I hired this doula http://www.believinginbirthdoula.com and she is FANTASTIC. This is my second pregnancy and I am due in a few weeks. My doula has provided me with tons of information (which I wish I knew the first time around), lots of support, and unending encouragement.
How was your experience with a doula?
I hired a birth doula and a postpartum doula
The birth doula was terrible! She was really bad - I wish I had called a few references on her before I hired her.
The postpartum doula was fantastic! she came three hours a day for the first few weeks and then a few days a week there after for the first few months. She had answers to our questions and helped take care of me while I took care of the baby. She did laundry - cooked meals - went grocery shopping if we needed it - it was a fantastic idea to have hired her.
best of luck
Our doula was FANTASTIC! In fact, when we were considering having a second child my husband said he wouldn’t do it unless we could have Jacqui there again! I had no argument with that and actually called her to see what her schedule was like in the next year before we continued!
She was worth all the money and then some! Everyone I know of who is pregnant gets the “Hire a Doula” speech from me. We met several times before the birth, she stayed (almost) the whole 40 hours and 10 minutes of “labour” (she had to scoot out for a few hours in the middle) and she came to our home 3 or 4 times after. She was also available for phone calls at anytime of day/night. She gave us a HUGE handbook about birthing and birthing options and was extremely indepth (but not condescending) when we had questions. Oh, and she also brought her back up doula with her to one of our meetings before our son was born - we liked her quite a bit as well.
We interviewed three doulas - the first lived one hour away (liked her somewhat - she was fine, but not stellar), the second only 2 miles away (would have been okay, but certainly not great) and then we found Jacqui (ironically, just down the road!). We knew immediately that she was the one for us! We were giddy with excitement!
Would definetly recommend doula, if you can afford it!