doula-in-training gift

[Ashley84]

I have an incredible doula-in-training. She has already been so super supportive & I know she'll continue to be amazing through the final weeks of our pregnancy and then our birth.

My problem is that because she’s in training, so she’s free. I’m nearing my due date and I need to do something for her – I want to give her a gift after I have DS & I think cash is totally out the question (& too easy to turn down). I know she likes to shop at Target so I was thinking a gift card ($200) would fit her well. Is this too much to spend? Is it too little? A regular doula would have cost me about $500.

What else could I do besides a gift card? If you are a doula what kinds of gifts have you received – particularly while you were in training? If you’ve recently given a gift to a doula or doula-in-training, what did you give?

TIA for any and all input!

[rnchrista]

Originally Posted by Ashley84

I have an incredible doula-in-training. She has already been so super supportive & I know she'll continue to be amazing through the final weeks of our pregnancy and then our birth.

My problem is that because she’s in training, so she’s free. I’m nearing my due date and I need to do something for her – I want to give her a gift after I have DS & I think cash is totally out the question (& too easy to turn down). I know she likes to shop at Target so I was thinking a gift card ($200) would fit her well. Is this too much to spend? Is it too little? A regular doula would have cost me about $500.

What else could I do besides a gift card? If you are a doula what kinds of gifts have you received – particularly while you were in training? If you’ve recently given a gift to a doula or doula-in-training, what did you give?

TIA for any and all input!

You could do a gift card for Amazon, I'm sure she'd love to be able to buy some birth books

[bridgerrose]

We did the same with our DDs birth, gave her a gift certificate for 100$ . . .she has since done both of my DSs as a certified doula, we paid for the second, and she offered to do the third for free because she is such a great friend now. After the 3rd we gave her a gift certificate for a spa/resort that she and her husband could go to and offered to watch her kids while they were gone.

I think anything you give her will be great because you are acknowledging her improtance to you. But I'm sure she also feels grateful to you as well. I know my friend wanted to go to as many births as possible and sometimes people weren't as willing to let her do it.

[jeninejessica]

As a doula who was in the same position of attending births for free, I'd say that the *best* thing you can do for her is to ensure she gets her paperwork- I had quite a few births where the parents wrote glowing reviews for me- but none of their providers would fill out the form (nurses at the hospital, doctors, etc) This would have been a HUGE help for me. That and word of mouth about your experience.

My best gift received was actually something 'free' in that the mom had bought a doppler for herself during pregnancy, but knew that she was going to be moving before she got pregnant again-- so she gave it to me for use with myself or for loaning to future clients if I wanted. It didn't cost her anything, but it's been a huge blessing to me, and I felt it really fit because it was something birth related.

As far as material-- the Amazon gift card sounds wonderful to me. They have the best selection of birth/midwifery books, and I know there's been a few midwifery (not doula) books that I've wanted, but couldn't justiy the price ($100+) but with a gift card "dedicated" to that, I could splurge

Hope that helps! Oh, and yes, I think $200 is beyond generous.