The Ordinary Doula Podcast

E64: Ways to Pay for a Doula

• Angie Rosier • Episode 64

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Unlock the secrets to affording invaluable doula support without breaking the bank. Join us on The Ordinary Doula Podcast as we explore creative strategies to make these transformative services accessible to all, regardless of financial circumstances. Discover how significant the impact of doula support can be for individuals, particularly those facing socioeconomic challenges. From volunteer programs to practical tips like requesting contributions during baby showers, you'll learn innovative ways to pool resources and prioritize your birth experience. 

Imagine a world where doula services are a standard part of every birth plan. Learn how advocating for these services with hospitals and insurance companies can initiate change, leading to a reduction in cesarean rates and NICU stays. By sharing real stories and insights, I aim to empower you to actively seek the support that can enhance not only your birth experience but also influence parenting, breastfeeding, and the postpartum period. Let's champion the cause for broader access to doulas, fostering human connections that bring about supportive and fulfilling birth journeys.

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Show Credits

Host: Angie Rosier
Music: Michael Hicks
Photographer: Toni Walker
Episode Artwork: Nick Greenwood
Producer: Gillian Rosier Frampton
Voiceover: Ryan Parker

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Ordinary Doula Podcast with Angie Rozier, hosted by Birth Learning, where we help prepare folks for labor and birth with expertise coming from 20 years of experience in a busy doula practice Helping thousands of people prepare for labor, providing essential knowledge and tools for positive and empowering birth experiences.

Speaker 2:

Hello and welcome to the Ordinary Doula Podcast. My name is Angie Rozier and I am your host. Thanks so much for spending a little bit of time with us today. Today I want to talk about the cost of a doula. Doulas make money ideally right, like they are in this to make some money. So there is a cost involved, of course, with. Doulas make money ideally right, like they are in this to make some money. So there is a cost involved, of course, with doulas it's a service, a service they're providing that people pay for. Simple as that. Um, some new doulas cost less than some seasoned doulas. The cost varies widely depending on where you live in the country or in the world. I've seen them range, um, you know, and also it goes up a little bit every year. So the range is pretty broad. Like we can have a range from $1,000 to four or $5,000 in some of our more expensive areas, but I'd say for most of the United States the range is probably 1500 to 2500 is kind of where we're at Now. This is 2025. And that varies widely, right, but that's kind of what you can expect. For some people. That's a pretty extraordinary cost Like a doula, unfortunately for so many people in right now.

Speaker 2:

A doula is a luxury item and not everyone can afford that. Some people have, you know, all the luxury items, so they're going to have a doula. And one thing that's interesting over time is doulas have helped and served historically the people who can afford it. They've served people who have assets and resources and have the haves, not the havenots. But there are incredible benefits to those who have less, who are challenged by socioeconomic, racial or ethnic or geographical limitations. There's incredible benefits for doulas to help and make a difference, make more of a difference. Right Like, the trajectory of what a doula can do is a little longer. The leverage is a little stronger when you have someone who needs help in all parts of life.

Speaker 2:

I have been able to work in some volunteer doula programs. When I lived in North Carolina I was involved in a couple and I love, love, loved it. I also have worked, obviously privately, for a really long time and served with some incredible, amazing people, as I've done that from all kinds of socioeconomic backgrounds and different come from different parts of the world, speak different languages, different cultures, different ethnic backgrounds, but by and large it's you know, I'm a white doula, so I'm, by and large, serving white people who can pay for me. That's the majority of my clients, but certainly not all. Every once in a while we'll have a client come across who has just scrimped and saved and sacrificed to pay for a doula. But I want to chat about some ways to pay for doulas, regardless of where you are and what the cost is like. Ways to pay for doulas regardless of where you are and what the cost is like. One of those ways and I've had several clients do this is to request help from family and friends.

Speaker 2:

So a lot of people, you know, like to give gifts when babies are born. They like to buy cute, tiny little things that are going to fit the baby for maybe 10 days, you know, and it's just can't resist buying this tiny little pink or blue or whatever, um, little outfits, um, but gifts are normal, right, like people have baby showers or blessing ways or, you know, uh, all kinds of celebrations up to and surrounding, uh, the birth of a baby, and sometimes people will have. I've known people who have one or two or three showers as they, you know, baby showers as they prepare for the upcoming arrival of a baby. Maybe their work gives them one, and maybe their friends give them one, and maybe their family gives them one or their church congregation or whatever. But requesting this as a gift or portion of as a gift can be really important, like the impact that doula support can have is way more important than that cute little onesie. So if people, even if a lot of people gave a little, or a couple key people gave a lot, you know, sometimes the grandma or a really important aunt or something or a best friend will kind of spring and give a little bit of a bigger gift, maybe a stroller or a breast pump or something along those lines. But if you ask for this, for gifts like hey, also looking for donations so easy to do, now, right, you can put a QR code on an invitation, all electronic. We can exchange funds very easily. But part of the gift for the shower is contributions towards doula services. That could be postpartum doula services maybe that's where you're at and that's what it's all about for you, um, but it could be birth services as well, um, so gifts, gifts is a is a really great one.

Speaker 2:

I had one client, oh, one of my early, early clients over 20 years ago. She was a school teacher. Um and her colleagues. All the teachers at her school contributed um for the funds for a doula and they just about like 90% covered my birth fee at the time, which was much lower than than it is now. But her colleagues helped provide a doula.

Speaker 2:

I've seen parents provide that. There was one couple I helped years ago. I helped them have two babies who were kind of caboose babies. They already had four pretty grown children or nearly grown children and then they had these two. They had one was a surprise and then they added a brother to him so he had a buddy um. So they were older parents at the time and they purchased my services for both of those kids and they said, oh my gosh, this is amazing. We are going to provide this when our children, our older kids, when they have babies. We are going to provide this when our children, our older kids, when they have babies, we are going to gift them doula services. And they did. Those two of those older kids have now married and had children of their own. They're easily probably over 30 now, into their 30s, and those parents have. They've lived in different part of the country, you know. Their kids have moved and they have gifted them doula services for for um their children. So that's one way to do it.

Speaker 2:

Another way is seek scholarships. You, your particular doula, might offer scholarships. A lot of doulas will set aside a little bit of money from each client or they'll have a little fun going on Um. That will accumulate so that they can offer discounted or reduced services when they see a need arise. There's also organizations. If you have a local doula organization or there are some hospital organizations or health departments that might have doula scholarships funds available. You'd be surprised what kind of funds are available if you know where to look and who to ask. So kind of ask around. You could also seek out a volunteer doula program.

Speaker 2:

Many hospitals in many places have volunteer doula programs. Some of them have paid doula programs. Where there's a doula at the hospital, it's a little bit untraditional in that you might not know who they are or have a lot of time with them, but they may be able to be there and help you during labor. So you could kind of ask for that and see if your hospital or has a doula program or your birth center. So there are volunteer organizations that you could kind of look at. And where I live there's a doula membership organization. That's amazing. They've been around a really long time Gosh, we're going on 30 years and they have a scholarship fund that people apply for a scholarship and there's certain doulas who say, yep, I'll do it for a scholarship, it's a discounted rate and they will do that.

Speaker 2:

Other ways to pay for if you have insurance and if you have a flex spending account or a health savings account, your doula could provide some like explanation of services or benefits or an invoice, a detailed invoice that covers what the services and the hours are, and you can pretty easily I've had clients very easily do flex spending and even health savings. Sometimes they do it with their health savings card. They have a, you know, a credit or debit card that will just transfer right to the payment of that. Sometimes it's more in reimbursement form. There are a growing number of insurance companies who provide services through insurance. So ask if your insurance company has doula services. Ask do you provide for doula services? Call them up, ask them about it. I work for a company now that has a really awesome contract with a health plan and they do provide for reimbursement for well. No, they pay doulas to help those who are insured with this particular company to have that covered, which is incredible. I've been able to do many births with that insurance company and work for with people, with clients who otherwise could not afford it.

Speaker 2:

So there are some creative ways to do it. There's some more traditional avenues to do it. You could ask your doula if they do a payment plan. I've had many clients do payment plans. You know if we especially if we meet with them earlier in pregnancy, it's a little bit easier to take, you know do smaller payments over a period of time. Um, sometimes we'll do some bartering. I've bartered for things before, or partially for things. I've gosh, what have I done? Headshots. I've done books. I've done website services or digital services. I think I did a hotel stay one time. Somebody traded me a hotel stay for doula services. So kind of, don't be alarmed to ask. Some doulas might get kind of defensive about that, but it never hurts to ask and hopefully your doula can build something. Many doulas do that. They'll kind of build into their year some some discounted or reduced rates when they see a need for that heart. But when I see a need I I do not have a problem giving a discount. I've given many, many discounts and even free services over the years.

Speaker 2:

When situations really got my attention and tugged at my heartstrings, there's one. We had a doctor call us up many years ago now and she had a patient who was going through it like from tough stuff, really having a difficult time. She had two children. She was pregnant with twins and her husband decided he was done in the middle of his pregnancy. So she was faced with a lot ahead of her on suddenly alone and the emotional turmoil she was experiencing when that was a new and difficult situation. And then she's faced with giving birth to twins and the cost of everything all of a sudden. So our doctor reached out to us and say hey, would you, could you provide services for this, for this patient of mine? And we said, oh, yes, for sure. So my partner and I we met with her and it was just heart wrenching. The place she was at in her heart and mind at the time was rough and we were glad to provide that service for her. She had gorgeous twins, perfect, unmedicated vaginal delivery of twins. It's always amazing and this was the coolest part like this mom who was struggling in every way, she scraped together 250 dollars to give us afterwards. She even in her difficult circumstance, found value and decided to contribute, you know, to our services, which is really touching. And you know we've remained in contact with her and are pretty good friends with her still, and you know what she's doing fine. She's doing so fine now she's in a different place and really enjoying, actually, where she's at with her cute twins and her older kiddos as well.

Speaker 2:

So be creative when you, if you want doula services, kind of be creative about it. See what you can do to afford the services. Hopefully you'll find something that works. I encourage everyone to try. You know, if it's important to you, try one thing that makes a big difference, especially if it's coming from a lot of directions, a lot of angles and we're starting to see the tide turn on. This is the voice of the consumer.

Speaker 2:

So if you ask, if you ask your provider like, hey, uh, does your hospital provide birth services? Does your practice have a doula working here? Probably they don't, you know. But that starts the thought process. That's where change happens is it starts with awareness. Call up your insurance company, call them six times if you want, and ask them do you guys provide doula services? Birth doula, postpartum doula You're probably going to be a little bit more successful with birth doula, the postpartum doula. You're probably going to be a little bit um more successful with birth doula the way things are right now.

Speaker 2:

But say, do you provide this service? And you can go with some data and some facts. You know. You know doulas can reduce cesareans by I think we're at 40% right now Um, doulas, they can reduce NICU stays. Um, if look at the numbers and I've done this and as I've dived into some data and a company that I'm working for does this all the time they look at the cost savings of what doulas can do, and that's remember, the dollar speaks, unfortunately, and so they're like oh wait, yeah, that could save us money. Like this small yes, that's a relatively small fee. When we're looking at a NICU stay or a cesarean fee using an OR and surgery charges, the cost of covering a doula is much smaller.

Speaker 2:

So ask about it, ask about it, ask about it, ask about it, and maybe you won't get that service, but maybe someday your neighbor or your friend, someone down the line, you started the work, you started that conversation and awareness for someone else. Maybe your own child will have doula services covered by insurance at some point in their life. So please ask about it. Oh, I had one other great thought that seems to have left me about that, but anyway, look around, hunt for it. There might be a way to pay for doula services in your area. Hope this is helpful.

Speaker 2:

I think it's a valuable service. It's a simple fix to a lot of problems and one of the biggest benefits when we can pull back from the dollar signs of it. We can pull back from the interventions and everything. But one of the very biggest benefits is your satisfaction with your birth experience. Hopefully you gain with an advocate dedicated to you. You gain a positive birth experience which can impact parenting for you, which can impact breastfeeding, the postpartum period and kind of how you start that new chapter of your life. I think the biggest benefit by far that people gain from having a doula is that they have a positive and empowering birth experience. Even if it's not perfect, even if it's not what you hoped or thought, it can still be a positive and empowering experience because you had someone who cared, someone who listened, someone who advocated for you, someone who knew how to help you, someone who helped you, know what was normal and knew what to do and when to do it, someone who supported your partner through that, so that we can minimize the impact of a frightening or traumatic or negative birth experience. Those happen all too often, so a doula is a good fix for that. See if you can find a way to get one.

Speaker 2:

Okay, wrapping it up for this one. Thank you for listening. I hope you're able to find doula services in your area. Ask around, be creative, call your insurance company six or ten times. Good luck to you Best in birthing and preparing to birth. I hope that you, whether an introvert, extrovert, reach out and make a small human connection today, whether that's by text, something digital, in person, just eye contact, physical touch, whatever that might be, make a connection with another human today. Um, bless your life and theirs. Hope you have a good one and we will see you next time.

Speaker 1:

Hope you have a good one and we will see you next time with Angie Rozier, hosted by Birth Learning Episode. Credits will be in the show notes Tune in next time as we continue to explore the many aspects of giving birth.