Using Benefits for Doula Care
If your employer offers benefits that cover doula support. Congratulations! We’re so glad that doula support is becoming more prevalent and accessible via programs like Carrot Fertility, Progyny, and Maven. Although these benefits providers are new, doula support dates back to ancient times and has a rich and vibrant landscape in modern life. Whether having a doula has long been a part of your vision or you're just beginning to explore what doula care entails, we’re here to break down the unique role doulas play and how to make the most of their support while maximizing your available benefits.
Fertility Benefits Providers
In addition to traditional health insurance, many employers offer fertility benefits through programs like Carrot Fertility, Progyny, or Maven. These act similarly to out-of-network reimbursements, covering qualified services such as IUI, IVF, egg and sperm freezing, surrogacy, adoption, and doula support. Coverage varies based on your employer’s plan, so we recommend reaching out to your company’s ERG officer or HR representative to better understand what benefits you may be eligible for.
Carrot Fertility
Carrot Fertility is an employer-sponsored program that helps individuals and families access fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum support. Carrot Fertility was founded in 2016 but has gained increased popularity in recent years. They cover a wide variety of reproductive health, hormonal health, and childcare related services, including birth doulas, daytime postpartum doulas, and overnight postpartum doulas. Over ⅔ of Baby Caravan’s 90+ doulas are eligible for reimbursement through Carrot Fertility with direct experience working with Carrot families in the past.
Progyny
Progyny is another employer-sponsored fertility and family-building benefit that provides coverage for various reproductive and hormonal health services. Some plans may include coverage for doula services as part of pregnancy or postpartum care, and most doulas who qualify for Carrot Fertility also qualify for reimbursement through Progyny.
Maven
Maven is the newest employer-sponsored fertility and family-building benefit provider on the market. They offer a variety of services aimed to support reproductive health, including reimbursement for doula services through Maven Wallet. Maven’s requirements for doulas are similar to Carrot Fertility and Progyny, which many of Baby Caravan’s doulas have experience working with.
So…What Is A Doula?
As these fertility benefits programs become more prevalent, more people are learning about doulas for the first time ever and we love it! Maybe you’ve always dreamt of having a doula by your side and are excited for the accessibility. Maybe you’ve only recently learned about doula support and are curious to learn more about how they help new parents. Regardless of where you fall, keep reading to learn more about the unique role of a doula and what you can expect when working with a doula during pregnancy, labor, and postpartum.
Birth Doulas
A birth doula is a trained professional who offers physical, emotional, informational, and, sometimes, spiritual support, to people during pregnancy, labor, and birth. Birth doulas get to know you during your pregnancy throughout 2-4 prenatal sessions aimed to help you prepare for birth and postpartum by:
Educating you on your options during labor & delivery
Sharing evidence-based and culturally-aware information
Providing basic childbirth & comfort measure education
Creating postpartum recovery plans
Guiding you on infant feeding options
Connecting you with resources and relevant providers for pregnancy and postpartum
Doulas are on call 24/7 starting around 37-38 weeks of pregnancy and provide practical, hands-on support during labor and delivery. Your doula will join you at home and/or your birth location and remain at your labor through delivery and will typically stay for 1-2 hours postpartum. Birth doulas also offer 1-2 postpartum visits lasting 2-4 hours to be used typically within the first 2 weeks after birth. Your doula is there to help you process your birth, support with basic lactation challenges, assist with physical healing, provide newborn care education, and make sure you are set up for success in postpartum. Every birth doula’s package varies slightly, and you can learn about each doula’s unique offerings in your interviews.
Birth doulas charge a flat fee, with some offering a la carte add ons for additional postpartum or lactation support sessions, when applicable. This flat fee covers the entire birth package including the guaranteed 4-5 weeks of 24/7 on-call support. There are no add-on charges for longer labors nor discounts for shorter labors or labors that result in unplanned c-sections. Birth doulas are trained to support cesarean birth and recovery and can discuss a plan with you if you need or desire a c-section.
For those who have partners or loved ones who plan to be present at the birth, doulas are not there to replace them, but rather work collaboratively with your whole support team to ensure that you feel safe, seen, and supported throughout your whole pregnancy, labor, and birth. If you’re ready to get matched with a birth doula, click here to fill out our intake form. If you are also interested in postpartum support, keep reading!
Daytime Postpartum Doulas
A daytime postpartum doula is a trained professional who offers physical, emotional, educational, and, sometimes, spiritual support for parents during the first several weeks postpartum. Postpartum doulas often come on board your support team during pregnancy and meet with you to create a postpartum plan that prioritizes:
Physical and emotional recovery for the mother / birthing parent
Infant feeding and lactation support
Newborn care and education
Parental rest and protected sleep
Parent-baby bonding
In addition to support around post-birth recovery and infant care, postpartum doulas may assist with light household tasks such as cleaning bottle & pump parts, laundry & folding, and meal & snack prep to offer you more time and space to bond with your baby and catch up on sleep. Postpartum doulas can be a great addition to your household even if you have support from family & friends or existing childcare for older children and know how to integrate smoothly into your unique household and family dynamic. More than anything, postpartum doulas are there to increase your confidence as a parent so you feel equipped to care for your baby once your time with your doula has come to a close.
Daytime postpartum doulas typically work in 3-4 hour sessions for a maximum of 2-3 days per week. Doulas cap their availability for a number of reasons including: working with more than one client during a given period, having time for administrative work (creating care plans, prenatal appointments, consults, etc), needing time at home with their own families, and ensuring they are getting enough rest in between sessions. If you are seeking 4 or more days of support each week for an extended period of 4+ weeks, we highly encourage you to work with more than one postpartum doula to ensure that you are getting the support coverage you need. If you’re worried about weird vibes between your doulas, don’t be! Doulas (especially our doulas at Baby Caravan) love working in partnership with each other and will be in contact during the duration of your contract to ensure continuity of care.
If you’re ready to start building your postpartum dream team, click here to submit an intake form, and we’ll get to work on finding you doulas available for your due date.
Overnight Postpartum Doulas
An overnight postpartum doula is a trained professional who offers physical, emotional, educational, and, sometimes, spiritual support at night for parents during the first several weeks postpartum. Overnight postpartum doulas offer a variety of hands-on support including:
Physical and emotional recovery for the mother / birthing parent
Overnight infant feeding, bringing baby to mother / lactating parent in bed
Protected sleep for parents, soothing baby so parents get more rest
Newborn care and sleep education
Parent-baby bonding
While an overnight postpartum doula aims to help parents get more rest at night, the primary role of an overnight doula is to help parents find a sustainable rhythm at night during the first few weeks postpartum. They are not there to replace the vital presence of a parent and are a valuable resource to help you learn your baby’s unique cues and needs. Overnight doulas help to make sure you feel reassured in your ability to care for your baby and can provide additional resources and referrals on infant sleep beyond the first few weeks postpartum.
Overnight postpartum doulas typically work in shifts of 10-12 hours, usually starting between 8-10 pm. Most overnight doulas cap their availability at 2-3 nights per week. Doulas do this for a number of reasons including: working with more than one client during a given period, needing time at home with their own families, and ensuring they are getting enough rest in between sessions. If you are seeking 4 or more nights of support each week, we highly encourage you to work with more than one overnight doula to ensure that you are getting the support coverage you need. If you’re worried about weird vibes between your doulas, don’t be! Doulas (especially our doulas at Baby Caravan) love working in partnership with each other and will be in contact during the duration of your contract to ensure continuity of care.
If you’re ready to start building your postpartum dream team, click here to submit an intake form, and we’ll get to work on finding you doulas available for your due date.
Okay, now that we’ve covered the basics on how doulas help, let’s talk about how to claim your benefits!
How Benefit Reimbursement Works
Clarify Coverage
First, it’s important to get a clear understanding of your coverage. Different plans may cover different services and the amount you’re entitled to may also vary. Contact your company’s ERG officer or HR representative and ask for a breakdown of your benefits with Carrot, Progyny, or Maven.
Contact Baby Caravan & Choose Your Doula
Once you confirm that your plan covers doula services and the amount you’re entitled to, submit an intake form with us and we’ll get to work on finding you available doulas who are eligible to work with your benefits provider. We’ll send you a list of available doulas and also introduce you to 3-5 top matches based on the criteria you shared in your intake form. From there, the doulas will be in touch with you to schedule complimentary Meet and Greets so you can narrow down your search.
Verify Doula Eligibility
Once you decide on the doula(s) you want to work with, your doula(s) will need to verify (or re-verify) their eligibility with your benefits providers. Carrot, Progyny, and Maven all have slightly different processes on verifying doula eligibility, and these processes are updated frequently. It may take a few days or weeks for your benefits provider to confirm that your doula can be reimbursed, but if they have been approved in the past it is more than likely that they will be approved again.
Compensate Your Doula, Get Reimbursed
After you’ve confirmed that your doula can accept benefits, you are then responsible for paying the contract deposit and remaining cost of services upfront. For birth and pre-set postpartum packages, this deposit is typically 50% of the total cost of services with the remaining 50% due around 36 weeks. For ongoing postpartum packages, talk to your doula about how deposits and payments are handled. Once services have been carried out, your doula will submit an itemized invoice to your benefits provider. They will review the invoice to ensure that the services provided are within the scope of doula support and then reimburse you for the total cost of services.
Ready to Build Your Doula Dream Team?
Now that you’re up to speed on the different fertility benefits programs, how doulas support during pregnancy and postpartum, and how to claim your benefits, we’d love to help you find one or more doulas to support you! Whenever you’re ready, please click here to fill out this intake form with your information, and we’ll get to work on getting you a list of available doulas for you.