Doula Recommendations - Saint Paul,MN

We used Jessie Weber (Home: ###-###-####, Pager: ###-###-####) as our doula two years ago and really liked her. I think she lives in the northern suburbs of St. Paul, but she goes everywhere. I, too, delivered at Fairview Riverside. At that time, her rate was $700.

She was a referral from one of my husband's coworkers, but I also looked around online. I ended up emailing four or five, calling about three and had a few basic questions prepared to ask about their rates, availability, and their approach/style, but really was looking for them to lead the conversation too since I didn't know much about interviewing doulas. I believe the website I found some names on was the Childbirth Cooperative in Edina??

Anyway, Jessie has assisted with over 1000 deliveries, is very easy to talk to, has no pre-conceived notions about how your birth experience should go, meaning she really listens and wants to make sure you have the birth experience you want (to the extent possible) without judging your preferences. She was a great resource in helping form our birth plan and had many examples to let us look through when writing ours. She has four kids of her own and her own births covered the spectrum from medicated to natural so she can share those experiences as well. She met with us twice before the birth and for the actual birth she just ended up meeting us at the hospital because my labor ramped up very quickly so I didn't labor long at home. A few days after we got home from the hospital, she came over to check in as well.

Hope that helps. Good luck with your search!

The Childbirth Collective has a lot of information and references. My mom is a doula and was wonderful!!!! I highly recommend doulas!
Good luck :)

My biggest suggestion is to interview and make sure you just click with the person. My doula experience was negative because I didn't trust my gut when I started to think the two of us wouldn't get along. We ended up asking her to leave the room while I was in labor.

You might ask the doula how she determines her "tool kit" for a particular labor. Will she get to know you and know what you like? Does she have techniques she uses every time? How does she see her role in the birth? How many births has she attended? Does she work at a variety of hospitals or just one?

Our problems came about because I felt the doula just wasn't listening. She had a lengthy questionnaire about what my preferences were, and then it felt like she just ignored everything I wrote and went back to her favorite techniques.

My experience isn't the norm - I still recommend doulas for other people. You just have to make sure it's a good match. Labor is the absolute worst time to be annoyed with someone!

I just had Lindsay McCoy. Her website is elleosbirth.com and she also teaches prenatal yoga at Blooma and I think has a profile on their staff page too. She was AWESOME!! I honestly don't know what I would have done without her and will definitely have her again at my next birth someday. She's training to be a Hypnobabies instructor too, which I think is a plus. I found her through my midwife, who recommended her to me.

I would also recommend the Childbirth Collective, there are many wonderful women on there. You can also look at the DONA site, there you can narrow your search by major metro area, and by birth and postnatal doulas. There are many that do both. Also, ask your midwife if she has any recomendations.

When I was searching for one for my 2nd birth, I found some very experienced that were around $700, and some just going for their certification who were free or very low prices <$100. If you have a barterable service, maybe that can help as well.

Hi A.,
I really suggest you go to the Childbirth Collective "Parent Topic Night" that are held in the Twin Cities. They meet in St. Paul and Minneapolis. Their website is www.childbirthcollective.org This site also has s listing of their members, many of them doulas. I like that site because the doulas are able to list more than just their contact info. You can read a little bit about them and their experience.

The parent topic nights are held weekly on various topics and are usually run by doulas with a lot of doulas in attendance. The fees for a birth doula can really vary, but I would say fees start in about the $500 range and go up from there. I think I paid that about 4 years ago for a douila who was working on her certification. That includes 2 prenatal meetings, the labor/delivery, and a meeting after the baby is born.
I am a doula working on my certification, and I do not charge a fee to my clients because I'm trying to gain experience. I'm sure you will find doulas like that if you are willing to find someone who is not yet certified. Best of luck to you!