Looking for a doula to support you during pregnancy, birth, or the postpartum period? Find a doula by searching the International Doula Institute directory to connect with doulas and other perinatal support providers in your area. You can add a name or search term, or simply add a location via city/town, state or the equivalent of that in your country.
Find Doula Support That Fits Your Needs
Every doula in our directory has completed their training and meets the standards established by IDI. However, just as every family is unique, every doula brings their own personality, experiences, approach, and areas of interest to their work.
Finding the right doula is about more than simply checking qualifications. You may want someone whose communication style makes you feel comfortable, who has experience supporting families with needs similar to yours, or whose approach to pregnancy, birth, and postpartum support aligns with what you are looking for.
We encourage families to read profiles and ask doulas questions to find the one who best meets your needs. Sometimes it’s the first doula you speak with, sometimes it’s the third.
A doula is invited into an important and very personal time in a family’s life. The goal isn’t to find the “perfect” doula. It’s to find the right doula for you.
Birth Doula Support
Birth doulas provide education, guidance, and emotional support during pregnancy as families prepare for labor and birth. During labor, a doula provides continuous support, including comfort measures, position suggestions, encouragement, and support for partners.
Doulas can also help families understand their options and communicate their preferences while working alongside their healthcare team. After birth, postpartum follow-up provides an opportunity to process the birth experience, ask questions, and receive additional support as the family adjusts to life with a new baby.
Postpartum Doula Support
Postpartum doulas provide practical, educational, and emotional support as families adjust to life with a new baby. Support may include newborn care education, infant feeding support, postpartum recovery guidance, help with household routines, and opportunities for parents to rest and build confidence in caring for their baby.
Postpartum doulas can also help families recognize when additional support or resources may be helpful and connect them with appropriate providers. Each family’s needs are different, so postpartum doula support can be tailored to the family’s priorities during the early weeks and months.
How to Choose a Doula
As mentioned above, every doula has completed our training and met the standards for certification with IDI. However, every doula is unique, just as you are! So, to find a doula, these tips can help.
Choosing a doula involves practical things, such as their availability, location, etc.
From there, you want to choose a doula who makes you feel comfortable. You are welcoming someone into your birth and/or home. It’s important that you feel comfortable with them. You will also want someone who is clear about their role and scope of practice. While all our doulas have agreed to IDI’s scope of practice, each doula is individually responsible to adhere to that.
Most families feel most comfortable working with doulas who have clear service agreements, have a backup doula for emergencies, and present a professional but personable service.
How quickly do they respond to inquiries? While doulas are not on-call for non-clients, it’s reasonable to expect a same-day or next-day reply during business hours.
From there, ask if they offer virtual or in-person consults so you can get to know how they practice as a doula. During the consult, they should be clear about how to move forward if you are interested in working with them. Remember, that doulas can only accept so many clients per month, you should expect them to request a retainer to hold your spot on their calendar.
Is the doula familiar with your birthing location? Are they able to confidently answer your questions or know where to find the answers? Are they providing non-judgmental support and respecting your birthing preferences?
But most importantly, do you feel comfortable with them? That’s what matters.
Frequently Asked Questions to Find a Doula
Q: Is the International Doula Institute an agency or employer of the listed doulas?
A: No, IDI is only a certifying body. Once doulas complete their certification, we provide an opportunity for them to be listed in our directory. This provides an easy place for families to find perinatal support knowing the people listed have completed our high standards. However, while we can vouch for their training, we have no involvement with how they operate their individual business as a doula.
Q: What training do doulas have?
A: Doulas who certify with IDI have completed at minimum one 60-hour doula training. For comparison, the national average for doula training is around 30 hours. However, many IDI doulas take multiple certifications, such as the Birth Doula and Postpartum Doula training which means they’d have over 120-hours of doula specific training.
Q: Is it truly beneficial to work with a doula?
A: Research has consistently found that doula support is associated with improved birth outcomes, higher likelihood of reporting a positive birth experience, higher breastfeeding rates, and improved maternal mental health.
Q: Do doulas only work with natural births or home births?
A: Doulas who are certified with the International Doula Institute are trained and educated to support ALL births! From planned home birth with a qualified midwife to a scheduled c-section, and everything in between, doulas support families however they are birthing. Doulas support your birth preferences.
Q: Can I use a doula instead of a midwife?
A: Doulas do not replace working with a qualified midwife or OB. Doulas provide nonmedical and nonclinical support. They provide continuous support and aim to help you have a positive and supported birth experience. Your midwife or OB ensures you have a safe birth and provides all medical and clinical care necessary.
Q: I worked with an IDI doula and I feel they were unprofessional or worked outside their scope, what should I do?
A: As mentioned, each doula is an independent service provider. However, at IDI, we take certification with us seriously. If you feel your doula acted outside scope, was unsafe, or was unprofessional, please reach out to info@internationaldoulainstitute.com so we can begin the grievance process. Every IDI certified doula signs an agreement of their scope of practice and code of conduct. If a doula is acting outside of those, we review the process and determine if they should lose certification with us or require additional training. Please note that there is no federal or international overseeing body for doulas. Even if we remove certification and their directory listing, doulas could still serve families as a doula.