Doulas...

  • Are trained professionals.
  • Provide emotional, physical, and informational support to a person during their pregnancy, the birth of their child or children, and just after the birth.
  • Do not perform clinical tasks, like fetal heart tone assessment or cervical examinations.
  • Provide support that can result in lower rates of medical interventions during labor including assisted deliveries and cesarean births.
  • Provide support that can result in parents feeling more bonded with their newborns.
  • Provide support that can result in a baby breastfeeding longer and more exclusively.

Doulas with Welcome Home Midwifery Services...

  • Offer doula services billed on an income-based sliding scale, with volunteer services available for qualifying families.
  • Complete a minimum training requirement including classroom learning and hands-on training prior to attending births that exceeds most doula trainings, and emphasizes providing culturally humble and accessible doula care to families in Sacramento and San Joaquin counties.
  • Provide evidence-based support with standardized organization-wide practice guidelines, experienced mentorship and oversight, and quality improvement measures ensuring excellent care.
  • Are experienced and comfortable with births in all hospitals in the greater Sacramento region, most medical practices, and several home birth midwives.
  • Work in pairs, allowing your family to have the support of 2 trained doulas at each birth, and minimizing the risk of having a backup doula you do not know attending your birth.
  • Participate in monthly confidential peer reviews with a network of several disciplines including midwifery, lactation, and social work, providing clients with the best possible resources for their doula care.
  • Offer full continuity of care to all clients, including online and phone support, 2 prenatal home visits, on-call services for labor and birth, and 2 postpartum home visits.
  • Believe that doula care during childbirth is a basic human right, and work to emphasize improving access to doula care for low-income families.