Birth Support

The basic charge for a birth doula service is usually £500.  All charges and services are agreed upon in advance and documented in a contract.

I am happy to discuss monthly payments or sometimes a reduced fee, depending on your circumstances.

I would encourage you to contact me as early on as possible to arrange support.  However, you can still contact me and check whether I am available at short notice.  I recognise that there are many reasons that you might find yourself in this position, and will do my best to offer whatever support is appropriate.

Please see my "Contact me" page to arrange an initial discussion.

Your Birth Support package will include :-

• Two ante-natal visits lasting 1 or 2 hours
• Assistance with preparing for and carrying out your plans for the birth
• Telephone and e-mail support as required
• On-call support 24 hours per day, from two weeks before your expected birth date
• Reassurance, nurturing, and continuous support throughout the entire labour
• Support with breathing, relaxation, movement and positioning
• Assistance in getting the information you need to make good decisions
• Assistance in getting access to any equipment you would like (birth pool, ball etc.)
• Support in communicating with medical staff.
• Two post-natal visits lasting 1 or 2 hours

Doula's can make a really big difference to a partner's confidence in participating in the birth.  I will help your partner to have a sense of being involved, and will suggest ways in which they can support you.

When appropriate, I will also help your partner to communicate your, or their feelings and preferences to the midwives etc.

The extent to which you will need help communicating with midwives and other medical staff will depend on whether they have had an opportunity to get to know you.  If they are already familiar with your Birth Plan then this will make things easier.  However, if you find that the midwife is not one you have even met before, then a doula can be an excellent middle person, making communication easier for everyone.  It also means that you can concentrate on what your body is doing rather than on what everyone else is doing or saying.

If your Birth Plan needs to be reconsidered, then I will help you to get good clear information about the options available and will help with communicating your decisions and preferences.

Please see my "Links" page for a list of websites about Midwives.

Some products may be available to hire directly from myself.
If you would like to hire these without having the Birth Support package then I will normally require a deposit.

I will help you to get access to any other equipment that you feel might help, such as a birthing pool, TENS machine etc.

Please see my "Links" page for a list of websites with equipment, services, products etc.

Many things can affect the progress of your labour.  Some of these will have been considered when we write your Birth Plan.  I will help you to get good clear information about the options available to you if it no longer seems possible to stick to your Birth Plan, and will help with communicating your decisions and preferences.

If, prior to the birth, you decide you no longer require birth support, you will have four weeks in which you may cancel the agreement from the date it was arranged.  After this time there will not normally be any reduction in fees.  This is because I will have kept a 4 week block of time free for you, and will probably have turned down others in order to provide you with the support agreed.
If you then still require post-natal support, you should contact me as soon as possible to discuss this.

Page last updated : 18th January 2008

CradleCare
Claremont North 58 Burnley Rd
Todmorden
West Yorkshire
OL14 5LH

01706 815490