How Seattle Birth Doulas Works
We are a collective of independent doulas committed to supporting pregnant people throughout their pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
Congratulations! We know finding a doula near me can be both a fun and yet daunting process. You've come to the right place! We invite you to explore the doulas' profiles and see who sparks your interest.
Schedule a no-obligation interview with a doula or doulas. Interviews take place virtually via video. This is a great time to hear more about their services and skills and ask questions to understand better how they see their role as a doula.
Connect with the doula you interviewed to confirm their availability and let them know they're hired! Digital paperwork to fill out and instructions for payment will soon be in your inbox. Now you can focus on all the other details of preparing for a baby, knowing you've got a great support team on your side.
The Adventure Begins
Growing a human is just the start of the amazing adventure of parenthood.
By providing emotional and informational support, doulas can help reduce anxiety and increase confidence in the body's ability to give birth. We get it, pregnancy, birth, and having a tiny newborn who is fully dependent on you is a huge life shift. It can be difficult to "know what you don't know" or come up with questions you're not sure you have!
Remember, every parent's experience is unique, and there is no one "right" way to approach pregnancy and parenthood. However, there are strategies that can help you feel more confident and prepared.
Doulas can help connect expecting parents with evidence-based information and resources that can aid in decision-making throughout pregnancy, labor, and postpartum.
A doula supports YOU to make decisions that are best for you. Because people make the best decisions with the information they currently have - not what we thought was going to happen.
Your decisions regarding pain management, interventions, tests, or pain medications are yours to make, and a doula can help you tease out your thoughts and desires through active listening. Whether the birth is taking place at a birth center, at home, or at the hospital.
Doulas provide personalized, non-medical support. They want to understand your individual needs, preferences, goals, and birth plan. Think you may be in labor? Your doula can help. Wondering about how to encourage baby into an optimal position? That's in your doula's thought process.
Research has shown that having a doula can lead to shorter labor, fewer medical interventions, and lower rates of C-sections and other complications. Additionally, many people report feeling more empowered and confident in their ability to give birth when they have the support of a doula.
Doulas help reduce the need for medical interventions such as cesarean births, which can mitigate potentially severe complications associated with those interventions.
You don't need to wait 6 weeks to talk to someone about your birth. Doulas typically offer an in-home visit within a week after delivery. This gives you the chance to process your birth experience, answer normal newborn questions, and give some tips for life with a newborn.
A postpartum doula specializes in assisting a new family in interpreting and understanding your newborn's behavior, helping parents (or baby!) get some sleep, and assisting in household tasks such as meal prep, laundry, and light cleaning. Need assistance with breast or bottle feeding, nervous about bathing your baby, or just needing reassurance, this is absolutely the job description of a postpartum doula. See Jen's doula page for more information about her services.
Ready for an empowering birth experience? Connect with our compassionate doulas, dedicated to supporting you every step of the way—before, during, and after your baby's arrival.
Meet the DoulasBeing a doula can be isolating. I know what it's like to long for a safe place to collaborate with another doula, seek professional advice, and to process birth experiences. I envisioned providing doulas the opportunity to be on the receiving end of the support they so beautifully give to their clients. In addition, I see the importance of doulas spending their energy on being a doula rather than the less exciting work of maintaining a website. From this desire, Seattle Birth Doulas was formed.
You can be confident when hiring a doula from Seattle Birth Doulas, your doula has opportunities for professional development, birth processing, and support from an experienced professional.
All the best,
Jen Laird
Founder
Helpful articles for Your Pregnancy and Birth Journey
Doulas play a vital role in childbirth and beyond, offering support, comfort, and knowledge. They empower parents to make informed decisions, creating positive and empowering birth experiences.
Regardless of how long or short, painful or pain free, or whether baby is born vaginally or by surgery, long term satistfation depends of whether you felt involved in the decision making process and had support.
I cannot recommend Jen enough! We are a couple that tends to over analyze, research, and prepare for everything as much as we can. Even with all that and it being our second birth, we relied heavily on Jen’s expertise as we dealt with decision after decision through labor. When my water broke, we talked immediately and she gave us some tips to get labor moving and calmed my anxieties of a similar sequence of events with my last birth ( that led to more interventions than I wanted originally). Jen helped us navigate pressure from our midwife to get induced and also figure out what reasonable options were at each decision point, discussing evidence based research and asking the right questions for us to discover what we wanted to do. She never pressured us into a decision but rather helped us figure out what WE wanted. When she met us at the hospital, I immediately noticed her presence as she made sure I was hydrated, provided comfort measures through back labor and a premature urge to push, and explained what was happening at each step. I was able to have the natural birth I wanted and I truly believe I wouldn’t have without Jen’s help! She stayed after the birth to help me breastfeed and process everything that happened. Even at our postpartum visit, Jen talked about parts of the birth that I didn’t realize I had questions about, validating what I was feeling. She even provided my husband some tips on how to process his own labor experience and how to navigate parenting a toddler through this transition. In every aspect from labor preparation, labor, to postpartum, Jen made each experience easier for us to navigate and I can look back and know we made the right decision at each step of the way. I could say so much more but will cut off here and just say - hire her!!
5 out of 5 stars
I had the most amazing experience with Jen. From my first time meeting her, I felt so comfortable and cared for. Leading up to my birth, I was given helpful tools to prepare me, and when I went into labor, Jen arrived at the hospital not long after I did and rolled up her sleeves right away, ready to help. I’m so thankful she was there during my labor and delivery! She helped keep me calm and advocated for me with my amazing nursing team at NW. I will never forget her cool, soft touch and how needed it was! Giving birth for the second time will be easy to plan for knowing I can have Jen by my side. HIRE HER!
5 out of 5 stars
I was fortunate to have Jen at all four of my births and believe I wouldn't have had the same, wonderful experiences without her nurturing presence and expertise. Each one presented its own challenges or discomfort, and Jen was stellar every time. She worked well with all the medical professionals and also guided my husband to be the best support, assuring my needs and wishes were met. Thank you, Jen, for helping me bring life into the world!
5 out of 5 stars
Jen is amazing! She helped us with the birth of all three of our children, and it was such a huge comfort knowing that we had a professional like Jen with us every step of the way. She is knowledgeable, compassionate, and decisive. And from my perspective as a father-to-be, she knew how to get me involved and assisting my wife when I felt helpless and unsure of what I should do.
5 out of 5 stars
Answers to Your Most Common Questions About Our Seattle Birth Doula Services
You probably took a childbirth class, do you remember all the information presented to you? No way, right? Hiring a doula is like having a childbirth educator with you during labor and birth. Research has shown that long-term satisfaction with a birth experience is not typically dependent on how long or short the labor was, painful or pain-free, having a vaginal or surgical birth but rather whether or not the birthing person felt supported and involved in the decision-making process. A doula's role is to support you (and partner) as you make decisions during this process.
A doula is a trained professional who provides emotional, physical, and informational support to the birthing person and their partner before, during, and after childbirth. Doulas help clients to prepare for childbirth by providing education about the process, exploring birth preferences and desires, and offering guidance on coping techniques and discomfort management choices.
We support, resource, and encourage partners. A common misconception is that doulas ONLY support birthing people. We validate that each relationship is unique and we don't have preconceived ideas of how partners "should" support. Our goal is for partners to feel as involved as they desire. That could mean giving them suggestions for how to support their partner or tagging them out for a break. Learn more
Doulas are all about non-medical support, so they don't perform clinical tasks or make medical decisions. That's where midwives and doctors come in—they're healthcare providers responsible for the medical care and safety of both you and your baby during pregnancy, labor, and postpartum.
It's a good idea to start the process of hiring a doula during your second trimester. Many doulas fill up their calendars far in advance however it's also not uncommon to find last-minute availability.
Doula fees can vary depending on experience, location, and services offered. Make sure to discuss fees and payment options during your interview.
We are excited to tell you all about our services, how they work with your care provider, and the many ways they can help you prepare for birth. Rather than asking your doula questions, we suggest you ask yourself a few questions including Does this Doula make me feel comfortable and at ease? Could I imagine spending many hours with them? What does my intuition say about having them apart of my birth team?
Absolutely! Doulas support folks in all birthing locations and planned or unplanned C-sections. Former clients report that a doula is especially beneficial if birth deviates from normal. They help create a more comfortable environment, facilitate communication with medical staff, and provide emotional and informational support throughout the process.
Postpartum doulas are there to help with newborn care, breastfeeding support, emotional support, light housekeeping, meal preparation, and sibling care. They're all about making your transition into parenthood as smooth as possible and can provide resources and referrals for additional support if needed. Please see the postpartum page to learn more
A doula's role is to complement and enhance the support provided by your partner or other birth companions. They can help your partner feel more confident in their role and offer guidance on how to support you effectively during labor and postpartum.
