Is an Infant Nanny and a Postpartum Doula the Same?
While both a nanny and a postpartum Doula’s roles are important, these two services are significantly different. We wanted to share the differences in these care models and the scope of practice for each. Today we are here to answer the question, Is an infant nanny and Postpartum Doula the same?
What is an infant nanny?
An infant nanny is a childcare provider who offers care to a family for an extended period. They are commonly experienced and most have cared for many babies before. A nanny is responsible for your newborn’s well-being. An infant nannies job is focused on your baby and their needs. An infant nanny often bonds with your baby and family.
What is a postpartum doula?
The word “doula” was derived from ancient Greek. The meaning of the word doula is ” a woman who serves. ” Today, when we (our team) think of the word “Doula,” what comes to mind is a person (male or female) who helps with pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period by offering nonbias emotional, physical, and educational support. A Postpartum Doula is a trained professional, who helps families ease into the transition of parenthood. All Postpartum Doulas should be certified, knowledgeable, and trained. Bay City Doulas’ postpartum Doula team is also all certified infant care specialists.
What does an infant nanny do?
When you hire a nanny, you often will sign a contract. In that contract, there will be specific tasks specified that your nanny will complete daily or weekly. Your nannies’ primary responsibility will be the care and wellbeing of your child. These responsibilities may include, but are not limited to:
- Child laundry
- infant feeding/ washing bottles etc
- care for the baby throughout the day
- keep track of feeding times and diapers
- bathing/ diaper changes
- being able to work, and know your child is getting attention and care
What does a postpartum doula do?
A Bay City Postpartum Doula is a trained professional there who provides care to families as a whole for the postpartum period. Your Postpartum Doulas’ primary focus is on you, as the birthing person. They are also there to help you with all things baby care and bring with them the extensive knowledge they have.
Bay City Doula Postpartum care is:
- helps you with feedings, regardless of your feeding preference ( nursing, pumping, bottle feeding).
- Able to provide you with a solid chunk of rest while knowing your baby is in good hands.
- making sure that older siblings are getting some quality attention and playtime (sometimes big sibling projects).
- Helps with simple household chores, like unloading the dishwasher, and folding laundry
- Always having something to drink close by and other snacks and meals prepped for when you get hungry.
- Provides emotional support, and is there to listen to you and talk through any feelings that a new baby may bring up
- there to check on your partner and their process into parenthood as well.
- Someone there to troubleshoot daily issues with.
- Help with all things baby, including but not limited to: swaddling, bathing, feeding, and hunger cues, soothing mechanisms, and much more.
- someone who’s not there to tell you what to do, but is there to give you the resources and information to figure out what works best for your family.
- Being reminded of your inner strength during the hard moments, and someone there to celebrate the exciting ones!
- A trusted professional with extended resources and referrals available to you.
A postpartum Doula and a Nanny are not the same!
We completely respect and value Nannies, and many of us started as nannies ourselves. There is something special about being involved and integrated with a family’s life and watching kids grow. We do not want to discredit infant nannies in any way. They are valuable! However, we want to point out the many differences between a nanny and a Postpartum Doula and emphasize that these two services are significantly different! A postpartum doula is a trained professional who cares for the birthing person and family through their postpartum period, with emotional support and evidence-based information. A Bay City Postpartum Doula has gone through extensive training to gain this information and learn this care model.
To Learn more
To learn more about the support that a Postpartum doula can provide you and your family with, visit us at the Bay City Doulas website!
For more great tips on all things parenthood, pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, check out our weekly blog.
