A few doula questions

[~V&M~]

Hi, after reading and hearing numerous raving reviews about doulas I'm seriously considering having a doula at the birth of our first child in February.

I'm just wondering when the best time is to book a doula and generally what their fees are. Is their fee claimable on private health insurance or medicare? If not, how you go about finding one in training if all the costs of a baby start adding up :eek:

Thanks :D

[annsam]

Hi there,

Congratulations on your up coming birth. You can book a doula at anytime but the more notice the better as you have time to get to know them if you do it earlier.

Fees can range anywhere from about $500 - $1000 but you usually find that what you get for the difference in the way of experience, visits and materials is quite different from one end of the scale to the other so it is good to look around.

Not claimable but if you find a doula who does massage or accupuncture or something like that - those components are often claimable.

If you go to www.childbirthinternational.com or www.optimumbirth.com.au you can usually find a good array of doulas and students. Bub hub has a resoursces page with has doulas on it too as do other large baby sites.

Best of luck.