Mastering the Art of Running a Prenatal Appointment: A Guide for Doulas

As a doula, your role in supporting expectant parents through the remarkable journey of pregnancy and childbirth is invaluable. Of all the benefits clients will receive from your service package, conducting prenatal appointments is one of the most significant. These appointments offer an opportunity to establish rapport, provide essential information, and address concerns. Running prenatal appointments that make an impact makes overall communication and birth support easier, and so increasing your impact! This guide will outline steps to running a successful prenatal appointment, ensuring a nurturing and informative experience for both your clients and yourself!

Preparing for the Prenatal Appointment

• Scheduling: Coordinate with your clients to find a mutually convenient time for the appointment. I love using Calendly, because it prevents that awkward back-and-forth email exchange trying to find a mutual time. Additionally, Calendly helps me automate scheduling so if I’m at a birth, current and potential clients still get appointments on the books! Ensure that you allocate sufficient time for the session, allowing for a relaxed and unhurried discussion. I usually plan my visits for 2 hours, knowing I likely won’t use the full time.

• Gathering information: Request the parents to fill out a comprehensive intake form beforehand. I use Honeybook for client intake, it is a total game changer! My intake forms incldue basic contact info for birthing person and partner, where the birth is planned to occur and with what provider, preferences for birth, and any concerns or questions. Reviewing this information prior to the appointment will help you tailor the session accordingly. And, honestly, I love having the Honeybook app on my phone so I can quickly look up details before and during prenatals!

• Setting the environment: Create a warm and inviting atmosphere in your chosen location. Arrange comfortable seating, soft lighting, and prepare any materials or props you may need for demonstrations or explanations. I see some prenatals occurring at coffee shops and places like that, but I tend to avoid public spaces as clients may not feel comfortable to open up and get down to the heart of their questions. I like having a workbook to give to my clients for when we meet together, it makes such a professional impression!

Building Rapport and Active Listening

• Make Polite Introductions: Try to keep light chit-chat or intros to five minutes or so, you want to honor their time! Remember, the first few moments of a prenatal appointment certainly isn’t the only time you’ll be connecting with your clients.

• Active listening: Validate their feelings and emotions, making them feel heard and understood. Use empathetic responses and reflective statements to convey your understanding.

• Building rapport: Share a bit about yourself and your experiences as a doula in a non-identifying way. (But, PLEASE, don’t overshare!) This helps to establish a strong foundation of trust and confidence in your abilities.

Addressing Medical History and Pregnancy Progress

• Review relevant medical history: While a doula is not a clinical care provider, understanding pregnancy details to date will inform your support. I’ve found it helpful to know about any pre-existing conditions, previous pregnancies, or medical complications in my doula practice. (Again, I love using Honeybook forms for this!) You also might want to understand any current medications or treatments and how they may impact pregnancy and childbirth. Keep in mind that as a doula you cannot diagnose any medical conditions or prescribe medication, but it will help you to know what is going on with your client! 

• Assess pregnancy progress: Ask about overall well-being, including physical and emotional changes. Track details such as the estimated due date, and any recent tests or ultrasound findings. Note any concerns or potential red flags and make sure your client is aware of them. (Hint: This can also include red flags with their care provider!)

Informational Support and Providing Client Education

• Information sharing: Provide relevant evidence-based information on various topics, such as prenatal nutrition, exercise, common discomforts, and relaxation techniques. Tailor the information to the specific needs and preferences of the parents, emphasizing their unique circumstances.

• Birth preferences and options: The most popular element of support parents are likely expecting from you is in writing a birth plan. Discuss the parents’ desires and expectations for their birth experience. Explore different birth options as well as pain management strategies. Educate them about potential interventions and their alternatives, so they can make informed decisions. 

• Parenting and postpartum preparation: Share resources, such as books, classes, or support groups, that can further assist them in their journey into newborn care, breastfeeding, and postpartum recovery.

My favorite hack for covering all the relevant information and education without overwhelming clients is The Birth Doula Client Workbook! This tool allows you to introduce topics in a systematized way, and allows you space to create ‘homework’ if you don’t need to spend one-to-one time addressing everything individually.

Emotional Support and Encouragement

• Address fears and anxieties: Create a safe space for expectant parents to express their fears and anxieties regarding pregnancy, birth, and parenthood. Offer reassurance, empathy, and practical suggestions to alleviate their concerns. As a doula, I know it’s so easy to want to explain away fears and provide solutions so the discomfort of fear goes away. But it’s REALLY valuable to hold space for clients in their fears. Sit with them. Let them express what’s unfolding in their minds, without trying to ‘fix’ it all.

• Affirmation and encouragement: Highlight the strengths and capabilities of the expectant parents, affirming their ability to navigate this transformative period. Remind them of the support you will provide throughout their journey. Emotional support is one of the most rewarding types. As Maya Angelou said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Favorite Tools for Running Client Prenatal Appointments

Doula, what you do makes such a difference! I hope this guide was a great starting-off point for your prenatal appointments. Or, if you’ve been a doula for a while, I hope it has helped you revive and center your positive intentions for those client interactions. 

To close, here’s a quick list of my favorite business tips and tools for running your own prenatal appointments mentioned in this article!

Calendly – easy scheduling ahead

💰 Get HoneyBook for 25% off for one year with my referral link: http://share.honeybook.com/victoria64738 

📖 Include The Birth Doula Client Workbook in your practice!

*Mother Well has an affiliate agreement with Honeybook. This means at no cost to you, Honeybook compensates Mother Well in exchange for marketing and promotion. Mother Well is scrupulous in choosing its affiliate partners and would only ever promote companies that align with Mother Well’s high standards and core values.