Key Points

• • Your first client isn’t buying experience; they’re buying you

• • $400 might sound safe but undervalues your time and training

• • Use your training investment as a guide for your first few births

• • You can offer fee reductions without undervaluing your work

• • Your pricing should grow with your experience and your local market

Starting your doula business often means figuring things out as you go, and pricing is one of the hardest decisions to make. You want to be fair, you want experience, and you don’t want to price yourself out of reach. But if you’re charging $400 for birth support, that rate probably isn’t covering your time, your costs, or your training investment.

Let’s look at a better way to think about what your work is worth.

Your First Client Isn’t Buying Experience

Your first client isn’t expecting decades of experience. They’re hiring you because you listen, you care, and you show up with heart and professionalism. They’re not buying a perfect résumé. They’re buying you.

That’s worth more than the lowest number you think someone might pay.

$400 Might Get You Started, But It Won’t Sustain You

Here’s what I tell new doulas all the time: if you paid $800–$1,200 for your doula training, that’s a good reference point for your early pricing. You’ve already invested in your education, and your first few births should help you start recovering that investment.

Charging $400 might feel comfortable, but it often means you’re not even breaking even once you factor in your training, supplies, travel, childcare, and time on call.

If you’re treating this like a profession, your pricing has to reflect that.

The Real Mistake: Staying at a “Beginner” Rate

Your rate should evolve as you gain experience. The problem isn’t starting at a modest price; it’s staying there long after your confidence and skill have grown.

By the time you’ve supported several clients, refined your systems, and started to understand the rhythms of the work, you should be raising your rate to reflect that growth.

How to Research Realistic Doula Pricing

You don’t have to guess. Use a combination of research and reflection to find the range that makes sense for you.

1. • Start with your training cost.
     Aim to charge at least what you paid for your initial training for your first few births.

1. • Research your local market.
     Visit MeetYourDoula.com and DoulaMatch.com to see what doulas in your area charge and what’s included.

1. • Compare like with like.
     If you live in rural North Carolina, don’t compare yourself to someone working in Charlotte. Look at doulas in similar regions, even if that means checking rural areas in neighboring states.

1. • Understand the service differences.
     If another doula charges more, see what’s included. Are they offering extra prenatal visits, postpartum care, or childbirth education? Make sure you’re comparing similar packages.

1. • Ask and connect.
     Join conversations in the Facebook community and talk with other doulas about what’s working for them. You’ll get insight that listing sites alone can’t provide.

Plan Your Pricing Around Where You Want to Be

Another approach I often recommend is to start by thinking about what you want to charge by the time you’ve supported ten births. That’s the point where most doulas begin to feel more confident and have a solid foundation for their work.

Once you know that number, you have options for how to get there.

• • Option 1: Start at that rate right away.
    If you feel ready and your research supports it, go for it.

• • Option 2: Gradually build up to that rate.
    Some doulas increase their fee with each birth until they reach their goal.

For example, one of my students decided her tenth birth rate would be $2,000. She started at $1,000 for her first client, added $100 with each birth, and reached $2,000 by birth number ten. That steady growth gave her practice raising rates and helped her clients understand her increasing experience.

However you get there, the goal is the same: build a pricing plan that grows with you.

You Can Still Offer Reduced Fees, But Start From a Solid Base

Having a base rate doesn’t mean you can’t make exceptions when it feels right. You can always choose to lower your price or create a payment plan for a client who truly needs it.

The key is to start from a sustainable number. If you set your base fee too low, every discount cuts into your ability to stay in business.

I like to say: put your own oxygen mask on your business first. You can’t serve families next year if you build a business that runs out of air this year. A healthy business lets you serve more people, more consistently, for years to come.

A Quick Reality Check

When I started in 1989, my doula fee was $350. If you adjust that for inflation, that’s about $915 today. And back then, I didn’t have online scheduling tools, marketing costs, or continuing education to factor in.

So if someone today is charging $400, that’s not “affordable.” That’s undercutting what it takes to build a sustainable business.

Your Next Step

If you’re unsure what to charge as you grow, I’ve built a simple framework that walks you through the progression:

Clients 1–3: Confidence-building phase
Clients 4–10: Growth and refinement phase
Beyond 10: Experienced and sustainable pricing

Come talk with us in the Facebook community. Share what doulas are charging in your area and hear how others are approaching pricing in different markets. You’ll find that the best number is one that supports both your clients and your future as a doula.