Care Policy

Art of Tula Doula Collective is committed to providing a

safe, supportive and holistic space for all bodies and all families.

Birth Doula Policy

It is not within the Doula’s scope to give medical advice or perform any medical procedures. The Doula can NOT and does NOT replace a Health Care Provider such as a Midwife or OB.

Your Birth Doula will be on-call 24/7 to attend your birth from 37 weeks gestation until birth. Please allow for a 24 hour response time if you are contacting your Birth Doula outside of the on-call period.
Should the baby arrive prior to the 37 week on-call period, your Birth Doula will attend the birth, but may not be immediately available to answer the birther’s call as they will not be on-call prior to 37 weeks.
Your Birth Doula is committed to arriving to provide labour support within 2 hours of receiving your call.

Your Birth Doula is allowed to have short breaks to rest/eat during in-person labour support.
If your birth requires less than 12 hours of labour support outlined in the birth support package, the Doula is not required to remain with you to fulfil 12 hours of support, nor are labour support hours transferable to additional postpartum support outside of the up to 2 hours of immediate postpartum support and the postpartum visit included in the birth support package.

Practical support will include feeding support for the baby, preparing snacks, getting frequent drinks, doing baby's laundry & bottle/pump washing, but can change day to day based on your needs!
Your Postpartum Doula does not and is not qualified to diagnose any medical conditions for you or baby, but will refer you to an appropriate health care provider if concerns arise.
Your Postpartum Doula does not do major house cleaning tasks, such as vacuuming, mopping, washing windows or yard work.
Your Postpartum Doula will not transport clients or take over all care of the baby (ie: babysitting while parents are not at home - unless special circumstances occur).
Your Postpartum Doula will be allowed to have short breaks to eat during postpartum visits.
Postpartum visits are a minimum of 4 hours.

If in-person labour/birth support exceeds 12 hours, a $55/hr + HST overtime rate applies. Overtime fees are due within 10 days of birth.
Fees are final and 20% deposits are non-refundable.
The Doula does not offer refunds unless they fail to provide services due to their own error and/or negligence.
In the event that they are unable to attend your birth and/or the Backup Doula is unable to attend your birth due to suspected or confirmed illness, injury, family emergency, or other circumstances outside of their control, postpartum support hours will be offered.
In the event of a miscarriage or infant loss, this package is flexible in terms of support offered (i.e. in person support after the loss) and/or services can be paused and held until a further date.
It is important to note that the Doula is NOT in control of or responsible for outcomes. Therefore, should your planned vaginal birth or vaginal birth after a caesarean (VBAC) result in a caesarean, there will be no refund.
In the event that your planned vaginal birth becomes a planned caesarean at any point after the deposit and/or 1st instalment is paid, your Birth Doula will provide in-person preoperative support and immediate postoperative support to help with recovery, feeding and to allow you/your family to rest.

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If you need to cancel or reschedule a postpartum visit within 72 hours of the scheduled postpartum visit's start time 50% of the scheduled hours for that visit will be owed (with the exception of illness or emergency circumstances).
Your Postpartum Doula will also provide you with a minimum of 72 hours notice on the off-chance they need to reschedule your postpartum visit (with the exception of the Doula being ill).
The exception to this 72 hour policy is if your Postpartum Doula is on-call for a birth, but your Doula will always stay in contact with you about the status of their birth clients and try to find coverage if you would like.

Overnight shifts take place between 10pm and 7am for a minimum of 8 hours.
During an overnight shift the working Postpartum Doula is allowed to sleep when they are not tending to your baby (ie: feeding, diaper changing etc).
Your Postpartum Doula should be resting/sleeping in the same room as the baby or within hearing distance (or have access to a baby monitor to ensure they can hear when the baby is awake).
The Doula will be provided with a comfortable place to lay/rest/sleep.