A doula is a trained perinatal professional who provides continuous emotional, physical, and informational support during pregnancy, labor, birth and postpartum. At Wildwood Birth Collective, our Portland doulas offer compassionate, personalized care to ensure you feel empowered, informed, and supported throughout your birth journey. All of our doulas are certified and have taken multiple continuing education trainings to offer comprehensive support on the journey to meeting your baby.

Our birth doulas each have their own rate based on their level of experience. We have created additional resource to answer the most common questions about doula pricing. Please get in touch if you have any other questions about our birth doula pricing.

How much does a doula cost?

How much do doulas make?

Are doulas covered by insurance?

Do you offer pro bono doula support?

Each prenatal and postpartum appointment included in our Birth Doula Support package is a private meeting between you and your doula where you can ask any questions you have about childbirth and newborn care.

Up to four hours of prenatal appointments are included with our birth doula support package. These prenatal consultations will cover (but are not limited to):

• physiology of birth

• hospital procedures

• developing your birth plan, or birth preferences

• comfort measures

• medications

• postpartum plan

• preparing for feeding

Up to two hours of postpartum appointments are included with our birth doula support package. These postpartum doula Portland consultations will cover (but are not limited to):

• birth processing

• newborn care

• breastfeeding

• sleep training

• all of your postpartum questions

Doulas provide physical support

• Touch — massage, acupressure, or with a rebozo

• Hydrotherapy — warm shower or birth pool

• Applying heat or cold for desired temperature

• Creating a calm environment through music (or silence), adjusting lighting, and minimizing outside noise or talking

• Assisting with walking, swaying, changing position

• Offering water, ice, food, other comfort items

Doulas provide emotional support

• Continuous presence throughout active labor

• Verbal encouragement, praise and reassurance (“normalizing” the experience)

• Mirroring the birthing person’s experience and matching the feeling and tone

• Remaining calm and steady, showing a caring attitude

• Empathizing with the birthing person, supporting what they want

• Talking through fears and self-doubt with birthing person and their partner

• Re-framing circumstances to help birthing person view themselves and their situation more positively

• Processing the birth story postpartum - empathizing and clarifying when appropriate

Doulas provide informational support 

• Multiple, thorough prenatal meetings to discuss all aspects of childbirth 

• Help with creating a birth preferences document to provide to care providers

• Providing resources and evidence-based information for making decisions throughout pregnancy and childbirth 

• Guiding birthing person and their partner through labor with relaxation, breathing, movement and positioning techniques

• Helping explain medical procedures before or as they occur, facilitating communication with care providers

• Answer your questions about birth plans, home births and water births

Doulas provide advocacy support

• Asking the birthing person what they want, and unconditionally supporting their decision 

• Encouraging birthing person and their partner to ask questions, verbalize their preferences, and creating space to make unpressured decisions

• Amplifying the birthing person’s voice if she is being dismissed, ignored, or not heard by the care providers “Excuse me - I believe she is trying to say something, I’m not sure if you heard her…”

• “...supporting the birthing person in their right to make decisions about their own body and baby.” - www.evidencebasedbirth.com

During labor, a birth doula offers comfort measures like massage, breathing techniques, coping mechanisms, and position changes, along with emotional reassurance and advocacy for your birth preferences. Although we have influence over the course of labor, no one can predict or control how each one will unfold, so we show up for what arises, and meet our clients where they are in order to best support them. Wildwood’s Portland doulas work alongside your medical team to help create a calm, supportive environment that best aligns with your vision for birth.

Although our primary focus is on the birthing parent, a birth doula also provides guidance and support to partners, helping them feel confident and involved where they want to be in the birth process. We make sure that everyone in the room is supported physically (providing comfort, drinking water, having a snack, taking a rest), emotionally (normalizing the labor process, providing assurance and encouragement), and informationally (ensuring everyone is heard, seen, and understood as important decisions are made). We are the experts in birth, and your partner is the expert in knowing you, and together we collaborate to bring your baby earthside. Our Portland doula services are designed to nurture the entire family, ensuring everyone feels connected and prepared during labor.

A midwife is a medically trained professional focused on the health and safety of both the birthing person and the baby. A doula, on the other hand, provides non-medical support, filling in the gaps to provide truly holistic care – offering emotional, physical, and informational guidance. Your Portland doula complements the care provided by your midwife or healthcare team, helping to create a positive birth experience.

Yes to all of the above! Whether you’re planning a hospital birth, birth center experience, or home birth, our Portland doulas provide personalized support in any setting. We help you navigate the birth environment (even if where you actually give birth is not where you planned to) and ensure your preferences are honored. 

You can hire a Portland doula at any time during your pregnancy. Many families reach out in the second or third trimester, but some prefer earlier prenatal support. Contacting us early allows us to build a relationship and offer guidance tailored to your unique needs.

Yes! Unfortunately, up to 40% of birthing people describe their birth experience as traumatic. Doulas work on the frontline to actively decrease those statistics. Studies show that (among many other benefits), people who have a doula report their birth experience as traumatic 31% less than those who do not. Our Portland doulas are trained in trauma-informed care, ensuring your emotional and psychological well-being are prioritized throughout your experience. We work to create a safe, respectful, and empowering birth environment, reducing the likelihood of birth trauma.

Some insurance providers in Portland offer partial or full coverage for doula services. The best way to know for sure is to call your insurance company and see what your plan covers. By law, you can use your FSA/HSA account to pay for services. We happily provide a superbill with the breakdown of services and pricing so you can submit it to your insurance company for reimbursement. Also, check with your employer, because it is not uncommon for employee benefit packages to include doula support reimbursement.

Choosing a doula is a highly personal decision, and we encourage you to meet with a few to find the best fit for your family. At Wildwood Birth, we offer a free consultation with our Portland doulas so you can get to know us and see who aligns with your style, personality, and vision for your birth experience.

It’s easy to get started! Contact us through our website to schedule a free consultation with our matchmaker and/or one or several of our Portland doulas. We’ll discuss your needs, answer your questions, and start planning how we can best support you during this profound time.

We’re here to support you every step of the way, so please reach out with any additional questions about our doula services in Portland, Oregon!