Everyone wants to hold the baby, who will hold the mother?

Rochester Postpartum Doulas

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The early days of the postpartum period can be a mixed bag of emotions: joy, exhaustion, wonder, relief, stress and worry. Hiring a postpartum doula can help make your transition into new parenthood easier.

Many new families find themselves unprepared for the realities of caring for a newborn. They may also be isolated from caring and knowledgable support people to help them learn how to care for, feed and soothe their infant while also seeing to their own needs. Postpartum doulas offer care, nurturing, education and advocacy during fourth trimester; generally recognized as those first 12 weeks after your baby has arrived. We focus on nurturing the mother or birthing parent and the family as a whole.

Postpartum doulas offer caring, supportive guidance along with accurate and evidence-based information and education around newborn care and postpartum recovery. Research tells us that new families who have good postpartum support and feel well cared for during the early days and weeks of their baby's life greater success with meeting their breastfeeding goals, greater self-confidence and less postpartum depression. Postpartum doula support can make a positive difference for families during this sensitive and important time.

Along with education and guidance, postpartum doulas support you through your physical, emotional and mental recovery from pregnancy and birth. We can assist with feeding (both breast or bottle) and can help with meal preparation, older siblings and light household tasks to help ease the transition into new parenthood. Postpartum doulas can also offer referrals to local resources and providers as needed or desired.

We often spend a lot of time thinking and preparing for the birth of our baby during pregnancy. Your early postpartum journey deserves just as much careful thought, planning and support as you did for your birth. Our new little humans don’t come with an instruction manual, we are here to help.

We would love to talk with you more about postpartum doula support through Beautiful Birth Choices! Please fill out our inquiry form and we will connect you with one of our postpartum doulas that is available near your estimated due date and can best meet your needs for postpartum support.

Begin with our inquiry form

How can a postpartum doula be helpful for me?

  • Our Postpartum Doulas are professionally trained to provide postpartum support to the birthing person and the family as a whole.
  • Whether you are welcoming your first baby or growing your family, postpartum doulas can help ease the transition into new parenthood. We offer hands on guidance for newborn care, education around normal baby behavior, share thoughts and suggestions for infant soothing, as well as reassurance and general feeding support and information.
  • Postpartum doulas can help facilitate bonding and attachment by easing your work load around the house. We can help take care of light housekeeping, preparing meals and healthy snacks or running short errands. Helping with household tasks can make it easier for you to focus on your rest, recovery and getting to know your new baby.
  • Postpartum doula support can also aid in your physical and emotional recovery by caring for your baby while you do something for yourself – whether you need a nap, a shower, a chance to eat a meal or snack with your hands free, take a walk or simply have someone to talk to, we are happy to help support you in these ways too.
  • We know and deeply understand the vast hormonal shifts that are taking place after birth, as well as the physical and emotional processing and healing that is underway as well. We are happy to sit with you to listen and hold space for you during this unique time in your life.
  • It is our goal to help you thrive during your early postpartum experience, not just survive.

Rates

  • $45/hour between 8 AM - 8 PM. $55/hour 8 PM - 8 AM.
  • Although we can sometimes arrange for early morning or late night support, we are not currently offering overnight support.
  • There is a $40 Travel Fee for visits outside of Monroe County.
  • 12 paid hours minimum per contract. Shifts tend to be 4-6 hours, 8 hours max (flexibility around special circumstances, if needed.)
Begin with our inquiry form
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“The greatest gift Christy gave us as a postpartum doula was calm. In the chaos of the early postpartum period, she brought us grace, experience, wisdom, and friendship. From showing us how to use a baby-wearing wrap, to teaching me the magic of side-lying nursing, to holding the baby so that I could take a shower, our doula not only gave us help when we needed it the most, she also gave us confidence that we could handle our new roles as parents.”

Carly Herold

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"Having a postpartum doula was the best support as a new mom! After having an unplanned c-section and with my husband working I was worried about caring for the baby all by myself and didn’t want to delay my recovery by taking on too much at first - that’s where the Postpartum Doula came in to save the day! The doula helped with all the little things that piled up that I couldn’t get to. And other times she helped watch the baby so I could get some rest - knowing our newborn was in good hands was priceless and actually allowed me to fully sleep. She helped with the whole transition into full-time motherhood so that by the end of her last session I felt more confident with my new role. Postpartum doulas are so helpful!"

Coty Ross

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"There is a certain beauty to owning your vulnerability during this fragile time and allowing someone else to see it. Exhausted, hormones swinging, emotions from love to anxiety and back again and sitting in yet another spit-up covered shirt, with dishes and laundry piling up, any other visitor would have meant a mad dash to clean the house and put on a face that said “I’ve got everything under control”. But not my postpartum doula. Her gentle smile, a judgement free ear and a cup of coffee were the reassurance I needed to know that it was okay to ask for help. I needed it to be okay that I couldn’t do it all by myself and my postpartum doula helped me reconcile that. From the emotional support of talking about labor and the transition to life with a newborn to the logistics of light housekeeping, her support was invaluable to me easing into my new role as mother of two. A few weeks of support in the beginning have set me up with the confidence to move forward knowing I can do this."

Karen Del Plato

Frequently Asked Questions

How long will I need postpartum doula support?

Is a Postpartum Doula like a Night Nurse?

Do I need postpartum doula support if I have family available to help?

How soon after the birth can postpartum doula support begin?

Can we meet prenatally?

What if my baby has already arrived?

Is postpartum doula support covered by insurance?