One of our recent new moms said that she originally struggled to find postpartum support. She mentioned that she was doing Google searches for Des Moines Night Nurse and couldn’t find anyone that first that description. This new mom said she was excited to find us and suggested we find a way to market “night nurses”.
Here’s where that gets a bit tricky…
We cannot legally call ourselves “night nurses” because we are not licensed medical nurses in Iowa. Nurses are able to perform medical care in addition to/instead of postpartum care. As postpartum doulas, we do not offer any medical care to our families. However, what many people think of when they hear night nurse is someone who comes in overnight to care for the new baby and family. We absolutely do that!
For more details on our Professional Scope of Practice as set by Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association, visit here. All of our doulas follow this Scope of Practice.
What does Overnight Postpartum Doula support look like?
Each family is very different in terms of what the nights look like. Most often, the parents will have their postpartum doula(s) care for the baby (or twins), in the living room/nursery area. This means the parents get a chance to catch up on sleep while they know their baby is receiving professional, loving care with their doula.
During this time, the doula will often provide the diaper changes, soothing, burping, and snuggling. If your baby is being fed with bottles, the doulas can provide the overnight feedings for baby too. Our doulas are also happy to help with some light household organization during the night with tasks like folding baby laundry or getting muffins made for breakfast.
Some families have us come in a few nights a week while others have us there 5-7 nights a week. Some families want support for the first few weeks while others want months of support. We are happy to help you figure out how much support you might need.
What if I’m breastfeeding?
This is a very common question! Depending on your feeding arrangements and frequency, your doula may bring baby into your bedroom so you can breastfeed your baby, or sometimes new moms will come to the nursery/living room for the feeding. Whatever your preference, the doula is there to help with the post-feeding tasks like burping, diaper changes, swaddling, rocking, etc. so you can head back to sleep.
If you’re pumping breastmilk for baby overnight, you and your doula will work on arrangements including milk storage, pump part cleaning/sterilizing, etc.
When Should We Hire Our Postpartum Doula?
We encourage families to reserve their postpartum doula support as soon as possible in the pregnancy so that you can have the best availability options. However, if baby is already here and you need some overnight help, let us know! We can often work something out if you’re needing some last-minute care.
Next Steps
While we can’t provide you with a night nurse, we would love to be your postpartum doulas! If you’d like to know more about support, send us a message! Our team at The Iowa Baby Ladies offers free consultations and we have a Welcome Packet with lots of details about support, fees, hours, etc. that we will send to you too. You can visit our postpartum support page to see more details and request a consultation.
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