The Benefits of Agency Support
Why would anyone looking for a doula choose a doula agency to support them? Well, I’m glad you asked! As we celebrate Doulas of Raleigh’s SIXTH birthday this month, I’ve done quite a bit of reflecting on the agency model of care. Our doula agency has grown by leaps and bounds and with it so has the number of families all over the Triangle that we have had the honor to support. I think those families chose us for a number of reasons and I’m here today to share them with you.
There’s Nothing Like a Team of Doulas to Support You
Doulas of Raleigh might have just started as a dream Heather and I shared, but boy has it grown! Today we are lucky to have a large team, dedicated to supporting our clients throughout Wake County and beyond. Good things happen when you have a team of doulas to support you!
When it comes to our labor clients, each Doulas of Raleigh client is paired with a birth team. That’s right - you get two doulas dedicated to you and your birth experience. By offering a shared call model, our clients get to develop a strong, personal relationship with two doulas that know them, their partners, and their birth preferences inside and out. These doulas then share an on-call schedule, so whenever you go into labor, you have one of your trusted doulas ready to be there for you. And in that very rare event when all the babies decide to come at once, our team of labor doulas never lets us down. If both of the doulas on your birth team are already attending births, Doulas of Raleigh has a fantastic back-up plan in place to make sure that another one of our excellent, vetted, and professional birth doulas will be there. With the systems we have in place, this birth doula will have already learned your birth preferences and been in touch with you to connect. You hire Doulas of Raleigh to be there when it counts and we take that responsibility seriously. We never leave a client without a doula on call for their birth.
We make sure our postpartum clients are equally supported. When it comes to postpartum doula support, we believe that building a personal, trusted relationship with one or two doulas is the best approach, so normally our clients are assigned one or two dedicated postpartum doulas. But life happens. So if your regular doula is sick, has a family emergency, will be out of town, or anything else, Doulas of Raleigh has a deep bench of postpartum doulas we can send in as a backup. Even when it comes to last minute snafus, we always try our hardest to find a replacement doula for you.
Consistent Quality of Care
We love having that team approach to supporting our clients. But it’s equally as important to make sure that team is consistent when it comes to quality of care. Another great benefit of using a doula agency, is that all the doulas on our team have been carefully selected, interviewed, vetted, and onboarded so that we can ensure a fantastic experience for our clients no matter who their doula is.
To join our team, our doulas have gone through a hiring and interviewing process to make sure that they will be a great fit on our team. We also require all of our doulas to have current CPR/First Aid certification and carry professional liability insurance. While we feel like our doula radar is really strong, we still background check anyone that joins our team, just to be extra cautious.
So if we do send a backup doula to you, you can trust that this doula is equally qualified, vetted, and reliable. You won’t find Doulas of Raleigh posting frantically in doula Facebook groups for last minute strangers to show up for our clients (yep, we see that happen and we’re just as mortified as you).
Professionalism Matters
Speaking to you as one of the owners of the agency, I can tell you that the highest level of professionalism truly matters to Heather and myself. Your birth and postpartum experience will be one of the biggest life-changing events you ever experience and we don’t take that lightly. When you become part of the Doulas of Raleigh family, we are dedicated to giving you the best possible support. Our communications with you will be prompt, respectful, and professional. We will go above and beyond to make sure that your experience with us meets (and hopefully exceeds) your expectations.
With Doulas of Raleigh, you have two professional doulas always working behind the scenes. Doulas normally work odd hours and apparently so do doula agency owners. Early mornings, late nights, and weekends, Heather and I here for our clients. That’s our promise to you.
The Special Doulas of Raleigh Approach
And there’s one more thing that makes Doulas of Raleigh stand out (in my humble opinion). That’s our philosophy to doula support. This agency was founded on the tenet that birthing families deserve true nonjudgmental support throughout pregnancy, labor, and postpartum. Doulas should never show up in a client’s space with bias, judgment, or their own agenda. That is not what doula support should ever look like. We’re here to reduce our clients fears and anxieties and build their strength and confidence. And we do that by always meeting you where you’re at, cheerleading you on, and supporting your choices - no matter what.