Reason #2: Why Go with a Doula Agency?

Built-in backup! What?!? Built-in backup?

Yes, hiring DCD for your birth (and postpartum) support needs means you will always have a backup…which means you will never not have support or receive support from someone you don’t know. This aspect of doula care is unique to us.

Continuity of care is extremely important when it comes to any care that has to do with your body, let alone birthing due to its intimate nature. As a nurse, I strongly believe that our clients should receive the continuity of care they respect and deserve…especially because birthing people do not get this with their hospital providers, unless you’re having a homebirth.

I have been in the situaltion as an individual doula. I couldn’t imagine being an individual doula now, especially with the current climate of covid. Say for instance my client is in labor and I found out I came into contact with someone who has covid or came in contact with someone who came in contact with someone who has covid. What would I do if I worked as an individual doula? My choices would be to tell my client and let them decide, knowing I could lose the money I made from that client; bring in my backup doula whom my client never met (assuming I have one) and still lose much my profit from that client; or don’t tell the client and hope nothing bad happens. In my opinion, I do not believe it is ethical to not disclose such information to a client. I also believe that money would play a role in the decision-making process this doula would have to go through.

I have also had the experience of being a backup doula. I gotta tell you, it’s DIFFICULT & weird. As a backup doula, you don’t know anything…..nothing about the family, client’s wishes, involvement of the partner, client’s plans for comfort, etc. Does everything usually turn out ok? Sure it does. Would or could the birth have been better had the client (and family) had a relationship with the doula prior to labor? Yes, more than likely.

What about births that go longer than the expected 8-12 hours (as it says in most individual doula contracts)? Either they have you pay a per hour fee if it goes over a certain amount of hours (which puts you in a spot of feeling rushed because you’ll have to pay more) or your doula may be so overexhausted they are unable to provide sound unbiased information or they call in their backup (whom you’ve never met). At Dauphin County Doulas, we have NO time limit and no extra expense after a certain number of hours. We believe every baby comes in his/her own time and you should not feel pressure to birth. Should we be exhausted because your birth is of the longer variety, we can call in the second doula on your team…whom you’ve met, gotten to know, and feel comfortable with.

This is yet another reason we, at Dauphin County Doulas, operate with a 2 doula team.

We are just that…a team.