“Doula” is an ancient Greek word meaning “a woman who serves.” Learn more about the fascinating history of doulas.

You may choose from 4 Sanctuary Birth Doula Care packages.

#1 Sanctuary Birth Doula Care with 3 home visits – 2 prenatal & 1 postpartum
(recommended for first births and new clients)
$1,500

#2 Sanctuary Birth Doula Care with 2 home visits – 1 prenatal & 1 postpartum
(recommended for repeat clients or families having their 2nd or more baby)
$1,400

#3 Sanctuary Birth Doula Care with 1 home visit – prenatal or postpartum
(recommended for repeat clients or families having their 2nd or more baby)
$1,300

#4 Sanctuary Birth Doula Care with no home visits
(only for repeat clients)
$1,200

Half is payable as a retainer fee at time of hire and signed Birth Doula Care Agreement. The balance is due at 34 weeks of pregnancy or prenatal home visit. You may pay with cash, check, credit card or gift cards. You can easily enjoy the generosity of family and friends by directing them to easy online gift cards and adding doula care on your registry or wish list.

Birth doulas in and near Boulder County charge $500-$1,500+. Our fees are reflective of our 25+ years of experience, training and credentials as DONA International Certified Birth & Postpartum Doula, Certified Lactation Counselor®, Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Educator of Infant Massage with the back up support of some of Boulder County’s most experienced birth doulas at Birth Assistants of Boulder.

Sanctuary Doulas’ primary service area is within the 20-mile drive of Sanctuary Healing Arts LLC office at the Joy Collective, 2800 Folsom Avenue, Boulder, Colorado 80304. A $25 Travel Fee applies for each home visit within our secondary service area of a 20-30 mile drive of the Sanctuary Healing Arts LLC office. Before contacting us, please put our address 2800 Folsom Avenue, Boulder, Colorado 80304 and your home address into your favorite app to determine if you live in our service area. If you live outside our service area, visit our Resources for a referral to other postpartum doulas in your local area.

Pain is a perception that informs us how to respond and move. It’s valuable information that supports labor process and physiologic birth as Mother Nature intended. When a woman is fearful, her perception of pain is greater. Your birth doula helps you identify your fears prenatally then guides you to strategies that “cage those tigers.” Your birth doula also knows time honored comfort measures that help sooth discomfort and invite your body’s endorphins kick in even more. (Also see What is a Labor TENS Unit? below.) Mother and baby may just need one of the best interventions – patience! If and when labor is long and/or a mother’s pain moves from pain into suffering, pain medication is a very humane intervention to help the mother continue her labor and birth. With an epidural or other pain medication, the mother can continue to enjoy a doula’s presence, comfort measures and guidance. Birth doulas care for all mamas with compassion and non-judgment. It’s your birth!

It’s still a birthday party and calls for the same hands-on physical and emotional comfort measures! Whether your having a planned or unplanned Cesarean birth, your birth doula joins you at the hospital to help create a relaxing environment in your hospital room while you prepare with your medical care team. Massage, acupressure and aromatherapy are favorite comfort measures. Depending on your hospital’s operating room policy as well as your anesthesiologist and obstetrician’s preferences, your birth doula may or may not be permitted into the operating room and/or post-anesthesia recovery room to continue offering comfort measures and taking any keepsake photos you may want. Ask your physician about your hospital’s policy and ask for the support you want at your Cesarean birth. Learn and share more about Family Centered Cesarean Birth. A birth doula can also help spouses/partners with attending to the entire new family especially if mama and baby are not together immediately after the birth. A birth doula can be invaluable with the extra hands and hearts needed when multiples are welcomed into the world.

We are honored to work with the amazing, trusted doula back up support of the birth divas at Birth Assistants of Boulder. Calling upon a back up doula is rarely needed, but very important when it is needed! The doulas of Birth Assistants of Boulder are some of the most experienced birth professionals in Boulder County who know how to create that magic trust and rapport with families when called to “laborland.”

A birth doula focuses on the physical and emotional comfort and well being of mothers. This professional care is based on evidence-based practice and information that fosters mothers’ maximum self determination. Doulas provide continuous labor comfort measures in addition to other birth doula care, but no medical care. We love working alongside Certified Professional Midwifes/Registered Midwives and Certified Nurse Midwives. Doulas do not perform medical assessments such as blood pressure, temperature, pelvic examinations, fetal heart rate, or postpartum medical care that are lovingly provided by wonderful midwives.

Sometimes. Ask your insurance company if birth doula care is a covered benefit in your policy. We can provide a receipt to submit to your insurance or Flexible Spending Account. You may also pay for your doula care with a Health Savings Account credit card or check.

Acupressure is a Traditional Chinese Medicine technique base on the same theories as acupuncture. Acupressure uses the pressure of fingers, thumbs, hands and/or other taped seeds on specific points along interconnected channels that circulate the body’s vital energy or “chi.” Specific acupressure points may be stimulated in labor for a desired therapeutic effect – relaxation, strength, nausea reduction, fetal descent, etc.

TENS is an acronym for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation, and there are TENS units designed for effective pain relief in labor. By using this handheld battery-operated device, mild electrical impulses are transmitted through the skin to stimulate nerve fibers. TENS is a safe, non-pharmacological method of pain control in labor and especially back pain. I have completed DONA International’s TENS Training course and am approved to assist mothers in using Labor TENS units. For more information on labor TENS units, go the Labor TENS Consent Form.

We recommend a phone and/or in-person interview as a next step to confirm that we’re the best birth doulas for you. Imagine that we’re going on a labor and birth vacation together and will be together in close quarters! It’s best to know us before you pack us in your suitcase for this wonderful labor and birth trip! Schedule a doula interview.

Our Sanctuary Birth Doula Care Agreement is completed online and outlines our services, scope of practice, online resources, communication, confidentiality, fees, payments, home visit scheduling, cancellation policy, duration of agreement, limitation of liability and termination. Upon completion, you receive an emailed copy for your records.