"If a doula were a drug, it would be unethical not to use it." - John H. Kennell, MD
Sheffield doula Kris McKeown in labour with her second child on the way.
What you can expect from me as your doula
Being pregnant and giving birth can be wonderful times in a person's life, and in the lives of those close to them. They can also be confusing and challenging times.
With me as your birth doula, I will help you navigate your maternity care, share information on the choices available to you and above all support you in the choices you decide to make about what is best for you and your family.
It's really important that you 'click' with your doula, and as such it's a really good idea to speak to several before you decide who to work with. As many other doulas do, I offer an initial free of charge meet-up with you and whoever else you'd like along to see that we get on and feel comfortable with each other. Contact me here to arrange a no-obligation meet-up.
My standard, in person birth package contains the following contact and services:
The investment I ask for can be paid in instalments, with the full balance payable before the on-call period (which begins at week 37 of your pregnancy, or earlier if you are carrying twins or more). If this is a barrier to you being able to hire a doula, longer term payment plans can be arranged - just get in touch. It may be that your family or friends may be happy to make a contribution to help too. Doula UK vouchers are a great way to do this.
Being pregnant and giving birth can be wonderful times in a person's life, and in the lives of those close to them. They can also be confusing and challenging times.
With me as your birth doula, I will help you navigate your maternity care, share information on the choices available to you and above all support you in the choices you decide to make about what is best for you and your family.
It's really important that you 'click' with your doula, and as such it's a really good idea to speak to several before you decide who to work with. As many other doulas do, I offer an initial free of charge meet-up with you and whoever else you'd like along to see that we get on and feel comfortable with each other. Contact me here to arrange a no-obligation meet-up.
My standard, in person birth package contains the following contact and services:
- Three ante-natal sessions (around two to three hours each) to talk through your plans for birth and parenting, get to know each other and prepare for your baby's arrival. There is always time to talk about anything specific you would like to explore, but the three sessions have the followings topics as their focus: 1) A general chat about pregnancy, birth and parenting, getting to know you and your values; 2) Labour and birth, comfort measures and advocacy; 3) Planning your postpartum recovery and preparing for life with a newborn. After each session, I'll follow up what we discussed with links to additional useful info and resources as appropriate.
- An optional additional antenatal session if pregnancy goes beyond 41 weeks and you're feeling worried and/or considering or have accepted induction. This session includes additional discussion around the topic of induction, an aromatherapy massage and acupressure point attention, massage blend to keep and use yourself or with a partner and an additional blend for a sniffy pot.
- Email/telephone/Zoom/WhatsApp etc. support from the moment you decide you want to work with me until six weeks after your baby's birth. I'm happy to communicate in the way that works best for you, be it written, audio or video.
- The option to have access to online breastfeeding preparation course Natural Breastfeeding.
- Have me on call for your baby's birth, 24/7 from 37 weeks gestation (or earlier if you are carrying twins or more) until your baby is born.
- When you are in labour I will come when you want me and leave when you are happy for me to go. Because of restrictions in maternity services due to Covid-19, I am unfortunately unable to attend as an *additional* birth partner in hospital, however I can be present as the sole birth partner. What I do offer is to come to you and support you as your labour at home, before you go in to the midwife led unit or labour ward and then continue to support over the phone. I can be present at home birth, but again, wouldn't be able to come with you to hospital in the event of transfer as an additional support. In this instance I would continue to offer my support remotely over the phone as needed.
- Up to two postnatal sessions, to talk through post-natal comfort measures, offer information and support about infant care and feeding and talk through the birth.
- A number of birth and parenting books to borrow, including books for older siblings to prepare for a new brother or sister.
The investment I ask for can be paid in instalments, with the full balance payable before the on-call period (which begins at week 37 of your pregnancy, or earlier if you are carrying twins or more). If this is a barrier to you being able to hire a doula, longer term payment plans can be arranged - just get in touch. It may be that your family or friends may be happy to make a contribution to help too. Doula UK vouchers are a great way to do this.
Hiring a doula is the most sensible investment you could make for yourself, your baby, your family. Don't let money be a barrier - baby 'stuff' is not anywhere near as important as a positive birth for you and your baby.
-Liz, Sheffield
My birth doula package as described above costs £975 (as of 30th July 2020). There is a £300 non-refundable deposit required to secure your booking.
If you're wondering if hiring a doula is really worth it, it might be worth having a look at this article from Evidence Based Birth, which looks at and summarises a number of research papers on the effectiveness of doula support.
My fee is inclusive of mileage for the above meetings up to 10 miles distance from my home in Sheffield (the actual distance by road). For clients over 10 miles away, additional mileage fees will be charged at 45p/mile, but only on the miles over the maximum distance stated. For example, if you're 12 miles from me, mileage will be payable on the extra two miles, for each leg of each trip.
If you would like to talk more about what I can do for you, please don't hesitate to get in touch. It's never too early (or too late) to explore your options.
If you're wondering if hiring a doula is really worth it, it might be worth having a look at this article from Evidence Based Birth, which looks at and summarises a number of research papers on the effectiveness of doula support.
My fee is inclusive of mileage for the above meetings up to 10 miles distance from my home in Sheffield (the actual distance by road). For clients over 10 miles away, additional mileage fees will be charged at 45p/mile, but only on the miles over the maximum distance stated. For example, if you're 12 miles from me, mileage will be payable on the extra two miles, for each leg of each trip.
If you would like to talk more about what I can do for you, please don't hesitate to get in touch. It's never too early (or too late) to explore your options.