Doula Services

Doula Services and Rates

  • Labor Doula Services include the birth and one prenatal visit: $500.00
  • Daytime Postpartum Doula Services: $26.00 per hour
  • Overnight Postpartum Doula Services: $28.00 per hour
  • Sliding Scale Available   

Michelle as a Doula
Please check out Michelle's Blog at www.HonestFamily.blogspot.com for more information and parenting support.


As a CAPPA trained and certified Postpartum Doula (CPD), I have been working with families as a Postpartum Doula for 5 years and recently expanded my practice to serving women as a Labor Doula. As a Postpartum Doula, my mission is to help ease the transition into parenthood by providing various forms of support. Different ways I can support your family, include working overnight shifts to help you get much needed rest, breastfeeding instruction and troubleshooting when issues arise, provide basic infant care instruction including how to give baths, cut nails, and get out of the house with infant, provide tips on feeding concerns, and assist with teaching babies to sleep through the night. 


As a Labor Doula, my role is to work with you and your partner to help you have the type of birth experience you are looking for. Labor Doula services include a minimum of one prenatal visit to discuss or create your birth plan and to provide an opportunity for us to discuss your concerns. This prenatal visit also allows an opportunity for me to share how I can help your during your labor, which includes ways to manage labor pains, involve father in birth, and advocate for your wishes with the hospital staff.   


Please send me an email through the Contact Us section to set up your Free initial consultation, where we can discuss your needs and ways I can help you meet your goals. 


Michelle Chrastil, MA, CPD (CAPPA), TCPD (CAPPA Faculty)


For more information on certification requirements please visit Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association (CAPPA) at www.cappa.net


History of a Doula


In Ancient Greek households, a doula provided the highest level of service to the woman of the house during childbirth and childrearing.


Modern Doulas


Birth doulas are trained and experienced labor support persons who attend to the emotional and physical comfort needs of laboring women to smooth the labor process. They do not, however, perform clinical tasks such as heart rate checks, or exams but rather use techniques such as massage, aromatherapy and positioning suggestions to help labor progress as well as possible. A birth doula joins a laboring woman either at her home, in the hospital or at a birth center and remains with her until a few hours after the birth. Most doulas also offer several prenatal visits, phone support, and postpartum meetings to ensure the mother is well informed and supported.


A postpartum doula is a trained professional who provides non-medical in-home support and education.   Doulas are personalized resource guides for the postpartum family, providing immediate hands-on support and relief.  A doula does not come into the home with an agenda.  Instead, the doula assists each individual family in exploring and meeting their unique goals and needs.

Specific Types of Support Can Include:

  • Labor support
  • Postpartum Depression Resources, Prevention Strategies & Coping Skills
  • Modeling General Newborn or Infant Care Techniques
  • Feeding & Sleeping Information
  • Breastfeeding & Pumping Education
  • General Maternal Care and Relief
  • Sibling Attachment Practices
  • Strategies for Multiples Care
  • Special Needs & Preterm Care
  • Compassionate Listening
  • Social Networking and Community Referrals
  • Practical Household Organization & Management

Why do families need a doula?

In simpler times, a postpartum family had all the resources and support they could need right at their fingertips when communities and extended families  were more intact.  In today’s increasingly mobile society, many young families are either physically or emotionally distant from their immediate family and broader community.    In addition to these added challenges, more women are also waiting until later in life to have their first child for a variety of reasons.  Many new parents find the reality of bringing their new child into the world much more challenging than anticipated.