Questions about Labor Doula care

Q:  Why do people hire doulas?

A: Doulas join a labor team for many reasons.  Some we often hear are:  

• families want to have fewer medical interventions during labor;
• families want a "hospital translator" to understand options and scenarios better before making choices;
• families want more attention or hands on support than is reasonable for one partner to provide over an extended period of time;
• the birthing parent has researched the value of labor support;
• and as one client said, "The doula just made it such a more enjoyable experience."

But if we had to put all the reason under one big umbrella: Doulas help facilitate an increased release of natural oxytocin.  And that is a HUGE deal.
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Q: What kind of labor do you support?

A:  All of them!  We support people who are giving birth in Chicago's hospitals and birth centers with OBGYNs and Certified Nurse Midwives.  We support vaginal birth, planned cesarean birth, families with goals of VBACs and vaginal birth of multiples, and any number of scenarios in-between. 

We aren't hired to support a kind of labor, we are hired to support you!
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Q:  When will the doula join us in labor?

A:  Your doula(s) will be in close communication throughout the last weeks of pregnancy and beginning of labor.  The short answer to this question is the doulas come at any point a family asks the doula to come.   Part of your doula's role is to give information and reassurance as you transition from home to hospital, and the feelings, physiological changes, and logistics of travel and traffic are all considered when discussions occur.  But when you tell us you want us with you, we come. 

Q: What is the fee for doula support?

A: Depending if you are requesting care in the city or suburbs, our doula teams range from $900-1500.

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We were doing fine, but we had no idea that she would make the time in the hospital so much more bearable.  We had questions about the process we didn't know we would have until being in the situation.  The hospital didn't think to fill in the gaps, but Ariel knew that we wanted to know the plan, so to speak.   We know we could have done this without her, but now having had her there, I can't believe people do this without someone like her.
- C.G. Labor and Placenta Client

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