What to Expect in a Prenatal Visit with a Doula: My take
You've hired your birth doula and have scheduled your first prenatal visit together at your home. Now you're wondering what to expect!
A doula provides emotional, physical, and informational support before, during, and after birth. Before birth, doulas work to bond with their clients, plan, and provide education in preparation for birth and postpartum.
Here's a general outline I use when working with my clients during prenatal visits. I customize the discussion based on each client's needs and follow the conversation wherever it flows. Most of my prenatal visits last an hour and a half, while some can go longer (and some seasoned parents don't feel they need the full time). Because there is so much to cover in a prenatal visit, the items in the outline below are usually broken out between two-three visits with families.
Welcome and introductions
- Doula, client, client partner, kids, family and pets
- Guess date and other basic details about the pregnancy (OB, midwife, birthing location, etc.)
Working with a doula
- Experience with doulas
- Questions about what doulas do
- Hopes and expectations for doula support
Your changing body
- How have you been feeling
- What does your job have you doing? (lots of sitting, standing, lifting, etc.)
- Healthy movement (exercise, resources and videos, yoga/stretching prep)
- How bodyworkers can help balance and bring ease (pelvic floor PTs, massage therapists, chiropractors)
- Eating and nutrition, hydration
Your changing emotional life
- Emotional, spiritual, mental health -- how are you feeling
- Past traumas and other influencing experiences
- Role of psychotherapists, psychiatric providers, other mental health professionals, and supports, 988 (call or text for immediate support)
- Pregnancy, birth, or parenting worries
Birthing and immediate postpartum
- Birth hopes
- Questions about labor and birth
- Birth preferences/birth plan (include your five senses for a soothed nervous system!)
- Role of partner and how doula can support them
- Role of family (including any healthy boundaries)
- Signs of labor
- Comfort measures and pain relief options during labor or surgical birth
- Movement!
- Pushing and welcoming your baby
- Skin-to-skin and the golden hour
- Medical interventions you might encounter
- Procedures and tests for newborn
- Decision-making framework
- Education/how do you like to learn (classes, books, social media, videos)
- Resources needed?
- When to call the doula
- Role of backup doula
Postpartum planning
- What supports are in place (meal train, meal prep, family helpers, housework support, pet care and childcare)
- Rest
- Making nesting stations (snacks, drinks, diapers, necessary baby supplies in little baskets near where you will be feeding)
- Changing family structure (examples: welcoming a new sibling or introducing the newborn to pets, changes to routines, going back to work)
- Partner communication
- Plans for breast/chest-feeding, bottle or combo
- Pumping and hand expression
- Breast/chest-feeding education (discussion, videos, and resources)
- Role of doula, lactation counselor/consultant in supporting infant feeding
What else is on your mind? (Seriously, anything! I'm here for it.)