How does our sliding scale payment system work?

A sliding scale for a service is confusing at first, but makes a lot of sense when looked at more carefully. All of the doulas on our team are well trained, caring, respectful and hardworking. We want you to be very happy with the support you receive! Some of us have more experience and expertise than others and thus we do not all have the same base rate. Each doula (or doula team) has set their base rate as the minimum payment for their services. We have our clients pay 50% of the base when they reserve their doula and the balance two weeks after the birth (we send you an invoice for this). 

Some people will need to save carefully to afford their doula’s base fee, while others have it easily within their means to slide all the way to the top of the range. We do not ask about your financial status. You decide the final payment amount to your doula. We ask you to base your payment on your ability to pay and the quality of support you received. We want doula support to be within reach to as many people as possible and this means that some people will pay the base, while others can pay more and that makes it feasible for the doula to get just the base at times.

Do not think of this payment system as fee and tip- that’s not our approach. We give you discretion to decide where along the sliding scale feels best for you, after you’ve experienced support at your birth from your doula.

Occasionally doulas on our team will provide support at a birth pro bono, or at a reduced rate. This is at the discretion of each doula as their own financial means allow.