How Many Postpartum Doula Hours Should I Book?
A Practical Guide For St. Louis / Metro East Families To Figuring Out What Kind of Support Your Family Actually Needs
Megan Crawford
Doula holding baby while parent rests
I get this question a lot. Like, a lot a lot. And why not? How is anyone supposed to know how many postpartum hours they will need if they’ve never had a baby before, never had a doula before, or both?
The short answer is: there’s no universal number. There are a lot of factors that go into deciding how many postpartum doula hours will benefit you most. Some families may feel well-supported with a few hours once or twice a week, some want several visits a week, some need overnight support. Some ask me if I can begin coming at night when baby is around 6 weeks old so that I can sleep train them (I can!).
The better question may be: What do you want your postpartum support hours to make easier?
Because postpartum doula care isn’t about meeting a certain number of hours. It’s about making sure your family has the support you need while you recover, get to know your baby, and figure out your new normal.
Some factors that might affect how many hours you need are:
difficult recovery from birth (and / or birth trauma)
whether you have older children or not
your partner’s work schedule
feeding challenges
multiples
limited family/community support
anxiety about newborn care
c-section recovery
sleep deprivation
mental health issues (depression/anxiety)
So how much support should you plan for?
Here are some starting points.
Light support: about 4-5 hours per week
This can be a great option for families who already have a good support system in their family or community and mostly want a little extra help. Maybe you have family nearby, your partner has a few weeks off of work, meals are covered, and you’re feeling pretty comfortable with newborn care.
But once a week, you’d really love to have someone come in and help you reset.
During a 4-5 hour postpartum visit, your doula might:
hold and care for your baby while you nap or shower
help with feeding questions
prepare a meal or snack
wash bottles and pump parts
fold some baby laundry
help you learn baby’s cues
talk through what’s normal in the newborn period
help you figure out baby wearing, swaddling, bathing, or other newborn-care skills
give you a chance to talk about how you’re doing
And for some families, that’s enough.
Moderate Support: about 8-15 hours per week
This might look like two or three visits throughout the week.
It can be especially helpful when you’re still figuring out feeding, recovering physically, juggling other children, or when your partner has returned to work.
Instead of reaching the end of the week thinking
How on earth are we supposed to keep doing this?
you have regular pockets of support built into your schedule.
For example:
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 4-5 hour support each. Times can vary depending on your schedule and when you need the most help.
That’s 12-15 hours a week where another capable adult is there specifically to help your household function and help you recover.
Those hours can add up to naps, showers, meals, clean bottles and pumping supplies, answered questions, calmer evenings, and a little breathing room. It can also mean someone to talk to who will listen, hold space, and support your feelings.
More Intensive Support: 20+ hours per week
Some families need - or want - more support.
There is nothing inherently better about struggling through the postpartum period with as little help as possible.
More frequent care might be helpful if:
you had a difficult birth or c-section
you’re having a physically challenging recovery
you have multiples
you have older children at home
your partner needs to return to work
you don’t have family nearby, or your support system isn’t as available as you had expected
feeding is taking a significant amount of time and energy
you’re feeling overwhelmed by newborn care
you simply want a more supported postpartum experience
Physical recovery after birth takes time, and recovery can take longer after a c-section birth. Fatigue and lack of support are also recognized concerns during the postpartum period.
You don’t need to meet a particular threshold of difficulty before you’re “allowed” to ask for more help!
What about overnight postpartum doula care?
Overnight postpartum doula caring for a newborn while parents sleep
Overnight support works a little differently because you’re booking a longer block of time rather than a short visit.
The goal is simple:
Help everyone get more sleep.
Depending on your baby’s feeding needs and family’s feeding choices, an overnight doula may handle diaper changes, soothing, burping, bottle feeding or bringing baby to you for feeds, putting baby back to sleep, washing bottles or pump parts.
They stay in the room with baby (or in another room with a baby monitor) and take care of baby duties while you get to sleep.
If you are considering overnight care, you might start with:
One night per week
Two or three nights per week
Several nights in a row during the earliest weeks
Many nights a week when sleep training
There isn’t one correct arrangement.
The CDC notes that newborn feeding schedules can make long stretches of uninterrupted parental sleep difficult, and ACOG includes sleep support as an important consideration in postpartum mental health and recovery.
Think about WHEN you need help, not just how much
Here’s something some families sometimes don’t realize until after baby arrives:
Four hours at the right time can be far more useful than eight hours at the wrong time!
Think about the parts of day you are most concerned about.
Maybe mornings are fine, but my 4pm everyone is exhausted, the older kiddos need dinner, baby wants to cluster feed, and the house suddenly feels like chaos. An afternoon visit might be perfect.
Maybe you’re doing fairly well during the day but desperately need sleep. Overnight care might be more valuable.
Maybe your partner works three 12-hour shifts per week. Scheduling support on those days might make more sense than spreading hours evenly throughout the week.
Maybe you are fine through most of the day, but the morning after such chopped up sleep is super hard. Or, maybe you have older kiddos that you need to feed and get ready for school in the mornings and baby is not loving it. Morning visits might be what you need.
Your postpartum plan should fit your actual life.
Ask yourself these questions
Who will actually be helping us? (NOT who has said “call me if you need anything!) Who is realistically going to show up, make lunch, wash dishes, hold baby, and give you a chance to sleep?
How long will my partner or support person be home? Your needs might change dramatically when they go back to work!
Do we have older children? A newborn doesn’t make your 3 year old stop needing snacks or your 8 year old stop needing help finding their shoes!
How comfortable are we with newborn care? If this is your first baby, you may want more hands-on education and reassurance.
What will feeding look like? Breastfeeding, pumping, formula feeding, combination feeding - every method comes with its own routines and learning curve.
How will we eat? Seriously. Who is making the food?
When will we sleep? This deserves an actual plan, not just “when the baby sleeps”.
Which part of the day are we most worried about? That’s often where your postpartum doula hours will be most useful.
Do I need to book all of my hours before baby comes?
Nope! But there are some advantages.
Postpartum doulas can only serve a certain number of families at a time. If you wait until you are exhausted and desperate for help, the doula you’d like to hire may not have immediate availability.
One option is to book a baseline amount of support ahead of time and then add hours later if availability allows.
For example, you might reserve two visits per week for the first four weeks, and discover that that’s perfect.
Or you might decide you really could use another visit or two.
Postpartum plans can change.
Babies have a way of doing that.
Need help building your postpartum plan?
At Metro East Birth and Baby our postpartum doulas provide practical, evidence-based, nonjudgemental support tailored to your family.
Whether you’d like a few hours of help each week, regular daytime support, and/or overnight care, we can help you think through what postpartum support might look like in your home.
You don’t have to know exactly what you’ll need before your baby gets here.
We can help you make a plan - and adjust it as your family’s needs change.
