I offer 2 different labor support packages: a doula package and a monitrice package.
Fees vary based on services offered.
Please see below for complete descriptions of each package.
Fees vary based on services offered.
Please see below for complete descriptions of each package.
What's a monitrice?
A monitrice is a birth professional who blends doula support with midwifery expertise. As a monitrice I provide all the emotional, physical, and informational support of a labor doula, but I also provide clinical labor assessment at home, monitoring your vital signs, listening to baby's heartbeat, and performing cervical checks as requested to evaluate labor progress. Monitrice support is beneficial for anyone planning a hospital birth who would like to labor at home for as long as possible without worrying about getting to the hospital too early or too late! In particular, first time parents, those planning a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean), and those healing from prior birth-related trauma will benefit from the extra reassurance and skill a monitrice provides. Once at the hospital I will continue to provide doula support while all clinical assessments shift to your hospital-based providers. Monitrice support can also be a valuable add-on for home birth clients who desire skilled support earlier in labor.
Doula Package includes:
- One free 30-minute consultation so you can ask me any questions and determine if my services are right for you.
- Two prenatal visits. At these visits we'll get to know each other, discuss your birth preferences, feelings about your prior birth experiences, and any important history. We'll also discuss and practice labor coping techniques, positions for birth, and partner support. We'll have plenty of time to address any questions you may have concerning your pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
- Enrollment in my Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Classes if desired.
- Non-labor phone, email, and text support throughout your pregnancy during office hours (9-5 M-F). Call or text with any questions and concerns. I will usually get back to you within the hour.
- 24/7 on-call from 37 weeks until your birth.
- Continuous support during labor. We'll be in contact once your labor starts, and I will arrive at your home whenever you're ready for me. Support at home includes:
- Natural labor coping techniques:
- massage
- counter pressure
- hydrotherapy
- use of birth ball and rebozo
- homeopathy
- aromatherapy
- TENS unit
- breathing and visualization exercises
- Optimal positioning techniques
- Emotional support, affirmation, and reassurance
- Natural labor coping techniques:
- When it's time to head to your planned place of birth I'll accompany you there and continue providing all the above support plus:
- Advocacy - helping you communicate effectively with your care providers and ensure that you are seen and heard
- Full informed choice and unbiased information regarding all your options - as a midwife and childbirth educator I can contribute my knowledge and experience to support your autonomy in any situation that may arise
- Lactation support
- help with initiation of breastfeeding or chestfeeding immediately following birth - I'll help you with positioning and teach you how to identify a good latch so you can be sure your baby is feeding well.
- One or two postpartum visits - we'll discuss your birth experience, address any postpartum questions or concerns you may have, and I'll provide resources and referrals as needed
Investment: $2750
Monitrice Package includes:
All of the above PLUS:
- Prenatal visits also include checking your vital signs, listening to baby's heart beat, checking baby's position, and belly mapping!
- During labor - monitrice services in your home:
- Intermittent auscultation of fetal heart rate with a hand-held Doppler.
- Monitoring vitals of the birthing person (blood pressure, temperature, pulse).
- Cervical checks as requested to determine progress.
- Depending on your planned place of birth, my role will shift from monitrice to doula once you are in the care of your birth provider. I will continue to provide doula support as outlined above throughout the remainder of your labor, your birth, and your immediate postpartum.
- On-call for breastfeeding or chestfeeding questions and support during office hours (9-5 M-F) through 6 weeks postpartum.
- Postpartum visits include vitals checks and additional lactation support as needed.
Investment: $3500
It makes sense to me that the act of birthing a child demands so much of our physical and emotional strength, that the process is so intense and so all-encompassing. Birth itself is preparation. For the acute surges of labor give way sure enough to the protracted surges of parenthood, measured no longer in minutes but in years and decades to form the rhythm of our very lives. We shape our hearts around our toddlers and teens as devotedly as the uterus shapes itself around the unborn fetus, and we are forevermore engaged in the dialogue of creation.
-Holly Graff, LM, CPM
-Holly Graff, LM, CPM
