Twenty Questions a Mama Should Ask in a Doula Interview

(Full disclaimer: if you ask me if you should hire a doula, I will ALWAYS say yes because I am one. I know how much they help women and their partners in labour.)

If a doula were a drug it would be unethical not to use it.

Dr. John H Kennell

Dr. Kennell was a pretty big deal in the birth world; among many things he accomplished in his career to advance normal birth, he was instrumental in the practice of placing a brand new baby on a mama’s chest for bonding.

 As a health professional I truly appreciate practices that are based on evidence. So I did a little research and found out that doulas have been scientifically proven to reduce a woman’s chance of having a caesarean by 30%. Thirty. Percent.

I became a doula shortly after I attended my niece’s birth, 19 years ago. I already had two kids of my own and my sister-in-law asked me to help support her while she was in labour. She really wanted to have a natural, drug-free birth.

When she went into labour she called me right away.  We ordered pizza and played music. I distracted her in early labour and massaged her back and hips when her contractions grew stronger. We walked and talked. She laboured at home for the longest time and I didn’t leave her side. When we went to the hospital, it was no time at all before she had her sweet, perfect baby- all natural and empowered as hell because she had EXACTLY the birth she wanted.

Back then, I had never heard the term “doula”. I had no idea that it was an actual profession! But to be fair, back then nobody had ever heard of a doula…when I found a training and certifying body, we had to sell people on the benefits of hiring a doula. Back then, we were doing a LOT of educating the public about what we were doing!

Today, doulas are becoming more and more popular. Do you know why? It’s because they can help families navigate through pregnancy, birth and postpartum. Women are being sent home sooner with new babies and feeling unsure, insecure and stressed. Not the best landscape to recover from having a baby.

While I don’t “doula” anymore, I get asked all the time. I’m too busy with Mamasoup these days, but I have so much love and support for the work that these incredible people do.

So Mama, have you thought about hiring a doula? It can be overwhelming to find* and interview them, so I put together a list of questions that you can use to find the perfect doula for you and your partner!

(It’s important to point out here that there are different types of doulas. There are Birth Doulas, Postpartum Doulas, Fertility Doulas and even Death Doulas. For the purpose of this post, I’ve included questions for birth and postpartum doulas.)

For Any Doula

When Interviewing a Birth Doula

When Interviewing a Postpartum Doula

It's always a good idea to interview a few different doulas in person. Pay close attention to the feeling that you’re getting from each one and go with your gut- doulas will be working very closely with you so you'll want to hire one that you "vibe" with.

Good luck with your doula search, Mama.

*To find a doula in your area visit DoulaMatch

**Want more information about doulas in Ontario? Click HERE!

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