Anybody hired/hiring a post natal doula?

[Tapster]

I'm going for an elective c-section for my second (as long as the pregnancy goes well) and want to hire some help for me and my toddler as I have very little family help for the first 6 weeks. Tried to find doulasj ust now using the doula.org.uk site but it seems to be down - does it still exists.

Any experiences of having a post natal doula would be welcome. I'm in west London not sure how much they cost round here.

I hired a postnatal doula after I had my DS (wasnt planning on doing so but had quite a traumatic birth and wasnt up to coping by myself when DH went back to work) - she was fantastic and really helped me establish breastfeeding and looked after DS and entertained him while I got a few naps/showers etc in. It was really nice to have someone around who was calm, had been through it before and who I could talk to about the birth. My doula was Helen Shamroth - based in Finchley, she cost £13 an hour I think (though it was over 2 years ago).

If you just need someone to help for a few weeks after you've had the baby by doing housework, entertaining toddler etc. may be worth looking into mother's helps as think they'd work out cheaper than post-natal doulas.

One of the big nanny agencies has a doula section. Tinies maybe. Or Top Notch nannies. I got one from there but it was a long time ago. A fabulous experience. I felt really looked after.

Hi Tapster. Yes www.doulauk.org.uk does still exist.

I know lots of West London doulas who do postnatal work.

Try the site again Doula UK. If you have any more problems email me on mars at mammydoula dot co dot uk and I'll get some information for you. With Doula UK there are no agency fees.

Thanks the site is back up and working which is great. Will also look into mothers help but I may well have a doula first 6 weeks after CS and then a mothers help if I can get my DH to agree .