Cost of hiring a doula

[gardenmommy]

What is an average cost of a doula? I am considering hiring one, don't have a problem with what she charges, but am really curious about what the going rate is.

[GreenMamma]

That depends on location. I'm in Utah and the going rate is about $400. Although I have heard some doulas in California and Florida charge as much as $2000. Start interviewing and ask around to get an accurate price for where you live.

[sharr610]

Depends on what you are looking for. Last birth, I had a pp doula who charged $12-15/hr for pp stuff. The same doula, pretty experienced in the area, might be our birth/whole doula this time. Her rate is a sliding scale of $400-700...that includes prenatal visits, the birth and some pp work.

[gardenmommy]

She charges $400, which seems reasonable to me. I am not complaining, I was just really curious about it, since I've never given it much thought in the past. Sounds like it's pretty comparable to other places.

[honey-lilac]

In Colorado it's about 300-400 from what I've seen (in our town).

In Connecticut it was starting at about 800 and upwards

Totally depends on location.

[xixstar]

Originally Posted by gardenmommy

She charges $400, which seems reasonable to me. I am not complaining, I was just really curious about it, since I've never given it much thought in the past. Sounds like it's pretty comparable to other places.

that's in line with what some doulas in my area charge...

[sanguine_speed]

Many in my area are $600-$700, but I have seen up to $850.

[Right of Passage]

I'm in CO, it greatly depends on the area. Denver area (which serves a 30-40 miles radius) is about $500-$700+

[chemer]

Here it's $450, but on a sliding scale at the discretion of the individual doula in the group.

[EricaDoula]

400$ seems to be a great price. Depending on where you live, some major cities Doulas are costing upwards of 2000$. Look of "Economics of Doula Fees" on google, and you will find the price really broken down! Good luck with your doula search!

[MidwifeErika]

250-800 here.

[NamastePlatypus]

I go for 600 right now but they are wanting to raise it to 800.

[KGB]

Our doula is charging us $650. She's pretty experienced (30-40 births) and certified. We also spoke with a yet-to-be certified inexperienced doula (4 births) that wanted to charge us $500.

Prices can vary greatly based on location, experience / certification level of the doula, and services that are offered. It can be anywhere from FREE (for a doula just starting out) up to $1000 -- at least in our area.

[gardenmommy]

It is really interesting to me how much variation there is in fees. I guess it is totally to be expected, though, given the variations in COL across the regions. Thank you for posting your experiences.

[elus0814]

My HB midwife works with two doulas who come with her to each birth. The fee for both of them is $500, which seemed inexpensive to me but I suppose because the midwife requires that you 'hire' them because they all work as a team they are guranteed (sp?) four births per month. I guess $1000 per month for a maximum of four days of work is pretty good.

I used to live in NY and looked into hiring a doula but after I found out the going rate was $900 I choose not to have one. I know it's a skilled thing but $900 for four hours of work (they all just came for labor and I have short labors and anything postpartum was extra) seemed like an awful lot of money. I sure wish I could make $225 per hour!

[jeninejessica]

Originally Posted by elus0814

I used to live in NY and looked into hiring a doula but after I found out the going rate was $900 I choose not to have one. I know it's a skilled thing but $900 for four hours of work (they all just came for labor and I have short labors and anything postpartum was extra) seemed like an awful lot of money. I sure wish I could make $225 per hour!

Did they do no prenatal visits at all? No phone calls, email advice, nothing? Wow. That's odd. It's so weird to see different ways of doing things. I'm a newish doula still (actually on hiatus right now), but for an average client, before you even get to the birth, I've usually spent an average of about 10-15 hours on the client. This is divided between visits with the family, phone and email communication, looking up things for them and putting together information packages, etc. The $400 (or $900) may look like it's only for a day of work, but it's really not, I promise!

That said... in my area, doulas average $350-$600.

[ShadowMoon]

I'm in RI and mine cost $600. We paid in 3 installments.

[Adallae]

We're in Northern California - ours was $800. That included 2 pre-natal visits and one pp visit, as well as full access to her book and video library. We also got a 50% discount on her Lamaze class.