The Trend Toward Night Doulas: Exploring the Original Vision of Postpartum Doula Care

Doula, postpartum care, breastfeeding, parenting. There is a growing trend
toward hiring a postpartum doula to spend the night with a family after the birth of their newborn. Although it is
wise to support a newly delivered mother’s need for rest after birth, the financial cost to families for this service
is great; therefore other key needs for this time period are being set aside. When a family chooses night help,
which usually costs $175-$250 per night, they often feel they can’t additionally afford to pay a doula during the
day. The family then misses out on guidance with breastfeeding, newborn care dilemmas, and postpartum
depression support. Professional, effective help with these concerns by an experienced and knowledgeable
doula can often eliminate the need for someone to be hired to just come get up with the baby all night for as
many weeks as the money holds out. That set-up is a throwback to the days when parents hired baby nurses
who came and lived with the family for 6 weeks, undertaking all the newborn care, then leaving the mother still
feeling insecure about how to care for her child herself.