Ok postpartum doulas, do you use a contract and if so, what does it include? A couple of situations have come up for me in the past year of my business that are making me think I need a contract for clearer communication. I have yet to be hired by a client before the birth, but even being hired afterwards, I think this could be hugely helpful. But, I don't want a huge contract. I want to keep it simple and make sure the parents read and understand it as opposed to lots of "fine print" that no one reads.

What do you find most important in your postpartum contract? And on that same vein, what policies do you have that you feel helps protect you financially and protect your time best?

Sorry! I read your post AFTER replying. I'm not a PP doula.

Great questions! I'm always tweaking mine. In my contract it states what doulas do and what they don't do. I have a clause that states about availability and that I disclose any conflicting clients with their due date,etc. I also have in there about the deposit being non-refundable unless I'm unable to take care of them. I have them sign up for how many days per week for how many weeks they want care with a 2 week notice being needed if they want to end services early. They can always extend if I have availability. I also have my rate and how I'm paid in there as well. Send me a PM with your email and I can send you a copy if you want.

I worked for the first 2-3 years without contracts Now that I've gotten over my resistance to it, I feel it's very helpful in clarifying my role, scope of practice, liability,, etc.
The most important aspects to me are scheduling and payment. It's great to be absolutely certain you understand each other ahead of time. I still have to juggle my schedule, but I haven't had the last-minute cancellations.

I absolutely will not work without a contract. IMO it clears up the scope and expectations so that the working relationship is pleasant for all involved.

We also require a written "Postpartum & Newborn Care Plan" (similar to a Birth Plan) for all clients (even birth clients becasue they may beocme PD clients). Again, it helps clarify roles and responsibilities, expectations and care requirements, fees and payment arrangeemnts - completely worth the time and effort that you put into drafting yours.

We have gone through several versions of our contracts, and each client seems to bring more clarification to our contract. Constant refinements and tweaks help ensure that we learn from previous clients and are able to address all areas of care that may be in question.

We detail what a PD does and does not do, what the client's responsibilities are, what happens after the birth of the baby and when services are to begin, any special circumstances that may arise, duration of services (how long they have to book their PD appointments), what happens if we cannot provide services, release of information, waiver, fees and discounts and payment schedule. Their postpartum & newborn care plan is an attachment to the contract that stays in thier file.

~h

I would LOVE to see an example of your postpartum and newborn care plan, if you don't mind sharing. My email is abbreese at yahoo dot com Thanks!

I'd love to see a copy of the care plan, if you're willing.

Thanks!

I would love to see a copy of your plan if you willing to share, I am in training right now and trying to understand how to best serve my clients.
Thanks-
leahnelson02@gmail.com

Our postpartum & Newborn care plans are taken from DONA's training workbook. I had a really hard time finding ones online to use, but ours basically asks general info about the family and pets, visitors, food and snacks and what tasks mom forsees needing help with. If you've taken the DONA workshop, they're both in there - basically, we used a lot of the same info, only put it all into a new document with our headers. I added some extra stuff about pets and questions like "What are 3 main things you want your doula to focus on while she is in your home".

We have a contract for PD services that is seperate from our birth doula contract, but the two share a lot of similarities. All of our doula clients are required to complete a PPcare & newborn plan as an addition to their file (in addition to their birth plan if they're a birth doula client).

Our contracts started out as a basic birth doula contract (I googled "birth doula contract") and copied and pasted, then edited it to suit our individual practice. We're training through DONA, so we used some of thier info from the website and other materials (like their sample contract) as well. Ours started out pretty basic though, and grew as we learned. Here's one of the ones that I started with:
http://konzababy.tripod.com/doula_contract.htm

I edited it to say "we" or "Whole Mothering Center" or "your doula" as needed, and used a bulleted checklist for the "doulas do not" list instead of a paragraph. They are all pretty similar; I opened a lot of them and copied bits and pieces of ones I liked into a word document and then put it all together.

I also added a section called "Client's Responsibilities" inspired by (among other sites) here: http://www.betterbirth.info/downloads/public/SabrinaDoulaContract.pdf
That is also in a numbered list (it mirrors the format in the other section and looks snazzy, lol) and includes what we expect from them (like that they commit to learning about birth so that they understand how their decisions impact their outcome, do independant research, stay in contact with us, etc.).

We have a section called "special circumstances" that deals with the eventuality that we may be required to be present at a court or other hearing, and also that addresses the possibility of the client's decision to switch to a birthing location outside of our geographical area of practice (yes, this HAS happened!) after realizing that unless otherwise noted, we're still contractually obligated to attend an out-of-area birth.

I also used ideas I got from this contract, edited to suit our practice: http://www.passivedescent.com/contract-passivedescent.pdf

For our fees section, we have doula packages that include X services, and pricing. Clients initial the total fee, retainer fee paid (at signing of contract) and balance due and date payable or other payment arrangements that we agree on.

We also have a section for discounts applied - for membership with us, La Leche League or API, and previous clients, agreeing to let us use ther photographs for our portfolio, etc. It helps to be VERY clear on fees and payment arrangements!

We also added a section that talks about our privacy practices and handling of their information and has the release of information so we can talk about their care to their PCP and our backup doulas or midwives.

I also created a contract amendment form. We have several different versions of our contract - it's constantly being updated, so the amendment is used if there are details that change or an agreement needs to be tweaked after the contract has been signed.

I use Microsoft Word 2007 to create our documents. It has a lot of features that you can make use of to make your documents look professional. I use a watermark on both contracts and the amendment form (different ones for each) and make use of headers and footers, inserted boxes and other nifty little additions that make it look like a "real" contract and not something a stay-at-home mom whipped up on her laptop, lol.

Bottom line for me was to look at everything out there and pick and choose bits and pieces to create something that is uniquely "us" that defines our services, "feel" and what we expect from our clients. I recommend getting creative with colors and making your documents interesting to look at and use (and hard to copy!). Use fonts and other features to give your documents a custom feel, and make it pretty!

The other thing is keep track of what version of your contract a client has, and any changes you make to future contracts and decide if the changes apply to your already-signed clients. If you decide to make any changes apply to all clients regardless of the contract they signed, you need to spell that out in all versions of your contract (something like, "Our contract is constantly being updated. You will be informed of any changes and they will apply to you regardless of the contract you signed" - kinda unethical, IMO, but to each her own.
I don't like the idea of getting your clients to sign a new contract every time you update your contract, so knowing what it is that THEY agreed to is important! I chalk it up to "live and learn". Make changes to your contract as needed - we learn something from each client we complete services with and so new additions and tweaks are always being made to ours. One of our earliest versions was 3 pages... now our CD contract is 9 and our PD contract is 7. I'm telling you there is ALWAYS something that we haven't addressed!

Our contracts are a work in progress - it's taken us over a year and a half with several major revisions. Each client has taught us something new, so we've come to accept that it is always going to be a work in progress.

One thing I did find was that in the beginning, I focused a lot on what *I* was going to do and what services I would provide, and what I was contractually obligated to do. That was a mistake! I feel strongly that a doula is a team player. The doula is not the only one with responsibilities and obligations. The "Client's Responsibilities" section of our contract is lengthy, and details all that we expect from them. If they think it is too much work, then the match isn't right and we'll refer them. We go over our contract at the consult and then send them home to discuss it. To me, it's not about making a sale, but about finding a good match between mom and doula. I'm committed to my clients, and I want their commitment as well.

I'd love to see a copy of your "postpartum and newborn care plan", if you are willing. Please email it to [email="browniemagie@hotmail.com"]browniemagie@hotmail.com[/email]. Thank you!

I would love to see any Postpartum contracts and or Newborn plans that anyone might be willing to share.
Please and Thank You!