10 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Birth Doula
Hiring a birth doula is a deeply personal decision. This is someone who will support you during one of the most vulnerable, transformative days of your life. Beyond credentials, you want someone who aligns with your values, communicates clearly, and makes you feel safe and empowered.
If you're interviewing doulas, here are 10 important questions to ask before making your decision.
1. What Training and Certifications Do You Hold?
Not all doulas are trained the same way, so it’s worth asking where they completed their training and whether they hold a certification. While certification isn’t required to practice as a doula, many families choose to consider it when making their decision. As a family, you can decide how much importance you place on certification and what feels right for your support team. Certification isn’t everything — but it can reflect a commitment to professional standards and continuing education.
Beyond basic doula training and certification, it can be helpful to ask if your doula holds any additional credentials that might support you during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Certifications in areas like Spinning Babies, lactation support, childbirth education, or postpartum care can offer extra layers of knowledge and hands-on skills that may benefit your experience. While extra certifications aren’t required to be a great doula, they can give insight into a doula’s special interests and the additional ways they may be able to support your family throughout the process.
2. How Many Births Have You Attended?
Experience matters. A doula who has attended many births has likely supported:
Unmedicated labors
Epidurals
Inductions
Cesarean births
VBACs
While experience can help build confidence, newer doulas are absolutely capable of supporting you through their training and preparation. If you find yourself really connecting with a doula who has less experience, it can be helpful to ask yourself what you value most — years of experience, personality and connection, specific skills, or overall support. The right doula for your family is the one who makes you feel heard, comfortable, and supported.
3. What Is Your Personal Approach to Birth?
Every doula has a unique way of supporting families, and it’s important to find someone whose style aligns with your needs and comfort level. Asking about a doula’s personal approach helps you understand how they will support you emotionally, physically, and mentally throughout the entire birth process.
Questions to consider:
Empowerment: How do you help families feel confident and empowered during labor, even when things don’t go as planned?
Flexibility: How do you adapt your support to fit different birth preferences, whether unmedicated, medicated, or surgical?
Connection: What steps do you take to build a strong, trusting relationship with the families you support?
Emotional Support: How do you respond if a client feels anxious, overwhelmed, or scared during labor?
Communication: How do you help families ask questions, process information, and advocate for themselves with medical providers?
Values in Action: What principles guide your support — for example, prioritizing respect, consent, or informed choice — and how do you bring them to life during birth?
Postpartum Approach: How do you continue supporting the family after birth, including emotional processing and adjustment?
Asking these questions ensures you hire a doula whose values, personality, and approach align with your family’s goals. The right doula doesn’t just attend the birth — they create a supportive, empowering environment that centers your needs and builds confidence every step of the way.
4. What Does Your Support Include?
Doula packages can vary, so it’s important to clarify exactly what support is included. Be sure to ask about:
Number of prenatal visits
Birth planning assistance
On-call window
Continuous labor support
Immediate postpartum support
Follow-up visits
You should feel crystal clear on what you're receiving. If you are hiring through Doulas of Capitol Hill, you will have received our pricing and services magazine outlining the packages and support we offer. If you have any questions about what’s included — or need clarity on what prenatal support or comfort measure workshops entail — this is a great time to ask. Making sure you understand your support ahead of time helps everyone feel more prepared and confident going into your birth experience.
5. Do You Have a Backup Doula?
Birth is unpredictable, so it’s important to understand what happens if your doula is unavailable. Consider asking:
Who is your backup doula?
Will I have a chance to meet or connect with them beforehand?
How often do you rely on backup support?
A professional doula should always have a clear and reliable backup plan in place so you’re never left without support. Keep in mind that backup support can look different depending on where and how you hire your doula. At Doulas of Capitol Hill, clients are able to select their immediate backup doula, and if further support is needed, they will be paired with another trained doula from our agency. Hiring through an agency ensures that, no matter who your backup is, they share the same core values and commitment to supporting you and your family throughout your birth experience.
6. How Do You Support Partners?
A common misconception is that doulas replace partners — they don’t. A skilled doula enhances the partner’s role.
Ask how they:
Involve partners during labor
Provide guidance without taking over
Help partners rest when needed
The best doulas support the entire family unit.
For more information on how doulas can support partners read this past blog post
7. How Do You Handle Hospital Staff Interactions?
Doulas do not give medical advice or perform clinical tasks. Their role is to support you in other ways, such as:
Providing emotional support
Offering comfort measures
Helping you ask informed questions
Supporting advocacy through education
It’s also important to ask how a doula maintains respectful relationships with nurses and OB providers while keeping you at the center of decision-making. At Doulas of Capitol Hill, we pride ourselves on the strong, professional relationships our doulas and agency have with all the local hospitals. Maintaining these respectful connections is always a top priority, ensuring that you receive seamless support in any birth environment.
8. What Comfort Techniques Do You Use?
Ask about a doula’s experience with:
Position changes
Breathing techniques
Massage and counter-pressure
Rebozo work or other specialized trainings
Birth balls and peanut balls
Visualization and grounding techniques
Their answer should reflect both knowledge and flexibility. If there’s a specific technique or support tool that’s important to you, be sure to bring it up — this helps ensure your doula can tailor their approach to your preferences and give you the support you want during labor.
9. How Do You Support Unexpected Outcomes?
Birth doesn’t always go according to plan. It’s important to ask how a doula supports:
Unplanned cesareans
Long labors
Medical interventions
Emotional processing after birth
A strong doula provides steady emotional support — especially when plans change. If you are hiring through Doulas of Capitol Hill, be familiar with our Unexpected Loss Guarantee. If you have any questions about what this entails or how our doulas support families in unexpected situations, don’t hesitate to ask — our team is here to provide answers and reassurance every step of the way.
10. Why Did You Become a Doula?
This question often tells you the most.
Listen for:
Passion
Personal experience
Commitment to families
Respect for birth autonomy
More importantly, notice how you feel when they answer. Do you feel safe? Heard? Comfortable?
Trust matters.
Final Thoughts
Choosing a birth doula is about more than hiring support — it’s about building your birth team.
Take your time. Ask thoughtful questions. Pay attention to how each doula makes you feel.
The right doula will:
Respect your choices
Provide steady, evidence-based support
Help you feel confident and informed
Hold space for you without judgment
Tip: Take notes during each interview so you can keep track of highlights, strengths, and unique approaches of every doula you speak with. This makes it easier to compare and reflect on which doula best aligns with your family’s needs and values.
Birth is powerful. You deserve support that feels aligned, calm, and empowering.