10 Things You May Not Know About Your Doula

1. Your doula is always the Designated Driver.
   
   
2. On average your doula spends a minimum of 20 hours with each client from prenatal visits, labor support, postpartum visits, phone calls, texts, emailing, doing research, etc. Of course 20 hours is not a guarantee because she will be there with you through your entire birth…whether it’s 8 hours or 40!
   
   
3. On average, a full-time doula takes 4-5 clients a month, otherwise they risk missing a birth. For her it’s not about the money; she really does want to be there with you to help you succeed!
   
   
4. Your doula is not in it to get rich. The average doula makes less the $40k per year and of course there are no corporate medical benefits, paid vacation or paid holidays. She does it because she’s passionate about birth and empowering women. She does it from her heart and with love!
   
   
5. A doula is on call 24 hours a day and 7 days a week for at least 11 months of the year!! This means that she and her family accept that plans can always change, that at any moment in her life she may be called to drop everything and assist a client at a birth…even if it’s Christmas morning!!
   
   
6. Each year a doula spends money on continuing education, may have to travel to attend training and spends at least a hundred hours learning and researching to support you to her fullest!
   
   
7. Your doula wakes up occasionally in the middle of the night to check her phone. Although she’s never missed a birth she still thinks about you in her sleep!
   
   
8. Despite the myth that says every doula secretly wants to be a midwife, your doula knows that if she wanted to become a midwife she could. She understands the major differences in the scope of practice and has chosen to doula because she would rather Mother the Mother through each and every contraction then be her healthcare provider.
   
   
9. Every birth your doula attends is special, unique and is a learning experience whether she’s done 3 births or 300! Yes, if it’s her 312th birth, she will still cry with you.
   
   
10. Finally, your doula holds a special place in her heart for each family she has assisted! Yes, she has a very big heart!!
    
    

Bea Wilds, RYT, CLD is a doula and Enso co-owner. Learn more about her or look into hiring her practice as your birth support team.

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