Doulas, Nannies, Night Nurses & More

Many kinds of support are available to help the new family with their baby. It’s important to be sure you understand who does what!

Doula: Our doulas are “postpartum” doulas who support the mother, father, baby and extended family during the first three months of the baby’s new life with them. (There are also “birth doulas” who attend the laboring mother during delivery.)

Baby nurse: This person is trained to care for an infant and can be either a trained nurse or a layperson with experience with babies. Typically they provide only baby care and do not offer baby care education or mother care, nor are they trained to help with breastfeeding or other special needs of the mother.

Nanny: This person is trained to care for young children and may have some experience with newborns, but will not be able to offer trained help with special newborn baby issues.

Night Nanny: This person is much like the baby nurse, in that she provides overnight care for a baby while the parents sleep. She is usually not trained to provide any other kind of support to the mother or family other than overnight baby sitting. Sometimes this person will have nanny training or simply experience with her own children or some other training in child care. Her services are most helpful for babies who have passed through the newborn stage, after about 3-4 months.

Mother’s helper: This person is generally available to provide housework help and childcare for older children during the postpartum period.

A postpartum doula/newborn care specialist provides all the support offered by any of these, plus many more services.

For more information on postpartum doulas and their role in serving you, please visit the CAPPA or DONA website by clicking on their logo on our home page.