What does a postnatal doula do?

What do I do as a postnatal doula to support families with newborn babies? Here's a taste of 24 hours in the life of a postnatal doula.

I head off at 8.30pm ready to support a family overnight. They know I'm on call for a birth so my phone has to stay on at all times, just in case I'm called away, but tonight turns out not to be the night. When I arrive the parents update me on how their day has been and how the last two nights have been with the baby, since I was last there. We talk through the occurrence of colic in new babies and how this generally resolves by around 3 months - there is light at the end of the tunnel. They have some questions about what to expect at their six week check and we chat through how it's about the wellbeing of the baby and of the mother, and I warn them to expect a contraception chat with their GP. They resolve to tell the doctor that having a doula sleep in the room with mum and the baby is pretty effective contraception! On a more serious note, I explain how breastfeeding can be a method of contraception, but only when specific criteria are met, to do with fully breastfeeding on demand, and I What's App over a link for more information. The mum then has a bath whilst I look after their baby and dad heads to the spare room for a well deserved early night. I sleep on a mattress on the floor in the same room as the mum, next to the baby who is in a moses basket. This way I can ensure that mum gets the maximum amount of sleep possible, whilst still breastfeeding responsively to the baby's needs. During the night, this means winding and changing the baby, and settling her back to sleep after each feed. Over one dimly lit nighttime feed, we discuss postnatal depression and some of the ways the mother can take care of herself to lessen the chances of suffering from this most common of parental illnesses. I reassure her about how well they are doing as a new family and remind her of some of the recent successes and steps forward they have made as parents.

In the morning, with both parents refreshed, I head to my morning client. I make the family breakfast - porridge and tea - and then hold the baby so that the mum can get her eldest child ready for school. As dad heads off for the school run and to work, mum heads up for a sleep as she's been up feeding frequently throughout the night. Whilst she's upstairs, I pop the babies (twins) in a wrap sling and start to clear the kitchen. Whilst not a cleaner, I do give everything a once over, unload and reload the dishwasher and change the laundry over. The twins snooze happily on my chest as I prepare some vegetables that will keep for the family's dinner later this evening. As one then the other twin stirs, I feed them using expressed milk, and we have some tummy time on the playmat. As mum emerges from her sleep, I heat up some soup for her and then make sure that she has everything around her that she needs in order to relax whilst breastfeeding the twins.

I head on over to my afternoon client after lunch. She's been reading about baby massage and would like to talk about the benefits of it. I give her the details of a local baby massage specialist and after supporting her to bathe her baby (she's quite nervous as it's the first full bath for him), we use some oil and simple strokes to relax him before he has a snooze. Whilst the baby is asleep, I run the vacuum cleaner round and make a simple salmon dinner for the couple, leaving it ready to pop in the oven later on. I run the baby's bottles through the steriliser ready for the evening. Mum asks about the best way to make up formula whilst out and about, so we look together at the Unicef Babyfriendly guidelines on this and she decides that a flask of hot, boiled water is going to be the safest way to make up a feed when out of the house. We have a chat about something that has been niggling her since the birth, and I remind her about the birth afterthoughts service run by the local hospital which might be a way to explore her feelings further. Baby then has a poonami and as we change his nappy we talk about what is normal infant poo, and how often to expect a poo at this age. I pull out my knitted poo chart and we go through the colours and stages, and how it changes as he gets older. As a doula, baby poo is one of my main topics of conversation, and occasionally the subject of picture messages from anxious parents! I remind the mum that she can always talk to her health visitor if she is concerned.

I head off home for the day, where my dogs inspect me for baby-sick stains and any scents of other people's furry animals. They are rarely disappointed!