Post-birth doulas - has anyone had one? Was it worth it?

[TuttiFrutti]

I'm thrashing out the options to help me cope with a c-section planned in Feb and a very large and heavy non-walking toddler, currently 18 months and will be 22 months at time of the birth. Doulas seem expensive, certainly a lot more expensive than au pairs, but if they are really good it might be money well spent.

Have also posted in the nannies/au pairs section, hoping to get as many replies and experience as possible.

Not yet, but have booked one to help me a little bit in December straight after birth, and more in January when dh will be back at work, my long-standing mother's help (v p/t) will be away, and I will be more sleep deprived!

The one I will be working with seems very experienced (has her own kids), down to earth and got on with dd straight away. I think an au pair would need more looking after...this lady is my age, and willing to turn her hand to anything from cooking to washing to child minding to advice on bf-ing.

Sorry its not soon enough to be able to tell you for sure how useful it was!

tuttifrutti...replied on your other thread....

forgot to day..trainee doulas can only charge up to a certain amount..so might not be as expensive as you think..also, tehy are a lot more flexible and can give you help different times of different days,so as your needs change , they can change with you

have a look at

train & place doulas with families

and

main doula website

hope that helps a bit.....

Thanks Lulumama and Eliboo, that's really helpful.

I think we've decided that we will definitely hire a doula. I am waiting to speak to someone in my area at the moment who sounds promising.

do you live in merseyside??? if so I'LL DO IT!!!

hope it all works out.., best of luck..xx

We doulas are a lovely breed

definately more sorted now from having one up to 6weeks post nataly. Below is the referance i wrote for her ;

The Doula started with us when my 2nd daughter was 2 weeks old, to help get me back on my feet and adjust to a new life in our home!
The support and help was great, not only did she play with my 1st daughter 3yrs old, but she also did the more mundane jobs around the house like emptying the dishwasher to putting on the sterilizer and taking on the mammoth task of sorting out copious amounts of washing loads to organize all my 1st daughters clothes to pass on to my 2nd!!! The other wonderful thing was sending me to bed in the morning so that I could catch up on sleep lost at night. During these 2hrs, were I could disappear, she would do things such as; feed the baby, iron & fold washing, Hoover and tidy up. The biggest life saver was that she would do the 1st nursery run, so that I didn?t even have to dress till later in the day. Other lovely extras was picking up things from the supermarket that we needed and bringing them with the next day, as it?s no fun trying to get to shops with a toddler and a newborn at this stage alone!! The last 2 days I didn?t even see her, (only heard the click of the front door around 3am), as she had offered to work during the nights instead of days so my husband and I could get some solid miraculous undisturbed sleep, a god send after many nights awake.
This got me to my 6week point and withought the help I think I would have been a bedraggled and stressed out mess! Instead I am well on my way to being an organised mum of 2. I thank her so much for being there for me and my family. Having someone like her around in the early weeks is a real asset & support.
Oh and my heirloom candlesticks have never looked so gorgeous and gleaming!!!

It was other little things too , like id take my expresser up to bed with me , shed come up after an hr or so and bring it down , put a teat and lid on it and put it in the fridge for the next day. Shed also fold all my clean washing into relevant piles , even dh's boxers !

Wow melsy, if I wasn't convinced already I am now!

Lulumama, no I'm down south, but thanks for the offer!