doulas
(02:10):
have helped and servedhistorically the people who can
afford it.
They've served people who haveassets and resources and have
the haves, not the havenots.
But there are incrediblebenefits to those who have less,
who are challenged bysocioeconomic, racial or ethnic
(02:32):
or geographical limitations.
There's incredible benefits fordoulas to help and make a
difference, make more of adifference.
Right Like, the trajectory ofwhat a doula can do is a little
longer.
The leverage is a littlestronger when you have someone
who needs help in all parts oflife.
(02:52):
I have been able to work in somevolunteer doula programs.
When I lived in North CarolinaI was involved in a couple and I
love, love, loved it.
I also have worked, obviouslyprivately, for a really long
time and served with someincredible, amazing people, as
I've done that from all kinds ofsocioeconomic backgrounds and
(03:13):
different come from differentparts of the world, speak
different languages, differentcultures, different ethnic
backgrounds, but by and largeit's you know, I'm a white doula
, so I'm, by and large, servingwhite people who can pay for me.
That's the majority of myclients, but certainly not all.
Every once in a while we'llhave a client come across who
has just scrimped and saved andsacrificed to pay for a doula.
(03:37):
But I want to chat about someways to pay for doulas,
regardless of where you are andwhat the cost is like.
Ways to pay for doulasregardless of where you are and
what the cost is like.
One of those ways and I've hadseveral clients do this is to
request help from family andfriends.
So a lot of people, you know,like to give gifts when babies
are born.
They like to buy cute, tinylittle things that are going to
(04:02):
fit the baby for maybe 10 days,you know, and it's just can't
resist buying this tiny littlepink or blue or whatever, um,
little outfits, um, but giftsare normal, right, like people
have baby showers or blessingways or, you know, uh, all kinds
of celebrations up to andsurrounding, uh, the birth of a
baby, and sometimes people willhave.
I've known people who have oneor two or three showers as they,
(04:23):
you know, baby showers as theyprepare for the upcoming arrival
of a baby.
Maybe their work gives them one, and maybe their friends give
them one, and maybe their familygives them one or their church
congregation or whatever.
But requesting this as a giftor portion of as a gift can be
really important, like theimpact that doula support can
(04:44):
have is way more important thanthat cute little onesie.
So if people, even if a lot ofpeople gave a little, or a
couple key people gave a lot,you know, sometimes the grandma
or a really important aunt orsomething or a best friend will
kind of spring and give a littlebit of a bigger gift, maybe a
stroller or a breast pump orsomething along those lines.
But if you ask for this, forgifts like hey, also looking for
(05:07):
donations so easy to do, now,right, you can put a QR code on
an invitation, all electronic.
We can exchange funds veryeasily.
But part of the gift for theshower is contributions towards
doula services.
That could be postpartum doulaservices maybe that's where
you're at and that's what it'sall about for you, um, but it
could be birth services as well,um, so gifts, gifts is a is a
(05:30):
really great one.
I had one client, oh, one of myearly, early clients over 20
years ago.
She was a school teacher.
Um and her colleagues.
All the teachers at her schoolcontributed um for the funds for
a doula and they just aboutlike 90% covered my birth fee at
the time, which was much lowerthan than it is now.
(05:51):
But her colleagues helpedprovide a doula.
I've seen parents provide that.
There was one couple I helpedyears ago.
I helped them have two babieswho were kind of caboose babies.
They already had four prettygrown children or nearly grown
children and then they had thesetwo.
They had one was a surprise andthen they added a brother to
him so he had a buddy um.
(06:12):
So they were older parents atthe time and they purchased my
services for both of those kidsand they said, oh my gosh, this
is amazing.
We are going to provide thiswhen our children, our older
kids, when they have babies.
We are going to provide thiswhen our children, our older
kids, when they have babies, weare going to gift them doula
services.
And they did.
Those two of those older kidshave now married and had
(06:32):
children of their own.
They're easily probably over 30now, into their 30s, and those
parents have.
They've lived in different partof the country, you know.
Their kids have moved and theyhave gifted them doula services
for for um their children.
So that's one way to do it.
Another way is seek scholarships.
You, your particular doula,might offer scholarships.
(06:53):
A lot of doulas will set asidea little bit of money from each
client or they'll have a littlefun going on Um.
That will accumulate so thatthey can offer discounted or
reduced services when they see aneed arise.
There's also organizations.
If you have a local doulaorganization or there are some
(07:13):
hospital organizations or healthdepartments that might have
doula scholarships fundsavailable.
You'd be surprised what kind offunds are available if you know
where to look and who to ask.
So kind of ask around.
You could also seek out avolunteer doula program.
Many hospitals in many placeshave volunteer doula programs.
Some of them have paid doulaprograms.
(07:35):
Where there's a doula at thehospital, it's a little bit
untraditional in that you mightnot know who they are or have a
lot of time with them, but theymay be able to be there and help
you during labor.
So you could kind of ask forthat and see if your hospital or
has a doula program or yourbirth center.
So there are volunteerorganizations that you could
(07:57):
kind of look at.
And where I live there's adoula membership organization.
That's amazing.
They've been around a reallylong time Gosh, we're going on
30 years and they have ascholarship fund that people
apply for a scholarship andthere's certain doulas who say,
yep, I'll do it for ascholarship, it's a discounted
rate and they will do that.
Other ways to pay for if youhave insurance and if you have a
(08:20):
flex spending account or ahealth savings account, your
doula could provide some likeexplanation of services or
benefits or an invoice, adetailed invoice that covers
what the services and the hoursare, and you can pretty easily
I've had clients very easily doflex spending and even health
(08:41):
savings.
Sometimes they do it with theirhealth savings card.
They have a, you know, a creditor debit card that will just
transfer right to the payment ofthat.
Sometimes it's more inreimbursement form.
There are a growing number ofinsurance companies who provide
services through insurance.
So ask if your insurancecompany has doula services.
Ask do you provide for doulaservices?
(09:04):
Call them up, ask them about it.
I work for a company now thathas a really awesome contract
with a health plan and they doprovide for reimbursement for
well.
No, they pay doulas to helpthose who are insured with this
particular company to have thatcovered, which is incredible.
(09:25):
I've been able to do manybirths with that insurance
company and work for with people, with clients who otherwise
could not afford it.
So there are some creative waysto do it.
There's some more traditionalavenues to do it.
You could ask your doula ifthey do a payment plan.
I've had many clients dopayment plans.
(09:45):
You know if we especially if wemeet with them earlier in
pregnancy, it's a little biteasier to take, you know do
smaller payments over a periodof time.
Um, sometimes we'll do somebartering.
I've bartered for things before, or partially for things.
I've gosh, what have I done?
Headshots.
I've done books.
I've done website services ordigital services.
(10:07):
I think I did a hotel stay onetime.
Somebody traded me a hotel stayfor doula services.
So kind of, don't be alarmed toask.
Some doulas might get kind ofdefensive about that, but it
never hurts to ask and hopefullyyour doula can build something.
Many doulas do that.
They'll kind of build intotheir year some some discounted
(10:29):
or reduced rates when they see aneed for that heart.
But when I see a need I I donot have a problem giving a
discount.
I've given many, many discountsand even free services over the
years.
When situations really got myattention and tugged at my
(10:49):
heartstrings, there's one.
We had a doctor call us up manyyears ago now and she had a
patient who was going through itlike from tough stuff, really
having a difficult time.
She had two children.
She was pregnant with twins andher husband decided he was done
in the middle of his pregnancy.
So she was faced with a lotahead of her on suddenly alone
(11:11):
and the emotional turmoil shewas experiencing when that was a
new and difficult situation.
And then she's faced withgiving birth to twins and the
cost of everything all of asudden.
So our doctor reached out to usand say hey, would you, could
you provide services for this,for this patient of mine?
And we said, oh, yes, for sure.
So my partner and I we met withher and it was just heart
(11:35):
wrenching.
The place she was at in herheart and mind at the time was
rough and we were glad toprovide that service for her.
She had gorgeous twins, perfect, unmedicated vaginal delivery
of twins.
It's always amazing and thiswas the coolest part like this
mom who was struggling in everyway, she scraped together 250
(11:59):
dollars to give us afterwards.
She even in her difficultcircumstance, found value and
decided to contribute, you know,to our services, which is
really touching.
And you know we've remained incontact with her and are pretty
good friends with her still, andyou know what she's doing fine.
She's doing so fine now she'sin a different place and really
(12:20):
enjoying, actually, where she'sat with her cute twins and her
older kiddos as well.
So be creative when you, if youwant doula services, kind of be
creative about it.
See what you can do to affordthe services.
Hopefully you'll find somethingthat works.
I encourage everyone to try.
You know, if it's important toyou, try one thing that makes a
(12:42):
big difference, especially ifit's coming from a lot of
directions, a lot of angles andwe're starting to see the tide
turn on.
This is the voice of theconsumer.
So if you ask, if you ask yourprovider like, hey, uh, does
your hospital provide birthservices?
Does your practice have a doulaworking here?
Probably they don't, you know.
(13:02):
But that starts the thoughtprocess.
That's where change happens isit starts with awareness.
Call up your insurance company,call them six times if you want
, and ask them do you guysprovide doula services?
Birth doula, postpartum doulaYou're probably going to be a
little bit more successful withbirth doula, the postpartum
doula.
You're probably going to be alittle bit um more successful
with birth doula the way thingsare right now.
(13:23):
But say, do you provide thisservice?
And you can go with some dataand some facts.
You know.
You know doulas can reducecesareans by I think we're at
40% right now Um, doulas, theycan reduce NICU stays.
Um, if look at the numbers andI've done this and as I've dived
into some data and a companythat I'm working for does this
(13:45):
all the time they look at thecost savings of what doulas can
do, and that's remember, thedollar speaks, unfortunately,
and so they're like oh wait,yeah, that could save us money.
Like this small yes, that's arelatively small fee.
When we're looking at a NICUstay or a cesarean fee using an
OR and surgery charges, the costof covering a doula is much
(14:09):
smaller.
So ask about it, ask about it,ask about it, ask about it, and
maybe you won't get that service, but maybe someday your
neighbor or your friend, someonedown the line, you started the
work, you started thatconversation and awareness for
someone else.
Maybe your own child will havedoula services covered by
insurance at some point in theirlife.
So please ask about it.
(14:30):
Oh, I had one other greatthought that seems to have left
me about that, but anyway, lookaround, hunt for it.
There might be a way to pay fordoula services in your area.
Hope this is helpful.
I think it's a valuable service.
It's a simple fix to a lot ofproblems and one of the biggest
(14:51):
benefits when we can pull backfrom the dollar signs of it.
We can pull back from theinterventions and everything.
But one of the very biggestbenefits is your satisfaction
with your birth experience.
Hopefully you gain with anadvocate dedicated to you.
You gain a positive birthexperience which can impact
(15:15):
parenting for you, which canimpact breastfeeding, the
postpartum period and kind ofhow you start that new chapter
of your life.
I think the biggest benefit byfar that people gain from having
a doula is that they have apositive and empowering birth
experience.
Even if it's not perfect, evenif it's not what you hoped or
thought, it can still be apositive and empowering
(15:36):
experience because you hadsomeone who cared, someone who
listened, someone who advocatedfor you, someone who knew how to
help you, someone who helpedyou, know what was normal and
knew what to do and when to doit, someone who supported your
partner through that, so that wecan minimize the impact of a
frightening or traumatic ornegative birth experience.
(15:56):
Those happen all too often, soa doula is a good fix for that.
See if you can find a way toget one.
Okay, wrapping it up for thisone.
Thank you for listening.
I hope you're able to finddoula services in your area.
Ask around, be creative, callyour insurance company six or
ten times.
Good luck to you Best inbirthing and preparing to birth.
(16:18):
I hope that you, whether anintrovert, extrovert, reach out
and make a small humanconnection today, whether that's
by text, something digital, inperson, just eye contact,
physical touch, whatever thatmight be, make a connection with
another human today.
Um, bless your life and theirs.
Hope you have a good one and wewill see you next time.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Hope you have a good one and we will see you next
time with Angie Rozier, hostedby Birth Learning Episode.
Credits will be in the shownotes Tune in next time as we
continue to explore the manyaspects of giving birth.
Welcome to the Ordinary Doula Podcast with
Angie Rozier, hosted by BirthLearning, where we help prepare
folks for labor and birth withexpertise coming from 20 years
of experience in a busy doulapractice Helping thousands of
people prepare for labor,providing essential knowledge
(00:35):
and tools for positive andempowering birth experiences.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Hello and welcome to the Ordinary Doula Podcast.
My name is Angie Rozier and Iam your host.
Thanks so much for spending alittle bit of time with us today
.
Today I want to talk about thecost of a doula.
Doulas make money ideally right, like they are in this to make
some money.
So there is a cost involved, ofcourse, with.
Doulas make money ideally right, like they are in this to make
(01:06):
some money.
So there is a cost involved, ofcourse, with doulas it's a
service, a service they'reproviding that people pay for.
Simple as that.
Um, some new doulas cost lessthan some seasoned doulas.
The cost varies widelydepending on where you live in
the country or in the world.
I've seen them range, um, youknow, and also it goes up a
little bit every year.
So the range is pretty broad.
(01:28):
Like we can have a range from$1,000 to four or $5,000 in some
of our more expensive areas,but I'd say for most of the
United States the range isprobably 1500 to 2500 is kind of
where we're at Now.
This is 2025.
And that varies widely, right,but that's kind of what you can
(01:49):
expect.
For some people.
That's a pretty extraordinarycost Like a doula, unfortunately
for so many people in right now.
A doula is a luxury item and noteveryone can afford that.
Some people have, you know, allthe luxury items, so they're
going to have a doula.
And one thing that'sinteresting over time is doulas
(02:10):
have helped and servedhistorically the people who can
afford it.
They've served people who haveassets and resources and have
the haves, not the havenots.
But there are incrediblebenefits to those who have less,
who are challenged bysocioeconomic, racial or ethnic
(02:32):
or geographical limitations.
There's incredible benefits fordoulas to help and make a
difference, make more of adifference.
Right Like, the trajectory ofwhat a doula can do is a little
longer.
The leverage is a littlestronger when you have someone
who needs help in all parts oflife.
(02:52):
I have been able to work in somevolunteer doula programs.
When I lived in North CarolinaI was involved in a couple and I
love, love, loved it.
I also have worked, obviouslyprivately, for a really long
time and served with someincredible, amazing people, as
I've done that from all kinds ofsocioeconomic backgrounds and
(03:13):
different come from differentparts of the world, speak
different languages, differentcultures, different ethnic
backgrounds, but by and largeit's you know, I'm a white doula
, so I'm, by and large, servingwhite people who can pay for me.
That's the majority of myclients, but certainly not all.
Every once in a while we'llhave a client come across who
has just scrimped and saved andsacrificed to pay for a doula.
(03:37):
But I want to chat about someways to pay for doulas,
regardless of where you are andwhat the cost is like.
Ways to pay for doulasregardless of where you are and
what the cost is like.
One of those ways and I've hadseveral clients do this is to
request help from family andfriends.
So a lot of people, you know,like to give gifts when babies
are born.
They like to buy cute, tinylittle things that are going to
(04:02):
fit the baby for maybe 10 days,you know, and it's just can't
resist buying this tiny littlepink or blue or whatever, um,
little outfits, um, but giftsare normal, right, like people
have baby showers or blessingways or, you know, uh, all kinds
of celebrations up to andsurrounding, uh, the birth of a
baby, and sometimes people willhave.
I've known people who have oneor two or three showers as they,
(04:23):
you know, baby showers as theyprepare for the upcoming arrival
of a baby.
Maybe their work gives them one, and maybe their friends give
them one, and maybe their familygives them one or their church
congregation or whatever.
But requesting this as a giftor portion of as a gift can be
really important, like theimpact that doula support can
(04:44):
have is way more important thanthat cute little onesie.
So if people, even if a lot ofpeople gave a little, or a
couple key people gave a lot,you know, sometimes the grandma
or a really important aunt orsomething or a best friend will
kind of spring and give a littlebit of a bigger gift, maybe a
stroller or a breast pump orsomething along those lines.
But if you ask for this, forgifts like hey, also looking for
(05:07):
donations so easy to do, now,right, you can put a QR code on
an invitation, all electronic.
We can exchange funds veryeasily.
But part of the gift for theshower is contributions towards
doula services.
That could be postpartum doulaservices maybe that's where
you're at and that's what it'sall about for you, um, but it
could be birth services as well,um, so gifts, gifts is a is a
(05:30):
really great one.
I had one client, oh, one of myearly, early clients over 20
years ago.
She was a school teacher.
Um and her colleagues.
All the teachers at her schoolcontributed um for the funds for
a doula and they just aboutlike 90% covered my birth fee at
the time, which was much lowerthan than it is now.
(05:51):
But her colleagues helpedprovide a doula.
I've seen parents provide that.
There was one couple I helpedyears ago.
I helped them have two babieswho were kind of caboose babies.
They already had four prettygrown children or nearly grown
children and then they had thesetwo.
They had one was a surprise andthen they added a brother to
him so he had a buddy um.
(06:12):
So they were older parents atthe time and they purchased my
services for both of those kidsand they said, oh my gosh, this
is amazing.
We are going to provide thiswhen our children, our older
kids, when they have babies.
We are going to provide thiswhen our children, our older
kids, when they have babies, weare going to gift them doula
services.
And they did.
Those two of those older kidshave now married and had
(06:32):
children of their own.
They're easily probably over 30now, into their 30s, and those
parents have.
They've lived in different partof the country, you know.
Their kids have moved and theyhave gifted them doula services
for for um their children.
So that's one way to do it.
Another way is seek scholarships.
You, your particular doula,might offer scholarships.
(06:53):
A lot of doulas will set asidea little bit of money from each
client or they'll have a littlefun going on Um.
That will accumulate so thatthey can offer discounted or
reduced services when they see aneed arise.
There's also organizations.
If you have a local doulaorganization or there are some
(07:13):
hospital organizations or healthdepartments that might have
doula scholarships fundsavailable.
You'd be surprised what kind offunds are available if you know
where to look and who to ask.
So kind of ask around.
You could also seek out avolunteer doula program.
Many hospitals in many placeshave volunteer doula programs.
Some of them have paid doulaprograms.
(07:35):
Where there's a doula at thehospital, it's a little bit
untraditional in that you mightnot know who they are or have a
lot of time with them, but theymay be able to be there and help
you during labor.
So you could kind of ask forthat and see if your hospital or
has a doula program or yourbirth center.
So there are volunteerorganizations that you could
(07:57):
kind of look at.
And where I live there's adoula membership organization.
That's amazing.
They've been around a reallylong time Gosh, we're going on
30 years and they have ascholarship fund that people
apply for a scholarship andthere's certain doulas who say,
yep, I'll do it for ascholarship, it's a discounted
rate and they will do that.
Other ways to pay for if youhave insurance and if you have a
(08:20):
flex spending account or ahealth savings account, your
doula could provide some likeexplanation of services or
benefits or an invoice, adetailed invoice that covers
what the services and the hoursare, and you can pretty easily
I've had clients very easily doflex spending and even health
(08:41):
savings.
Sometimes they do it with theirhealth savings card.
They have a, you know, a creditor debit card that will just
transfer right to the payment ofthat.
Sometimes it's more inreimbursement form.
There are a growing number ofinsurance companies who provide
services through insurance.
So ask if your insurancecompany has doula services.
Ask do you provide for doulaservices?
(09:04):
Call them up, ask them about it.
I work for a company now thathas a really awesome contract
with a health plan and they doprovide for reimbursement for
well.
No, they pay doulas to helpthose who are insured with this
particular company to have thatcovered, which is incredible.
(09:25):
I've been able to do manybirths with that insurance
company and work for with people, with clients who otherwise
could not afford it.
So there are some creative waysto do it.
There's some more traditionalavenues to do it.
You could ask your doula ifthey do a payment plan.
I've had many clients dopayment plans.
(09:45):
You know if we especially if wemeet with them earlier in
pregnancy, it's a little biteasier to take, you know do
smaller payments over a periodof time.
Um, sometimes we'll do somebartering.
I've bartered for things before, or partially for things.
I've gosh, what have I done?
Headshots.
I've done books.
I've done website services ordigital services.
(10:07):
I think I did a hotel stay onetime.
Somebody traded me a hotel stayfor doula services.
So kind of, don't be alarmed toask.
Some doulas might get kind ofdefensive about that, but it
never hurts to ask and hopefullyyour doula can build something.
Many doulas do that.
They'll kind of build intotheir year some some discounted
(10:29):
or reduced rates when they see aneed for that heart.
But when I see a need I I donot have a problem giving a
discount.
I've given many, many discountsand even free services over the
years.
When situations really got myattention and tugged at my
(10:49):
heartstrings, there's one.
We had a doctor call us up manyyears ago now and she had a
patient who was going through itlike from tough stuff, really
having a difficult time.
She had two children.
She was pregnant with twins andher husband decided he was done
in the middle of his pregnancy.
So she was faced with a lotahead of her on suddenly alone
(11:11):
and the emotional turmoil shewas experiencing when that was a
new and difficult situation.
And then she's faced withgiving birth to twins and the
cost of everything all of asudden.
So our doctor reached out to usand say hey, would you, could
you provide services for this,for this patient of mine?
And we said, oh, yes, for sure.
So my partner and I we met withher and it was just heart
(11:35):
wrenching.
The place she was at in herheart and mind at the time was
rough and we were glad toprovide that service for her.
She had gorgeous twins, perfect, unmedicated vaginal delivery
of twins.
It's always amazing and thiswas the coolest part like this
mom who was struggling in everyway, she scraped together 250
(11:59):
dollars to give us afterwards.
She even in her difficultcircumstance, found value and
decided to contribute, you know,to our services, which is
really touching.
And you know we've remained incontact with her and are pretty
good friends with her still, andyou know what she's doing fine.
She's doing so fine now she'sin a different place and really
(12:20):
enjoying, actually, where she'sat with her cute twins and her
older kiddos as well.
So be creative when you, if youwant doula services, kind of be
creative about it.
See what you can do to affordthe services.
Hopefully you'll find somethingthat works.
I encourage everyone to try.
You know, if it's important toyou, try one thing that makes a
(12:42):
big difference, especially ifit's coming from a lot of
directions, a lot of angles andwe're starting to see the tide
turn on.
This is the voice of theconsumer.
So if you ask, if you ask yourprovider like, hey, uh, does
your hospital provide birthservices?
Does your practice have a doulaworking here?
Probably they don't, you know.
(13:02):
But that starts the thoughtprocess.
That's where change happens isit starts with awareness.
Call up your insurance company,call them six times if you want
, and ask them do you guysprovide doula services?
Birth doula, postpartum doulaYou're probably going to be a
little bit more successful withbirth doula, the postpartum
doula.
You're probably going to be alittle bit um more successful
with birth doula the way thingsare right now.
(13:23):
But say, do you provide thisservice?
And you can go with some dataand some facts.
You know.
You know doulas can reducecesareans by I think we're at
40% right now Um, doulas, theycan reduce NICU stays.
Um, if look at the numbers andI've done this and as I've dived
into some data and a companythat I'm working for does this
(13:45):
all the time they look at thecost savings of what doulas can
do, and that's remember, thedollar speaks, unfortunately,
and so they're like oh wait,yeah, that could save us money.
Like this small yes, that's arelatively small fee.
When we're looking at a NICUstay or a cesarean fee using an
OR and surgery charges, the costof covering a doula is much
(14:09):
smaller.
So ask about it, ask about it,ask about it, ask about it, and
maybe you won't get that service, but maybe someday your
neighbor or your friend, someonedown the line, you started the
work, you started thatconversation and awareness for
someone else.
Maybe your own child will havedoula services covered by
insurance at some point in theirlife.
So please ask about it.
(14:30):
Oh, I had one other greatthought that seems to have left
me about that, but anyway, lookaround, hunt for it.
There might be a way to pay fordoula services in your area.
Hope this is helpful.
I think it's a valuable service.
It's a simple fix to a lot ofproblems and one of the biggest
(14:51):
benefits when we can pull backfrom the dollar signs of it.
We can pull back from theinterventions and everything.
But one of the very biggestbenefits is your satisfaction
with your birth experience.
Hopefully you gain with anadvocate dedicated to you.
You gain a positive birthexperience which can impact
(15:15):
parenting for you, which canimpact breastfeeding, the
postpartum period and kind ofhow you start that new chapter
of your life.
I think the biggest benefit byfar that people gain from having
a doula is that they have apositive and empowering birth
experience.
Even if it's not perfect, evenif it's not what you hoped or
thought, it can still be apositive and empowering
(15:36):
experience because you hadsomeone who cared, someone who
listened, someone who advocatedfor you, someone who knew how to
help you, someone who helpedyou, know what was normal and
knew what to do and when to doit, someone who supported your
partner through that, so that wecan minimize the impact of a
frightening or traumatic ornegative birth experience.
(15:56):
Those happen all too often, soa doula is a good fix for that.
See if you can find a way toget one.
Okay, wrapping it up for thisone.
Thank you for listening.
I hope you're able to finddoula services in your area.
Ask around, be creative, callyour insurance company six or
ten times.
Good luck to you Best inbirthing and preparing to birth.
(16:18):
I hope that you, whether anintrovert, extrovert, reach out
and make a small humanconnection today, whether that's
by text, something digital, inperson, just eye contact,
physical touch, whatever thatmight be, make a connection with
another human today.
Um, bless your life and theirs.
Hope you have a good one and wewill see you next time.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Hope you have a good one and we will see you next
time with Angie Rozier, hostedby Birth Learning Episode.
Credits will be in the shownotes Tune in next time as we
continue to explore the manyaspects of giving birth.
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