15 Interview Questions to Ask a Birth Doula

How2Mom

What's a good way to find the right fit for your birth team?....

So you’re considering adding a Doula to your birth team…YAY! We’re thrilled you are doing more research about this, and we first encourage you to interview a few individuals to find the right fit for YOU! As Doulas, we feel all families deserve to have the best birth experience possible. Below you will find a list of questions that the How 2 Mom team has compiled. These are items we strongly encourage you to consider asking when interviewing potential Doulas. If you think we have missed anything important, we would LOVE to hear from you in the comments below! Our goal at How 2 Mom is to educate and assist all families in the best way possible and learning more from our community members is something we greatly appreciate.

In no particular order:

What is your education as a Doula? Trained? Certified?
How long have you been in practice as a Doula? How many Births have you attended in a support capacity?
What is your scope of practice? Can you provide references/testimonials?
Are you affiliated with any specific hospitals/birth centers?
What is your philosophy about birth? Will you be able to support me/us in our beliefs? What are your core values as a Doula?
What will be your time commitment for our family? (prenatals, on call schedule, postpartum)
Where do you prefer to meet for prenatal and postpartum visits? What will each of these visits entail?
What is your role through each phase of labor? Do you have resources and/or are you trained for other birth services (breastfeeding support, placenta encapsulation, etc.)
How do you feel about my partner’s role in the birth journey?
Do you play an advocacy role, or do you provide us with the knowledge to advocate for ourselves?
Who makes arrangements for backups? Can we meet them? If so, when do we meet them?
What is your fee? How is that structured?
How do you prefer to be contacted? Phone, email, text, etc.
What are your expectations of us as clients?
Ask yourself – do you and your partner feel completely comfortable with this person? If you were stuck in an elevator for long hours, is there anything about this person that may bother you (voice, habits, etc.) What does your gut say?