TERMS

Labor Support Services, Limits, and Fee Agreement

Our role as your doula:

We help a woman and her partner to think through, educate themselves, and create a plan for their ideal birth experience. We attend to each woman and her partner during labor, delivery, and the early postpartum period. We provide continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to help each family achieve their goals. As your Doula team, we are working for you, not for your provider or the facility where you deliver.

▪ We will help you understand all the procedures and protocols which your health care provider will perform. We do not perform clinical duties such as fetal heart monitoring, vaginal exams, giving medications, etcetera.

▪ We will help you gain all the information you need in order to make informed decisions. We will remind you of any preferences previously stated by you, to clarify any decisions you are making. We will not make decisions for you.

▪ We will support you and discuss options of care with you, your partner, and your health care provider. We will encourage you and your partner to communicate your decisions with your health care providers. We will not speak on your behalf to medical staff regarding matters which involve health care decisions.

Our Availability:

From the moment we agree to work together, we consider our group on-call to provide support for you and your partner via text, email, or phone. The Doula team you have chosen will give you all of their contact information, and share their back up Doula’s information, if they are unavailable. We will be on-call to provide labor support for you at the start of your 38th week of pregnancy, and up to the start of your 42nd week of pregnancy. During this time we will be available to meet you within two hours of the time you notify us that you are ready for our support. If labor begins outside of these dates, we will do our best to get support to you as quickly as possible.

Childbirth Education Classes:

We believe that all birthing people should be educated on the childbirth process. We will schedule you and your support person to attend our 4-class series of group childbirth education classes. If you are unable to attend the group classes, private classes can be arranged for an additional $100 fee.

Prenatal Meetings:

We will provide 2 scheduled prenatal meetings with your Doula team. During these meetings we will talk about your choices and preferences before, during, and after your birth. We will discuss comfort measures and positioning, and what ways you will feel best supported. We will also use this time to discuss any concerns or questions you may have regarding pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, or parenting.

Our goal is to help you have a satisfying birth, as you define it. The more we explore this in advance, the better we will be able to fulfill this role.

Labor:

We prefer that you call your Doula team when you believe that your labor has begun, even if you do not yet need a Doula at your side. Your Doula team can answer any questions, and discuss options with you at that time over the phone. You can then decide together when it will be appropriate for your Doula to join you. We need up to two hours to get to you from the time you ask us to come. We will also decide where to meet (at your home or the birthing facility) at this time. Except in extraordinary circumstances, one of our Doulas will remain with you throughout your birth experience.

We can offer help and advice with relaxation, movement, positioning, aromatherapy, rebozo, massage, acupressure, visualization, and focused breathing. We can help you gather information about the progress of your labor to make sure you have the information you need to make educated decisions about your care, and the care of your baby. Our most critical role is providing continuous support and care for mother and her partner.

Sometimes, labor progresses very quickly. If your baby arrives unexpectedly at home, while one of our doulas is present, it is our protocol to immediately call 911 or your midwife. We will assist you as directed by emergency services to keep mother and baby as safe as possible until help arrives.

After Birth:

Your Doula can remain with you 1-2 hours after birth, until you are comfortable and ready for quiet time. We can help facilitate skin-to-skin and initial breastfeeding, if desired.

Your Doula will offer to schedule one postpartum visit 7 to 14 days after delivery. We will debrief your birth at this time, and address any ongoing questions about breastfeeding, baby care tips, community support, and personal care. If you would like additional support, that can be arranged prior to, or during this time. (Please see our Postpartum Support page for more info.)

Failure to Provide Services:

If a failure to attend a birth is due to our error, we will refund $1200 of our fee, promptly. If we are unable to attend a birth due to a very fast labor, or your failure to contact us, we will retain the full fee provided.

We require a deposit of $600.00 to secure your due date in our schedule. The remaining balance of $1800.00 is due at our final meeting before delivery. If you go into labor before that meeting, the balance will be due at our postpartum meeting, after delivery. If there are any returned check fees, you will be responsible for any fees incurred by our bank and the remaining balance due within one week of the time we notify you.

We look forward to supporting you as you grow your family. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Fresno Birth & Baby

info@fresnobirthandbaby.com