The Essential Qualities of a Successful Postpartum Doula

I have lived and breathed doula work for years. And since 2017, I have trained postpartum doulas. With all of this experience, I have a keen sense of the qualities that make a postpartum doula successful. These qualities fit into a range of categories! There is not just one “type” of person that makes a great doula. However, there are some key attributes that contribute to both the doula and the families they serve feeling satisfied.

This blog explores practical, character, and communication traits because doulas need well-rounded skills in order to meet the needs of growing families.

Practical Traits

• Organized– It’s important to be organized such that you can keep your schedule and client paperwork in order. Each doula needs to find a system that works for them whether it’s digital or on paper. Additionally, this skill helps you support families in building out routines, systems, and strategies for staying as organized as possible in the early postpartum days.

• Prompt– Parents are counting on your presence. Showing up on time gives parents a sense of stability during a time of so much change and transition. 

• Confident AND humble– Postpartum doulas do a lot of modeling for parenting. When they show up with confidence, parents feel that and can also absorb some of that. Doulas must also be humble, though, allowing themselves the grace of not knowing it all and staying open to learning with each new baby and each new family.

Character Traits

• Nurturing– Postpartum doula work involves a lot of tending. This ranges from tending to newborn care, to a recovering birthing person, to a family that may be grieving, to offering support to grandparents or other extended family. Families seek and need someone who is nurturing and caring to help them navigate the ups and downs of postpartum. 

• Patient– The work can be vastly different each care shift. Perhaps one night baby sleeps several hours and the next they need lots of holding and soothing. One day the parent needs a lot of space to process, while the next they want space and quiet. Patience helps a doula move slowly, perceptively, and with care, so that they can best meet their clients’ needs on any given day.

• Compassionate– While you may not relate to each situation, experience, or feeling a client is going through, a doula can offer a compassionate place for them to land. Nonjudgmental listening and space-holding is validating for parents as they navigate the complexities of their postpartum period. 

• Flexible– As mentioned above under “patient”, this work can be quite diverse. Newborns essentially demand flexibility. Flexibility allows a doula to navigate different needs each shift. It also allows them to think creatively to work through problem-solving alongside the families they are supporting.

Communication Traits

• Kind AND direct– Kind communication helps growing families to feel seen, heard, and respected. This is invaluable! It is also important to communicate in direct and concise ways. The postpartum period can be a time of information overload. Doulas can be supportive by communicating in kind and clear ways. It’s important to offer feedback or suggestions during moments of connection. 

• Proactive– If or when there is a schedule conflict (such as a birth or illness), it’s key that doulas communicate as early as possible. Being proactive means having backup plans (as much as possible) and sharing these in advance with all parties involved. Running a business takes lots of effort and energy, and being proactive about policies, contracts, and rates helps to make both the doula and the families they serve feel well cared for.

• Boundaried– Caregiving work requires a lot– mentally, emotionally, and physically. Thus, doulas need to establish boundaries. Being boundaried means a lot of different things from understanding what your scope is, to being clear about your capacity, to understanding where your client ends and you begin (aka not becoming enmeshed with them), to having clear expectations with your family and friends about what your work means to you.

Join Us for Postpartum Doula Training

ABG offers both online (self-paced) and occasional IRL trainings for folks who are interested in becoming postpartum doulas. We’d love to be a part of your journey in offering crucial care to postpartum families. Learn more and sign up here!

*Photo by Antoni Shkraba on Pexels