Hi Everyone,
I haven't done my training for PP work yet but I'm out there asking for work. I just got a call from a Mom with twins 1mo. old she wants someone one or two nights a week overnight. this sounds like baby nurse work, not doula work but, I need the $$ and experience.
Any advice??
Thanks,
Hannah
My guess is based on your duties for overnight. I do overnights, but I still do not take over 100%. Of course in syaing that, if you are going to do just for a night or two, perhaps she wants somebody there so she can sleep? Is she breastfeeding? That has a lot to do with it as well. If she is, then you can always bring the baby to her bed.
i had a client this week who didn't want me to come back - well, she wanted a nanny and a housekeeper, both of which I am not. Nighttime duties will differ than daytime, that's for sure.
We do nighttime respite. The primary purpose is to relieve parents who are sleep-deprived. When I show up, I might do a few dishes, tidy up, and do some regular postpartum stuff. Once it gets late, I sleep while the baby (or babies) sleep, and then when they wake up I bring them to mom for breastfeeding, or give them a bottle, change diapers or whatever. It is essentially being a baby nurse. I guess I have a broader definition of postpartum care, because I do baby nurse duties, light housekeeping, and childcare as part of my work.
The hard part is being away from home at night. The benefit is that I can get a lot of hours in this way.
We charge the same for nighttime respite as for daytime work.
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Jade Souza
Labor and Postpartum Doula
ICCE candidate
MotherLove Doula Services (Olympia, WA)
Proud mama of Stella Aberdeen (4/19/00) Ezra Kismet (11/19/05) and Solace William Sinclair (5/15/08) www.motherloveoly.net
We do overnight care as well and carry out the duties that Jade mentioned. This is up to the individual doula in our practice to negotiate this situation, but we have not turned this work away because it has been such a life saver for totally stuggling new parents.
Cheers!
Jodi
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Jodi Hinds, CD(DONA), Birth Counsellor for Women Survivors
WHERE WERE ALL OF YOU LADIES WHEN MY SON WAS BORN!!! I think that is such a wonderful service, the overnight thing! I would have loved one night a week to just sleep and have my baby cared for in my home. Also, a PP Doula could have helped me to breastfeed, I never figured it out so I quit at 2 days old and I had post partum depression so bad I didn't want to live. Also, I had a lot of pain from internal bleeding (a result of being over drugged at the hospital with blood thinner after a c-section) that someone to help me out of bed and to the bathroom to pee (that was so painful) would have been great.
No doubt, this time, I'm hiring a ppd. So, who live in MN????
Wow, I agree with Ann marie ~ I have been blessed to have my mom stay for a couple weeks after both my kids were born, so she definately was a life saver as far as helping with laudnry and cleaning and cooking, etc, and taking care of the baby so i could nap, taking care of the older child, etc., but if it weren't for her, I wold totally hire one of you ladies!
Ash
__________________ Looking forward to better protection of my privacy so that I can once again post and forge personal and lasting relationships with the amazing doulas here
I do not do overnight work at this time, but possibly in the future I would. It isn't based on principal but just b/c at this point in my life I still really need a lot of sleep I would charge $5 more per hour for overnights but that is just me.
WHERE WERE ALL OF YOU LADIES WHEN MY SON WAS BORN!!! I think that is such a wonderful service, the overnight thing! I would have loved one night a week to just sleep and have my baby cared for in my home. Also, a PP Doula could have helped me to breastfeed, I never figured it out so I quit at 2 days old and I had post partum depression so bad I didn't want to live. Also, I had a lot of pain from internal bleeding (a result of being over drugged at the hospital with blood thinner after a c-section) that someone to help me out of bed and to the bathroom to pee (that was so painful) would have been great.
No doubt, this time, I'm hiring a ppd. So, who live in MN????
Here is the DONA list of MN ppdoulas. http://www.dona.org/search/results.p...artum&x=28&y=8 I also have a friend who is training to be a ppdoula and she lives in MN. I will PM you her info. I highly recommend her.
My mom did this for me a couple of nights when my daughter was born - I was breastfeeding - and she would take my daughter once I was finished feeding so I could go back to sleep, and she would come and wake me up when my daughter got hungry again or when it was time to feed her again - I got some GREAT sleep - it was the best thing someone could have done for me! My hubby is a long haul truck driver so he is away sometimes for more than a week - so I am hoping this time she will help me out that way this time!! Once I start advertising for births again, I am going to advertise that I will do overnight work also b/c I realize what a big help it is
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MOM to 2 beautiful little girls - Sidney (March 21/07) and Olivia (April 10/04) Both were awesome home births!!
I am working with a six month old at nights. She is still waking at least 3 times per night. She wakes up screaming & the only thing that will put her back to sleep is a bottle or pacifier. Any suggestions on helping the parents to get this baby to sleep through the night. I have read all of the methods... I am looking for someone who has tried them or another method. Any suggestions from postpartum doula's on how to tell parent's that you won't be there forever. Our work has been slow so we have been working with them 2-3 nights per week and I hate to admit it but we have been there 6 months!!!
But most moms are so wiped out they just want sleep and not think about working on bf in the middle of the night. So they just pump and we feed a bottle.
I haven't been asked to do this for any birth clients yet, though I have that option in my contract.
However, I did this for my SIL with her second baby. I went over to her place after dinner and chatted a bit about all the breastfeeding issues. After bedtime, I brought my nephew to her when he woke, but she came out and sat in the lounge oom and we chatted at each feed. I think she enjoyed the quiet time away from her toddler and she did a lot of debriefing from the birth and the struggles she was having with breastfeeding.
She still thanks me years later for doing that for her. I've realised how much it can mean to a mum, so I've added it to my services for birth clients. But it's not something that I want to advertise. It's quite exhausting work.
I would have loved one night a week to just sleep and have my baby cared for in my home. Also, a PP Doula could have helped me to breastfeed, I never figured it out so I quit at 2 days old and I had post partum depression so bad I didn't want to live. Also, I had a lot of pain from internal bleeding (a result of being over drugged at the hospital with blood thinner after a c-section) that someone to help me out of bed and to the bathroom to pee (that was so painful) would have been great.
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