menu
Join as a pro
close

Find a Doula in Baton Rouge, LA

Doulas on Meela are certified, client-recommended, and vetted by licensed medical practitioners. Find one near you.

Create a free account, and we'll bring top doulas to you.

Get started

1,000+ childbirth experts

Client recommended, 97% 5-star reviews

Vetted by licensed medical practitioners

Verified client testimonials

Why Use Meela to Hire Your Doula?

Meela is the trusted place for parents to find top-rated doulas, connecting over 1,700 parents with vetted doulas each month. Reach out to doulas directly, or answer a few questions and let us bring you the best available options near you. All for free, no strings attached.

Certified, Expert-Vetted Doulas Near You

Our doulas are the best of the best and hold the highest standards of evidence-based, inclusive, and compassionate care. Each verified doula on Meela is vetted by a licensed medical professional and comes with multiple client recommendations, active certifications, and has extensive training and experience in perinatal care.

Found 7 Pros in Baton Rouge, LA, USA | Birth doula support
EXPERIENCE
0 50
Families served
0 3500
Birth fee
$0 $7500
HOURLY RATE
$0 $500
$ flexible
img

Emily Coots

LA

0 reviews • 2 families supported • 2 years experience

0 reviews • 2 families supported • 2 years experience

Amare Birth provides Prenatal, Labor & Birth, Bereavement, Early Postpartum, and Breastfeeding Support.

Care philosophy

At Amare Birth, our mission is to provide education, support, understanding, and love to our clients. We value bodily and medical autonomy for all. We advocate for those who are voiceless, we listen to those unheard, we support those who need it most. Through loss to new life, we want our clients to feel safe and cared for.

Areas served

  • Lake Charles,LA
  • Lafayette, LA
  • Jennings,LA
  • Welsh,LA
  • Lacassine, LA
  • Iowa, LA
  • Crowley, LA
  • Roanoke, LA
  • Sulphur, LA
Bereavement doula support
Birth doula support
+7
$25 Hourly
$350 Birth fee
img img

Bailey Reihm

Baton Rouge, LA

0 reviews • 10 families supported • 3 years experience

0 reviews • 10 families supported • 3 years experience

I specialize in birth center and home births but I attend births of all types! From planned cesareans to epidurals to unmedicated births, I’ve seen it all and my number one goal is to make sure moms are supported and informed.

Care philosophy

Reforming the world, one birth at a time with personalized support from a BEST certified doula.

Areas served

  • Within 2 hours of Baton Rouge
Birth doula support
Doula support
$950 Birth fee
$ flexible
img img

Melissa Champagne

Hammond, LA

0 reviews • 1 families supported • 1 years experience

0 reviews • 1 families supported • 1 years experience

I am a labor and postpartum doula in the north shore area. I specialize in natural out of hospital births but also serve hospital births as well!

Care philosophy

I have a love for labor and birth and believe birth is normal and such a beautiful thing! I service at home and out of hospital births and also hospital births as well!

Areas served

  • Hammond
  • New Orleans
Birth doula support
Doula support
+2
$800 Birth fee
img img

Bailey Reihm

Baton Rouge, LA

0 reviews • 15 families supported • 3 years experience

0 reviews • 15 families supported • 3 years experience

I specialize in birth center and home births but I attend births of all types! From planned cesareans to epidurals to unmedicated births, I’ve seen it all and my number one goal is to make sure moms are supported and informed.

Care philosophy

Reforming the world, one birth at a time with personalized support from a BEST certified doula.

Areas served

  • Within 2 hours of Baton Rouge
Birth doula support
Doula support
$950 Birth fee
$ flexible
img

Shannon Murphey

Baton Rouge, LA

0 reviews • 200 families supported • 10 years experience

0 reviews • 200 families supported • 10 years experience

I have been all over the world but nothing has quite compared to home and family. As a young party animal, I ventured from art high school to Los Angeles. I was a blossoming actress in the concrete jungle. It is a cruel and cut throat place to live and work. A stark contrast to the hospitality of Louisiana. You probably can see how an empath may not prefer the culture there. After three years of acting and singing in Los Angeles, I grew very tired of the grind. I spent time working at Walt Disney World as a photographer. I loved and adored the “magic” to be made, but Disney is a very greedy corporation. I then pursued my dream of working with animals. I spent 10 years working as a veterinary technician in various pet hospitals, until I reached veterinary specialty medicine. I enjoyed working in surgery, making miracles out of medicine. However, there are a lot of pitfalls in veterinary medicine, nearly all of them tragic financial situations. It was wearing me down (emotionally), and even more so when I discovered I was pregnant. I experienced hostility and discrimination in my workplace as a pregnant person, and I found it very difficult to work such a physically demanding job with the health issues associated with my pregnancy. Then COVID happened. I became sick and was unable to return to work. I was not protected by FMLA as I had not worked there long enough to qualify. They wouldn’t even grant me maternity leave! I spent several months in strict quarantine before having a last minute C-section. I found out the day before my date that my baby was breech and I decided against an inversion. I also had been struggling with a very very uncomfortable condition known as PUPPS since 35 weeks. It was unbearable. Like there was something trying to crawl out of my skin and then fire being set on it. It returned postpartum and I still struggle with it on and off today. I also struggled to breastfeed my baby due to my c-section and my baby’s tongue tie. She lost too much weight at the hospital and they wouldn’t discharge her. I felt totally unprepared for the lack of lactation consulting. I hadn’t had a proper in person class due to COVID. I hadn’t produced any colostrum or milk for three days. I finally supplemented with formula, and it literally saved her life. I wish I had had constant guidance at the time. My birth and pregnancy experience is what brought me into birth work. I see injustices in medicine and our government that disadvantage birthing people, particularly BIPOC. I want to counteract that the best I can. I want to provide birthing people with the empowerment they deserve. I want to provide advocacy and knowledge that every birthing person deserves.

Care philosophy

My philosophy of birth is that it is a highlight, a natural process, and a spiritual awakening that is to be cherished and mindfully prepared for. I believe conquering fear will open our bodies. I believe our bodies were meant for this. Our journies are all unique and every birth deserves a doula. My philosophies are progressive and practical.

Areas served

  • Louisiana
  • Baton Rouge, LA
  • New Orleans, LA
Birth doula support
Doula support
+5
$200 Birth fee
$ flexible
img

Akia Richards

Baton Rouge, LA

2 reviews • 1 families supported • 1 years experience

2 reviews • 1 families supported • 1 years experience

I am a 24 year old Black female working to assist women to birth how they want. I am willing to work with all women but I want to focus on African American women and First Time Moms. First Time moms and African American women are most likely to not receive the information needed to prevent inductions. During pregnancy and labor most women are not aware of their options but it won’t happen on my watch. While I am very knowledgeable I am a new doula. I just started practicing this year but I was a doula before I even knew what a doula was. I assisted my aunt during pregnancy who was put on bed rest at 29-38 weeks doing everything from making groceries to taking her to doctors appointments. My aunt passed out behind the wheel and the doctors claimed it was because of her iron levels.She wasn’t given additional information or medication, just put on bed rest. After that experience I decided that I wanted to be a midwife but before I did I wanted to learn the support part of birth. Hence why I am currently a Doula.

Care philosophy

My care and birth philosophy is to assist and encourage you before, during and after labor to give birth the way you desire and not how you are told. I also will follow your desires and your goals, while allowing you the opportunity to adjust if needed.

Areas served

  • Baton Rouge, Lafayette, New Orleans,Hammond
  • Baton Rouge, Lafayette, New Orleans,Hammond

Reviews

  • Victoria
    February 9, 2021 at 4:19 pm | Peer review

    Akia is very dedicated to educating her clients

Birth doula support
$500 Birth fee
$ flexible
img

Krystal Carpenter

Ponchatoula, LA

0 reviews • 1 families supported • 1 years experience

0 reviews • 1 families supported • 1 years experience

About three years ago after having my first baby and having the most wonderful doula supporting me I fell in love and became passionate about all things birth and babies; that led me to wanting to become a doula myself. So this fall I decided to go for it and became a certified doula start my own business, supporting local families in their birth journey. My main goal is to help families feel empowered throughout their birth journey so they can have an overall positive experience.

Care philosophy

My mission is to educate and empower pregnant women, birthing partners, and new families, who want better outcomes and more positive experiences, through emotional, physical, and informational support.

Areas served

  • Covington
  • Mandeville
  • Hammond
  • Ponchatoula
  • Baton Rouge
  • Northshore
Birth doula support
Birth photography
+1
$800 Birth fee

Doula Services: FAQs

A doula is a professional that provides emotional, physical and educational support to new parents before, during, and after childbirth and into the early postpartum period. Doulas are companions who strive to give families a safe, positive, and healthy labor experience. They provide parents with evidence-based information and education on childbirth and are someone who the parent can turn to with questions and concerns about having a baby. Doulas also take an active role in collaborating with the parent to create a birth plan.

A certified birth doula offers advice and techniques to help reduce the stress that the parent often experiences during childbirth and provides you with education about different aspects of delivery and labor and what comes after.

There are two ways you can hire a doula through Meela in Baton Rouge, LA.  

You can browse through the available doulas in Baton Rouge, LA and send the doulas you are interested in a message, introducing yourself and setting up an interview. We recommend interviewing at least three before hiring your top doula.

You can also hire a doula in Baton Rouge, LA in three easy steps:

  1. Post a job for free: answer some questions and receive responses from top-rated doulas in Baton Rouge, LA. It takes less than 30 seconds to post your job.
  1. Get your list of Baton Rouge, LA doulas: in a few hours, you will have a collection of doulas near you who are qualified to meet your needs. You can compare pricing, experience and read reviews. You can chat with each doula to learn more about them.
  1. Hire a doula with confidence: schedule virtual or in-person interviews with your top doula choices. Hire your top doula and start getting the care you deserve.

While the cost of a doula can vary based on experience and the services offered, the average cost of a doula in Baton Rouge, LA is $685, but typically ranges from $540 to $830. These costs are based on a representative group of 6 doulas surveyed by Meela in the Baton Rouge area. The average cost of a doula in Baton Rouge, LA is lower than the average cost of a doula in the state of Louisiana, which is $767.

To put this in further context, the cost of a doula in Baton Rouge, LA is lower than the U.S. national average cost of a doula, which is $971.

When hiring a birth doula in Baton Rouge, LA, you and your doula will discuss and agree upon a fee structure, and your doula will send you itemized invoices through Meela, which you can pay securely through the app.

Some insurance companies will cover all or part of the cost of hiring a doula. Contact your insurance company to find out if they offer any coverage for hiring a doula; not all insurance companies do.

You can hire two types of doulas in Baton Rouge, LA: a birth doula and a postpartum doula. The birth doula is during your pregnancy and through the birth of your child. They provide you with emotional, physical and educational support during your pregnancy, your labor and delivery and for the first few hours after your child is born.

A postpartum doula will support you for the first few weeks after the baby is born. They provide in-home assistance, including teaching you how to take care of your newborn, acting as lactation consultant, and can provide some night nanny services.

Yes, a birth doula can provide support during a Cesarean birth and delivery. Doulas are non-medical professionals and do not replace obstetricians, physicians, midwives or nurses. They are an additive member to the team and provide emotional, physical and informational support to the birthing parent, partner and family. It is up to you whether the certified doula can remain in the operating room during the procedure.

When you hire a doula in Baton Rouge, LA, your services typically include several in-person prenatal sessions, 24/7 phone and text support, full attendance throughout your labor, and several hours of support immediately following your birth.

A doula in Baton Rouge, LA can help you in any kind of birth. Certified doulas are able to assist parents in creating the ideal “birth environment” and help parents deliver their baby safely. A doula can provide support during the birth whether it occurs in a hospital, a home, or another birth center of some kind. Doulas are there to support you in your desired birth preferences, whether that is a preference for natural, non-medicated, assisted, C-section or anything else.

Certified doulas can also act as a liaison between you and hospital staff regarding your childbirth expectations and preferences. For example, if your preference is to have a non-medicated birth, a doula can help guide you through that process and create a personalized birth plan. A certified doula in Baton Rouge, LA does not replace medical staff (such as your obstetrician and nurses).

When a surgical procedure is required, there are some situations in which a birth doula can also remain in the operating room, although this is not an expected obligation. A certified birth doula can also assist hospital staff to improve the overall birthing experience. A doula in Baton Rouge, LA will typically stay with the parents for several hours after birth to help them with birth recovery.

Evidence suggests that a birth doula in Baton Rouge, LA can help improve parent satisfaction with their baby’s birth and delivery. The involvement of a doula can also lead to shorter deliveries with less complications.

Recent studies show that parents who have a support person like a doula by their side throughout labor and childbirth are more likely to:

  1. Give birth without the need for pain medicine
  2. Describe their birth experience in a positive way
  3. Give birth without the need for medical intervention, such as C-sections or vacuum delivery
  4. Experience a shorter labor

You can hire a doula early in your pregnancy to allow you time to get to know each other and to begin planning for your later trimesters, labor, birth, and aftercare. It is ideal to hire a doula when you are around 20 weeks along, but you can start looking for one before that.

It is never too late to hire a doula in Baton Rouge, LA; you have right up to your due date to find a doula near you and receive all the benefits of doula support.

While many people think that a doula and a midwife are the same thing, their educational background and job duties are different. Doulas are non-medical professionals who provide emotional, physical and educational support, while also offering actionable advice and guidance to new parents about how to nurture their baby.

A midwife is a certified nurse-midwife (CNM) or a certified midwife (CM). CNMs are medical professionals that are certified and licensed by the American College of Nurse-Midwives. CMs are also certified, but they do not have nursing backgrounds.

Doulas are not medical professionals; they focus on the emotional support for the parents and the family before, during, and after the birth of the baby. Their job is to provide information, advice, and support to the family not diagnose any medical conditions or provide medical advice.

Find Pros

Get Started
keyboard_arrow_up