How much would a doula cost?

[sarahscot]

I know their charges will differ, but what would be an average cost, and what do they actually do/how much time do you get from them?

i had one for the birth of my DS who has just turned three. it cost about £800. I guess that will have risen to £1k or so now (London.) BUT she was well, well worth it!
she came to our house a few times while i was pregnant; and then was with me during some of my early labour at home, and then in hospital for my unbelievably long labour. she was absolutely wonderful and I'd definitely do it again. during my long labour, the hospital left us literally for hours on our own and if it hadn't been for her i've no idea how i'd have coped. i suppose it's possible they left us because they knew I had a doula, but who knows?

It depends on the doula from what I found. Trainee doulas (who have attended less than a certain amount of births) are also cheaper, they are not allowed to charge more than £200.

You can find a doula here: www.doula.org.uk/ and a lot of them have pricing on their websites.

I'm in North London and am paying mine 750. For that I get 2 antenatal sessions (not had these yet, so don't know what they involve), telephone and email contact during pregnancy (within reason), she's on call 24/7 from 2 weeks before due date, whatever I need her for on The Day and for however long I need her to be with us, and 1 post natal visit to discuss the birth (if I feel I need to) and to give me help and advice with any stuff I'm finding difficult.

it depends where you live. out of london, between 200 - 500 in london between 200 - 900 i think
i had one and she was worth her weight in gold!!!!

I would think that in London you would be able to find a doula for an average of 500£, less if it's a trainee (about 200£) and more if it's a very experienced doula. But 500£ is average I reckon. Outside London slightly less.

We had a trainee doula at the birth of my DS & as Daxibaby said she was worth her weight in gold.

we paid £500, she visited several times before the birth, emailed frequently, attended entire birth obviously and then visited twice more after the birth
she also bought the whole family beautiful and very generous presents!

it goes without saying that £500 is a lot of money, but basically if you can afford it, i don't think you will regret it

It's also worth noting that Doula UK have a hardship fund for those who would like to have the help of a doula (for birth and/or postnatally) but can't afford it. You can get more info on the Doula UK website about this.

We paid around £400 5 years ago when I was pregnant with DS. We had a few pre labour visits and post natal support as well as the actual support during labour and it was well worth it - just for the security and reassurance of knowing there was going to be someone there who knew me and what I wanted.

I had a home birth and the doula was brilliant at acting as a buffer between me and some over-chatty/enthusiastic midwives.
She was great at keeping me motivated and labouring without too much intervention / pain relief.

I'd heartily recommend it - especially for first time mums.

Did you know that you can also employ a live-in postnatal doula? Especially good if you're expecting your first baby, and don't have any family around to support you.

I'm a trainee postnatal doula myself, and I travel wherever there is work. I currently charge £100 per day.

See www.doulaservice.webs.com for further info.

Hi EnglishDoula, sorry what is the difference between post natal service you provide and those provided by a maternity nurse?

A doula provides support for the mother, baby and family, as they adjust to the new arrival, and is generally more flexible than a maternity nuse, being happy to help with things like shopping, light housework and preparing simple meals. Part of her role is to ensure that mum gets as much rest as possible so that she can make the most of her early days with baby, whereas a maternity nurse tends to focus just on baby. See www.doulaservice.webs for further information.