What Does A Postpartum Doula Do?

May 18, 2020 | Postpartum

I’m a postpartum doula on Long Island. The first response I get when I tell someone this is, “What is a postpartum doula? What do you do?” The answer is quite simple and the service is a life-saver for many.

Mothering The Mother

My job is to help Long Island postpartum moms who have recently birthed or adopted a baby. I help them cope, adjust, heal, and feel confident in their parenting. How do I do this? Well, I provide a myriad of services that combine into a practice of care and support.

The first tenant of being a postpartum doula is to “Mother the Mother.” Us doulas believe that every mama deserves to be nurtured with compassion; so, our role is to give motherly love and support. We don’t replace any client’s mom or other family member. In fact, we often work hand-in-hand with our clients’ family members to give as much help as possible.

What Services Postpartum Doulas Provide

The types of services a postpartum doula does will depend on the doula. I provide full spectrum care to moms, which includes the following:

1. Emotional and physical support for mom

2. Postpartum care – help with healing and perineum care, c-section support, rest, and sleep

3. Infant care – educate the whole family on baby care best practices, help with bathing, sleep, feeding, and more

4. Feeding education – breast and formula

5. Nutrition – guidance for healing and lactation, meal and snack preparation

6. Household chores – light tasks such as washing dishes, doing laundry for the whole family, kitchen cleanup, and organizing the baby’s room

7. Family support – help partners and older children adjust to new family dynamic

8. Mental health – I’m trained to educate and identify perinatal mood and anxiety disorders such as postpartum depression and anxiety

9. Overnight care – I’ll take care of your baby’s needs throughout the night including diaper changes, bringing baby to you for breastfeeding, bottle feeding, and comforting baby so you can get a good night’s sleep

I do all this and even more!

What Postpartum Doulas Don’t Do

Postpartum doulas are not medical health providers. While we can provide evidence-based information on care, we aren’t doctors and cannot answer medical questions. When appropriate, we will refer clients to their pediatricians.

Sometimes people assume we are just like babysitters. However, our job is to put the mom first, not baby. Postpartum doulas will often watch over the baby so that mom can get some rest. But, we don’t completely take over care for extended periods of time unless we are providing overnight care. More importantly we are highly trained professionals that receive certification credentials.

We also typically do not do heavy cleaning like vacuuming, washing the floors, cleaning the bathroom, etc.

Learn More

Are you a Long Island mom looking for support? Contact me or learn more about postpartum care here.