Prenatal Visit Planner

What a prenatal visit covers

BBU’s birth doula training describes the doula’s work before birth as running client interviews and prenatal visits, setting expectations and staying within your scope. Some doulas hold one prenatal visit and some hold several, so the planner is organized by topic and not by visit number or timing.

The eighteen topics

The topics are the eighteen items BBU’s Labor Doula Training Workbook lists as included in its prenatal visit workbook, in the order the workbook lists them: birth plan; birth preference sheet; questions for your OB or midwife; troubleshooting difficult situations; what to bring to the hospital; dates, a pregnancy superfood; natural ways to induce labor; labor warm up vs. real labor; tips for the birth partner; the 3 R’s; the Miles Circuit; labor support techniques; labor reminders and contact info; after baby is born; interviewing pediatricians; community connections; additional options; and preparing for postpartum support. “Dates” here means the fruit.

The planner uses those names only. It does not reproduce the pages of the workbook and it does not add topics of its own.

Choosing and printing

All eighteen topics are ticked to begin with. Untick the ones you will not cover and press Build the topic sheet. The sheet lists the topics you chose as a checklist, then gives each one a few lines for your notes, so the printout doubles as your visit notes. Choose different topics for each visit if you like. The planner does not say when a visit should happen or how long it should take.

Documenting the visit

This is a documentation aid for your own practice, not a clinical record. The topics are things to talk through with the family, not instructions. Anything clinical, such as induction methods or medication questions, belongs with the client’s provider, so write it down rather than answering it. Use initials or a nickname rather than the client’s full name; nothing you type is sent anywhere. The Prenatal Visit Workbook is BBU’s printed version for clients to keep.

Keeping visits consistent

If you work for or run an agency, the same topic checklist gives every family a consistent experience whichever doula they have. Print the sheet before each visit, fill in your notes during it, and keep the sheets with your own client notes, using initials rather than full names. The Prenatal Visit Workbook is the printed version BBU sells for clients to take home.

Becoming a birth doula

If you are not yet a birth doula, or you were trained elsewhere and want BBU’s certification, Birth Doula Training and Cross Certification puts the Certified Birth Doula Training and the Cross Certification Birth Doula Training on one page, with who each one is for.