Finding Your Perfect Doula

When I found out I was pregnant, I knew I wanted a doula. I also knew it might be a bit of a difficult search because aside from being a doula myself, I’m picky. I wanted someone I could be real with, someone who would be real with me, and someone who could support me no matter what. Fortunately, the sister of a friend of mine from years ago had fairly recently launched her doula business, shout out to Cece Peace at Birth with Peace! I gave her a call and within minutes, I knew she was the gal for me!

How Do I Find a Doula?

Finding a doula can be an overwhelming task, but it doesn’t have to be. First and foremost, I recommend Doula Match. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a site to match pregnant people with doulas that would be right for them. You can sort by location, types of birth, and more. It’s a super convenient way to find a bunch of doulas in your area at once!

Social media is also a fantastic way to find doulas and other birth professionals in your area. Try searching “Doulas *insert city name*” and see what comes up. Hopefully, their profile will be tagged with nearby cities and you’ll come up with some great results!

What To Look For In a Doula

I knew I wanted a few specific things in my own doula. Three things I knew I needed to form a great relationship with my doula were:

Evidence-based practices

Open-mindedness

A sense of humor

Finding An Evidence-Based Doula

This is arguably the most important thing in my book. The use of doulas are associated with all sorts of positive health outcomes for parents and babies, but there’s an asterisk there for sure. *IF* the doula practices evidence-based care and educates accordingly, statistically there are better health outcomes. If you have an untrained nut just winging it and giving you opinions instead of facts, that’s not evidence-based!

Open-Minded Doulas

I am not a doula who will judge you for your choices. This is absolutely necessary for me and it should be for every doula, but unfortunately it’s not. If you find yourself searching for a doula and you see a social media page full of critiques about certain birth types, that’s a red flag. Look for support and education, not criticism!

Doulas With a Sense of Humor

Birth is weird, gross, and funny. Bodies are weird and so much crazy stuff happens during labor that sometimes you just have to laugh. I laugh about almost everything in my life and I knew I wanted someone that didn’t take everything super seriously. I think I’m that doula for other people and it’s something I love about myself! I can make my clients laugh and will try to keep things light in the delivery room.

Finding Your Doula

Finding a great evidence-based doula can make all the difference in your birth and health outcomes. At Baby Dust Doula Services, I strive to be the best RVA birth doula possible to help you accomplish all of your birth goals!