In Home Postpartum Doula Visits: What to Expect
Learning to adjust to this new chapter of your life can be overwhelming. Your body is recovering from labour and/or birth, your hormones have abruptly shifted to support your babe outside the womb, and you’re getting to know your little one; their likes, dislikes, and personality. This is definitely not the time to ‘snap back’ to life as it was before. Your life is different and most people need help navigating that transition. And that’s where your postpartum doula comes in.
Wanna Jump right to the end? No problem. You’ll find the benefits of each type of postpartum visit and suggested schedules on how to maximize your postpartum doula hours
why is this important
In Canada, most new moms see their physician six weeks after they’ve given birth. Six weeks is 42 days. Truth be told, this is the only time in a birthing person’s life where they’ll likely wait that long to check in with someone. And it’s not just about your physical wellbeing, it’s also about your mental health. Sure you can request a visit before then, but most of the time, you’re not sure what constitutes actually going before those six weeks. Whether you are speaking with us on the phone or we’re seeing you in person, we’ll let you know if what you’re experiencing is normal, what you can be doing in the meantime or if it’s time to chat with your physician.
How you’re doing physically and mentally, directly impacts how you interact with your newborn and your immediate family. We want you to thrive after giving birth, not just survive this short lived period of time.
To start …
If you used our birth doulas, then we’ll know you’ve had your babe and it will likely be the same doulas caring for your postpartum needs.
If not, then around your 34th week of pregnancy, we’ll schedule a Postpartum Roadmapping Session, where you’ll get to know your postpartum doula better. We’ll use this time to discuss your preferences, desires and needs ahead of time. We’ll talk about what support you already have in your life and how to best utilize them. We’ll talk about what to expect and ways we can reduce the foreseeable roadblocks.
Around 38 weeks, we’ll set up a group chat to keep in touch with each other. You and one key support person will have direct access to your doula to schedule your visits, ask questions, send pictures (yes, the slimier and more colourful the better), or get added reassurance through the group messenger app.
If you’ve hired us before your baby’s birthday party
Once you have notified us that you have had your baby, we’ll recommend getting on the telephone with you. This is to answer any immediate questions you may be having about:
↠ your recovery
↠ what to expect over the next few days
↠ should you bathe baby or not
↠ different breastfeeding positions that are more comfortable for you
↠ how to use the bathroom after birth (yes this is a hot topic)
↠ What you can ask your nurse to help you with (when in hospital)
For some topics, we will recommend a video call. We can walk you through ways to establish your milk supply, improve your latch, better ways to hold your babe, and how to swaddle them. Now we don’t want to overwhelm you, which is why we always recommend prenatal classes (learn seeds of information before, so we can build on it later on). So we like keeping these calls between 30-45 minutes.
the postpartum visit itself
The frequency and number of postpartum visits will depend on the package you’ve selected. At the end of this article, we’ve written a few suggestions on how to schedule your in-home visits.
When we arrive at your home, we’ll take the first few minutes to sit and chat with you. We need to get to know you so we can follow your lead: identifying how the last few days have been, what you would hope to discuss, what challenges you’ve been having, how you would like to spend our time today. Taking the first few minutes to just sit and chat helps ensure we support you how you actually need it because each person and family is different.
A glimpse into what can happen at your postpartum visit:
↠ ensure you always have something to drink and snack on nearby
↠ answer questions about your vaginal bleeding
↠ answer questions about changes in mood, appetite and preferences
↠ answer questions about engorgement and how to establish or decrease milk supply
↠ share a realistic timeline of postpartum physical recovery and what it really looks like
↠ find ways to help you feel like yourself during this new chapter
↠ build your confidence to use your baby carrier, safely and comfortably.
↠ answer questions about your babe’s poop (you’ve probably never talked this much about poop before - it’s colour, texture and frequency)
↠ answer questions about no-cry bath time tips
↠ talk about how bottle-feeding/pumping/breastfeeding is going
↠ help with basic latch and positioning for breastfeeding
↠ discuss what normal & safe infant sleep looks like
↠ touch on postpartum mental health (we do hope during our time together, you’ll trust us enough to share what’s going on in your heart and mind)
↠ if you have the capacity to talk about your birth experience, we are here to listen without any judgement, or even ways to fix it, if that’s not what you need
↠ go on a walk outside (we don’t drive you around, but we can definitely accompany you wherever you need to go)
↠ suggest and refer to local lactation counselors, postpartum massage therapists, chiropractors, pelvic floor therapists, therapists specializing in maternal mental health, cleaning services, food services, etc.
One thing you may notice is we're frequently looking around. This is not to be judgemental in any way. This is us taking inventory of what ways we can support you without you having to ask. Do I see a full laundry bin that can be tossed into the washing machine, dried and folded before I go? Do I see a sink full of dishes that can be done? Or bottles or pump parts waiting to be sterilized. If there is something you’d like us to prioritize, then please tell us so we can keep that top of mind.
If you have a partner, we’ll
↠ talk them through how to put together your new stroller or any fun tech gadget they’ve gotten their hands on
↠ show them how to use the carrier too
↠ check in to see how they feel about all the changes they’re experiencing
↠ ask how they felt about your birth experience
↠ ask if they had any questions about what they witnessed that we could answer
↠ teach you both different swaddling methods
If it’s a daytime visit
↠ if you wish, we can hold the baby while you take a shower
↠ give you an opportunity to nap and a shower, if you’re interested in either
↠ if you wish, we can hold the baby while you eat a meal (with both hands!)
↠ helping to entertain older siblings and make them feel included.
If it’s an overnight visit
↠ discuss current sleep routines and provide suggestions for the whole family to sleep better
↠ if you’re breastfeeding, we’ll bring the baby to you for feeding and we’ll do all the rest if you’d like
↠ if you’re pumping, we’ll wake you at predetermined times so you can maintain your milk supply
↠ if you’re formula feeding only, then we can either wake you at predetermined times so you can feed your babe and we’ll do things together, or we’ll see you in the morning!
Very important message…
Please know, having your doulas come into your home should never come with additional stress. If your home is spotless and you are showered with your hair done 3 days or 3 weeks after having your babe, we’re gonna wonder if you’re feeling burnt out. Let me run the vacuum before I leave your home. We truly are not coming into your home to be judgemental. We are coming to give you a hand and remind you, you weren’t ever supposed to do this on your own.
after your postpartum visit…
After our time together and between each visit, please continue texting when you need extra support, referrals, or have any questions (even if we’ve already talked about). Asking for help can be hard, so we will offer and check in on you from time to time.
Recommended Postpartum Doula Schedule
Daytime visits are a minimum of four hours, while overnight visits are a minimum of eight hours. Over the years, I find that the type of support to use truly depends on what your needs are. If you need information/guidance, then daytime support gives you more opportunities for discussion and your mind is able to retain what’s been shared. If you need to recover and focus on sleeping, then overnight support may be the best way to go. Now, the majority of parents I’ve met, need a blend of both. They need help establishing routines that work for their lifestyle and ideals, while also need support adjusting to the interruption of sleep.
Below you’ll find three sets of hours (140, 90 and 60) and different ways to schedule those hours to best suit your family’s needs:
If you’re a new parent that would like support for the full six weeks after birth, this schedule includes 140 hours and is designed just for you. We’ll utilize the majority of the hours within the first two weeks when you need to recover, bond and ask alot of questions. Then we begin reducing the hours and frequency so you have opportunities to build your confidence and put what we’ve discussed into action. I basically work myself out of a job.
Week 1 Fresh 10 + 4 Overnights
Week 2 4 Overnights (Almost every other night)
Week 3 5 Daytime Visits (5 hrs each)
Week 4 5 Daytime Visits (5 hrs each)
Week 5 4 Daytime Visits (4 hrs each)
Week 6 3 daytime visits (4 hrs each)
FRESH 10
Upon returning home from the birth or feeling settled at home after a home birth, you can have a doula in your home to help with those immediate jitters for TEN STRAIGHT HOURS. This is an amazing opportunity to learn a bunch and make time to recovery from birth, establish routines in the household and focus on your babe, while someone else takes care of the other things.
For parents with minimal to no help, they can opt for 90 hours that can be spread across their first month home.
Suggestion One
Week 1 5 Daytime Visits (5 hrs each)
Week 2 5 Daytime Visits (5 hrs each)
Week 3 5 Daytime Visits (5 hrs each)
Week 4 3 Daytime Visits (5 hrs each)
Suggestion Two
4 Overnight Visits
3 Overnight Visits
3 Overnight Visits
2 Daytime Visits (5 hrs each)
For parents that do have help from family and friends but need professional support for specific questions, then start with 60 hours and enlist your family and friends to fill in gaps. You can even have key support people present with doula so they can show them best practices too.
Suggestion One
Week 1 5 Daytime Visits (4 hrs each)
Week 2 5 Daytime Visits (4 hrs each)
Week 3 5 Daytime Visits (4 hrs each)
Suggestion Two
4 Overnight Visits
3 Overnight Visits
1 Daytime Visits (4 hrs)
These are illustrations on how you can schedule your visits depending on your needs.
