Our Favorite Perks of an Overnight Doula

So often people ask, “Why would you want a doula overnight?”

Super simple.

Because it rocks.

While we think that everything about having a Postpartum Doula rocks, we’re going to share with you the benefits we find to be incredibly exceptional.

1 Your Baby has a Rested Caregiver

Look. Babies are demanding! They require a lot of mental, emotional, and physical effort. From rocking and bouncing to playing and entertaining, your baby needs a ton! That’s okay but every parent needs a bit of a reprieve to truly rest, knowing their little one is in the care of someone who is qualified. Having a Postpartum Doula overnight can be a chance for you to unplug all the way, not just partly. You’re able to trust that your baby’s needs will be responded too even if you’re sleeping peacefully.

2 You Get the Rest You Desperately Need

Parents. Need. Sleep. PERIOD. There is no way around it, there are no alternate options. Human beings must have sleep in order to function properly. If they don’t get it it could result in problems with cognition, mood, and response times. When do you need to be able to make quick decisions?

When you’re raising a child.

When do you need to have a seemingly infinite well of patience?

When you’re raising a child.

When is it important that you’re able to assess and respond to situations?

When you’re raising a child.

This combined with the incredibly close link between lack of sleep with Depression and Anxiety…well, you can pretty clearly see why parents need rest.

3 You Wake Rested and Ready to Take Care of Your Newborn

Taking care of your newborn is your newest responsibility.

On top of your home, your pets, plants, your work, possibly your other children…that’s not even accounting for the healing and care you need to take of yourself.

Seem overwhelming? It can be. And it’s worse if you’re not rested. Having help during the evenings and overnight can be the difference between a peaceful and productive day and one that leaves you frozen or near tears.

4 Overnight Help is for Breast and Bottle Feeding

The main benefit of overnight help? No. Diaper. Changes.

That may sound trivial but hear us out.

You wake, right? You hear baby crying and know they need to eat. The first thing you do is get up out of bed and get your baby from their crib or bassinet, wherever they’re sleeping, and feed them. Then? Then you have to change their diapers, burp them, re-swaddle them, and get them back to sleep. By this time you’ve fully woken up and it will likely take you awhile to get back to sleep.

Meanwhile, an hour has passed and your little one will be awake in an hour or two because, as we know, time between feeds is between the start of one to the start of the other. So two hours between feeds could still mean a 20-30 minute feed, 20-30 minutes doing the diaper-burp-swaddle routine, and then 30 minutes getting back to sleep.

In simple terms? You’re not getting any sleep.

Now, let’s add a Postpartum Doula to that mix.

You’re asleep. Your doula wakes you and brings baby to you, leaving them with you to nurse. They likely walk down to the kitchen to do some dishes or will fold a bit of laundry. You’ll nurse your baby, possibly even dozing off. Your doula is there, after all, baby is safe. As soon as baby is done nursing, you’ll hand them back to the caring hands of your doula and return to sleep while they change diapers, re swaddle, and soothe baby back to sleep.

Doesn’t that sound restful?

It is.

Listen, we’re super over the “parents must be martyrs” thing. You need rest too! Let’s push for a culture that values human lives over some supposed badge of honor that sleeplessness earns you.

You don’t get a badge of honor from losing sleep. But you DO get sleep when you hire a doula! And we think that’s pretty badass.