If you’re thinking about hiring help during pregnancy and postpartum you’re in luck, because there are many night nurses and doulas in Charlottesville providing care and help to new families. Learn more about the services they provide and find the right support for you and your baby.
Why Postpartum Support Matters
If you’re expecting a baby, you probably know how important it is to find the right support during pregnancy and birth. But you might not be thinking yet about the postpartum period after baby arrives. But new parents need even more support.
When new parents are supported at home, they experience less stress and anxiety. They have more time to bond with their baby and establish feeding routines including breastfeeding. Some studies have also shown that doula support during pregnancy and postpartum can:
- Lower the risk of postpartum depression, especially in the case of pregnancy complications
- Improve breastfeeding outcomes
- Increase safe sleep practices for newborns
Plus, the newborn stage is a stressful and demanding time, whether your having your first baby or your fourth! Whether in the form of a doula, night nurse, or just a helpful friend, all families can benefit from having extra help and support at home.
What’s the Difference Between a Night Nurse and a Postpartum Doula?
While the role of night nurse and postpartum doula can be filled by the same person, they are two different kinds of support for new parents.
A night nurse is a newborn care specialist who stays with your baby overnight while you get more sleep. Some are trained nurses, though the ones who are not are generally trained in safety skills like infant CPR and first aid. Some night nurses specialize in caring for infants who have disabilities or have been in the NICU.
A postpartum doula often helps with newborn care, but they have a broader focus on supporting the whole family, from the mom who just gave birth to the partner providing care to older children who need help adjusting to the new baby. Postpartum doulas can be trained and certified as birth doulas, medical professionals, childcare specialists, massage therapists, or lactation consultants.
However, though they are different roles, there is a lot of overlap between night nurses and postpartum doulas. Many postpartum doulas in Charlottesville and the surrounding areas provide both types of services. Many local night nurses are also trained as birth and postpartum doulas.
How a Night Nurse or Doula Can Help Your Family
A night nurse can take on many aspects of evening and nighttime care for a newborn, including:
- Feeding: Bringing an infant to parents for breastfeeding, assisting with latching or pumping, or preparing and giving bottles while parents sleep
- Bedtime: Bathing and changing baby to create a bedtime routine
- Sleep: Soothing baby during night waking and encouraging good sleep habits
- Nursery: Organizing the nursery and doing baby’s laundry
- Monitoring: Tracking sleep, eating, and diapering at night to provide a log for parents and healthcare professionals
- Common health concerns: Dealing with circumcision recovery, cradle cap, reflux, umbilical cord care, or diaper rash
- Complex health concerns: Post-NICU or disability support
Postpartum doulas can provide care and support during both day and night. (However, it’s important to remember that if you want 24-hour care and assistance, you will need to hire multiple support professionals!) A postpartum doula can help with:
- Home visits to prepare for the new baby
- Newborn care education and assistance
- Physical and emotional support for postpartum needs
- Lactation and breastfeeding support or bottle-feeding assistance
- Screening for postpartum depression or other problems
- Access and connection to community resources for infant, family, or postpartum care
- Errands and chores such as laundry, tidying, grocery shopping, and meal preparation
- Help with diapering and bathing
- Help with older sibling care and adjustment to the new baby
- Teaching spouses and partners how to care for the new baby
- Baby care while parents rest
- Overnight support
Questions to Ask When Hiring a Night Nurse or Doula
Hiring someone to help you care for your newborn baby can be stressful. Asking the right questions can help you find the right care professional for your family. Some general questions to begin with include:
- What services do you provide?
- Do you offer daytime or nighttime support?
- How many families do you work with at a time?
- What are your certifications?
- Do you have any medical training?
- Are you trained in infant CPR and first aid?
- What support can you provide if my baby has to stay in the NICU or has a disability?
You will also want to ask questions that are specific to your family situation, such as:
- How comfortable are you with older children?
- Do you work with LGBTQ families?
- Are you able to provide support for the feeding method we choose, whether that’s bottle feeding or breastfeeding?
Taking time to talk with a potential doula or night nurse is the best way to find the right fit for your family.
Building the right support for you and your family is important! Find your village with our guide to the best parenting support groups in and around Charlottesville.
Local Birth & Postpartum Support in Charlottesville
Is your family ready for help from a doula or night nurse? Find the right care provider from our list of night nurses and doulas in Charlottesville.
Guide to Charlottesville Doulas: Labor and Postpartum Doulas
Charlottesville Doulas Collective: Independent doulas offering services in Charlottesville and the surrounding areas. Individual members provide labor, delivery, and/or postpartum care. Learn more: (434) 207-2327
Birth Sisters of Charlottesville: A collective of community doulas in Charlottesville working with Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color. Care is grounded in shared culture and intuitive trauma management. Services provided include prenatal, labor, postpartum, and lactation support. Learn more: (434) 207-2151
Beloved Birthing & Babies: Pregnancy, labor, and postpartum care doula based in Charlottesville, VA. Certified through DONA International Doula Training. Also trained as a prenatal yoga teacher. Learn more: (434) 825-5721
Experience Birth: Childbirth educator, massage therapist, and doula with multiple certifications, including doula training with toLabor. Offers private birth classes to doula clients and others. Learn more: (434) 996-6100
Beyond Birth Support: Prenatal and postpartum doula serving Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Staunton, Waynesboro, and Harrisonburg. Also offers postpartum Bengkung belly wrapping. Learn more: (434) 531-8005
Birthing Love Doula Services: Virginia State Certified doula and student midwife in Charlottesville, certified through Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NPR). Also offers placenta encapsulation. Learn more: (434) 906-6341
Month 10 Doula Services: Independent postpartum doulas in Charlottesville and surrounding counties, also offering prenatal care, birth support, and placenta encapsulation. Learn more: (434) 960-7077
Bright Birthing: Prenatal, birth, and postpartum doula services in Charlottesville and surrounding counties. Also offering as-needed postpartum concierge services and household support. Learn more: (831) 247-1433
DoulaSand: DONA-certified doula, Certified Lactation Counselor, and Evidence-Based Birth® Instructor. Offering pregnancy, birth, and postpartum support in the Charlottesville and Culpeper areas. Learn more: (434) 665-0819
Lauren Durrer Birth Services: Birth doula serving Charlottesville, Crozet, Staunton, and Waynesboro. Also offering body balancing sessions, childbirth classes, and labor prep classes. Learn more: (434) 760-2447
In Your Own Hands VA: Trained midwife and full-spectrum doula in Central Virginia. Also offering childbirth education, nutrition for fertility and pregnancy, and placenta processing. Learn more: (434) 414-1067
Nine Moons Midwifery: Midwife services for home births and doula care for hospital births in Charlottesville and Lynchburg, VA. Also offering postpartum care and Maya abdominal massage. Learn more: (434) 987-1257
Graceful Birthing: Postpartum doula and childbirth education in Charlottesville, Farmville, Lynchburg, and Richmond. Specializes in babies with medical challenges and extended NICU stay. Learn more: (804) 894-4072
Guide to Charlottesville Night Nurse & Overnight Newborn Care Providers
Hush Hush Little Baby Newborn Care: Newborn care agency with providers in Central Virginia. Offering overnight or 24-hour newborn care, postpartum doula care, and sleep training assistance. Online application.
Graceful Birthing: Postpartum doula in Charlottesville and Richmond offering assistance with newborn care and infant sleep training. Experienced with medical challenges/extended NICU stay. Learn more: (804) 894-4072
Ramey Doula Services: Postpartum doula services in Central Virginia. Offering overnight or 25-hour newborn care, as well as lactation assistance. CPR/first aid certified. Learn more: (804) 393-0094
Not sure a night nurse is right for you? You still deserve a good night’s sleep! Check out our best tips to encourage good sleep habits in children of all ages.
Resources To Guide You Through Pregnancy & Beyond:
Charlottesville’s Favorite Pediatricians
Preparing For Birth
Sleep Training Guide
Teething Tips
Your Guide to Different Pregancy Care Providers
A Pediatrician’s Guide to Baby Proofing
Water Safety for Babies & Toddlers
Charlottesville Prenatal Support Classes
Mommy & Me Classes
Diaper Bag Checklist
Working With A Doula
Katharine Paljug is a freelance writer and novelist. She lives in Charlottesville with two busy kids and more books than she has time to read. Find her on Instagram as @katharinewrites.