Questions to Ask Before You Book Postpartum Support
You will be booking this while pregnant or exhausted, which is exactly when nobody asks enough questions. Eight worth asking any provider, with Puffin's own answers.
Postpartum support gets arranged at two moments, and neither is ideal for careful evaluation: while heavily pregnant, or while severely sleep-deprived.
So here is the list to work from. Eight questions, with what a solid answer sounds like, and then Puffin's own answer so you can run the list against us at the same time.
1. What certification does the person actually hold?
"Doula" is not a protected title in BC. Certification comes from independent training bodies, so the useful question is not *are they certified* but *as what, and verified by whom.*
Puffin: a certified doula or postpartum care specialist, with references verified and a CRRP vulnerable-sector criminal record check cleared before matching.
2. Are they a nurse?
Almost always no, and you want that said plainly rather than implied. This matters because it decides what can and cannot be asked of them.
Puffin: no. We provide trained postpartum support workers and doulas, not registered nurses. If a situation needs clinical nursing care we will say so rather than take the booking. The titles guide covers why the words get used interchangeably and why they should not be.
3. What does the shift actually include?
Vague answers here produce disappointed mornings. Feeding support, settling, laundry, meals, tidying — ask which are in and which are not.
Puffin, overnight: all night feeds (breastmilk bottle, formula or pumped milk as directed), diaper changes, soothing and re-settling without disturbing parents, safe-sleep checks, an overnight log of feed times, volumes, diaper output and sleep windows, and a morning handover. Daytime adds light housekeeping, newborn laundry, meal and herbal tea preparation.
4. What are the hours, and where does the night rate start?
Ask for the boundary, not a description of it.
Puffin: overnight is 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM at $42/hr; daytime is $38/hr; three-hour minimum on every booking. A shift starting at 9:00 PM has one daytime hour and the rest overnight, billed accordingly.
5. Who employs them?
This decides who runs payroll, who remits, and who is covered if someone is injured in your home.
Puffin: we do. Our postpartum workers are Puffin employees and you are never the employer of record.
6. What happens if they cannot come?
The question people skip, about the scenario that actually hurts.
Puffin: we work to find a replacement as quickly as possible, and if we cannot find a suitable one in time you receive a full refund. Either way the cost of a caregiver's cancellation never falls on you.
7. How far ahead do I need to book?
Puffin: 24 hours' notice minimum, booked and paid online. But booking *before* the birth is worth the small effort — babies do not schedule themselves, and the window when you most need this is the window when you are least able to arrange it. Preparing for a newborn covers what to settle in advance.
8. Can you match my language or cultural practices?
Worth asking outright rather than hoping.
Puffin: caregivers are matched to language and cultural preferences as an ordinary part of the process, and postpartum traditions — including the 40-day recovery practices many families observe — are treated as part of the care rather than a complication.
The question behind the questions
You are trying to work out whether a stranger will be competent and kind in your house at 3:00 AM while you are at your most vulnerable. No checklist settles that.
What the list does is separate providers who have thought about the answers from providers who have not. Somebody who can answer all eight without hedging has run this before.
Common questions
- What should I ask a postpartum doula before booking?
- What certification they hold and who verified it; whether they are a nurse; exactly what the shift covers; where the overnight rate starts; who employs them; what happens if they cannot come; how much notice is needed; and whether they can match your language or cultural practices. A provider who can answer all eight without hedging has done this before.
- Do I need to book postpartum support before the baby arrives?
- Not required, but strongly worth it. Bookings need 24 hours' notice minimum and same-day is not available online, so the window when you most need support is the window when you are least equipped to organise it. Deciding in advance what you would book, and having the account set up, removes the hard part from the hardest week.
- Will the same person come each time?
- Requests for the same caregiver are ordinary and worth making, particularly overnight, where continuity means someone already knows your baby's pattern. It cannot be absolute — people are ill and take holidays — which is exactly why an agency keeps someone else available rather than leaving a gap.
- Can postpartum support be matched to my language or cultural traditions?
- Yes, and it is an ordinary part of matching rather than a special request. Caregivers are matched to language and cultural preference, and postpartum recovery traditions — including the 40-day practices many families observe — are treated as part of the care. Say what matters to you when you book so it is a search criterion from the start.
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