Birth Doula Services

 A doula is a support person that attends to the needs of pregnant individuals and their partners throughout pregnancy and labor and delivery. A doula provides a ton of information including, but not limited to, healthy choices in pregnancy, risk/benefits to choices about labor/delivery, pain management techniques, and more. Typically, a doula will also arrive to support the family during active labor and stay for an hour or two after to help with early breastfeeding, ensure the parents have time to recuperate and bond with baby, and more. Statistically, families that have the constant presence of a doula undergo less intervention. Anecdotally, they also feel more empowered in their decisions, and report a more satisfying birth experience overall.

Why Syla Parenthood Project? Typically, doulas will meet with their clients once or twice prior to attending the birth. Many provide text support during the course of the pregnancy as well. In our experience, two quick 30 minute or hour-long meetings are not enough to truly understand the goals and needs of the family, especially in a first-time birth. SPP finds it important to build a true connection with the family, provide resources and information, and really ensure that the family’s needs and goals are understood. Because of this, our doula package includes:

  • ONE 30-minute coffee date (free of charge) to make sure that our personalities mesh and that we’re a good fit

  • THREE in-home (or another location of your choice) hour-long meetings of the following:

  • First: providing resources and information about pregnancy, birth, childbirth education, lactation, and more

  • Second: reviewing your pregnancy, how you’re feeling, questions you may have, research you’ve done, etc.

  • Third: making your birth plan!

  • COMMUNICATION: Constant availability over text to answer questions (If you’d like a phone call, just let us know!) and monthly virtual check-ins.

  • BIRTH PLAN: Yep! You get to keep it! It’s YOUR birth plan of course! (We’ll e-mail an editable copy in case you change your mind on something after we chat)

  • EARLY LABOR SUPPORT: Early labor can be LONG, so we will be available over phone/Facetime to help with any questions!

  • ACTIVE LABOR SUPPORT: Call us and we’ll be there! We’ve got your water, a birth sling, counter pressure, music, supportive language, whatever you need. We service every major hospital, birth center, and home within an hour of Cleveland.

  • POSTPARTUM SUPPORT: We will be there (quietly) while you enjoy golden hour with your baby (unless you want us to skedaddle). We’ll make sure you’ve got water, a plan for food, any pain addressed, and we’ll see if baby wants to latch (if you choose to breastfeed that is!)

  • EVEN MORE POSTPARTUM SUPPORT: For the first two weeks after baby makes debut, if you’ve got any questions, text us PLEASE! We are here for you. Also, we will stop by for another one-hour visit during this time! We can play with older kids, hold the baby while you shower, do your dishes, cook you a meal, or whatever else you need.

    After the two-week period, we will not leave you hanging! We just have to move you over to parent coaching because our jobs as doulas will have come to a bittersweet end.

Cost: The cost for the full doula package is $750 and includes all of the above services.

*If the cost is prohibitive, please reach out anyways. We believe that everyone deserves support and will work with you on a payment plan option. We also limit ourselves to just a few births per month to ensure we can provide everyone with the services above. Infrequently, on low-birth months, we have the capacity to take on a pro-bono client (this is not common, but we have done it in the past).

Parent Coaching

A parent coach is a support person that works with parents at any point in their parenthood journey. At Syla Parenthood Project, these typically become long-term relationships (some that start as early as doula clients!). Parent coaches are there to listen, understand the challenges your family may be facing, and provide insight, services, and thoughtful questions to help you address what you might be struggling with, head-on. Because we are parent coaches and not counselors (yet! We’re working on that service, as well!), we will be more than happy to refer you to a specialist if we feel like we are unequipped to support you.

Why Syla Parenthood Project? In Ohio, and across the US, there is a serious shortage of mental health support. There is an even more serious shortage of parenting support! That is why we decided to specifically focus on parent coaching. We all have (multiple) children of our own and a preliminary background in psychology, mental health, and lifespan development. This means that not only do we have the skills and passion to work with you, but we have also studied children, how they develop, and how we can best support that growth. Because we are coaches and not counselors, our services are much more affordable. Private Marriage and Family Therapists and/or Licensed Professional Counselors can run $150-$200/hour out of pocket. In-network counselors typically see all types of patients and do not specialize on the populations they treat.

SPP has the freedom to specialize because we’re a private organization without the price tag. If you want to talk about the challenges you’re facing with your toddler; if you’ve had a death in the family and are unsure how to talk to your child about it; if you’re thinking about homeschooling but know no one else who has and just want to spit ideas at the wall, we are here to talk through it all with you. Nothing is too small. We also DO know our own limits and care about YOU and YOUR well-being over anything else, so if you do happen to need more professional support, we’ve got a network we can refer you to… and then we’ll look forward to seeing you again!

Cost: $35/Hour

If you’re wondering about the structure, we are here for YOU. We can meet weekly, monthly, or on an ad-hoc basis whenever you need. If something comes up, we’ve got you - even if that’s just a single session. If you decide you like having someone to talk with and connect with, we are more than happy to set up a recurring session.