The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world for everyone, including expecting and newly postpartum parents. So much of our lives have shifted online—breastfeeding support groups now chat via Zoom, grandparents meet babies for the first time over FaceTime, and toddlers the world over wreak adorable havoc while their parents desperately try to mute themselves on their work meetings.

While we sincerely hope to be connecting in person with people in 2021, it’s become clear that this digital life isn’t going away anytime soon. We think that accessing maternity care and support virtually is here to stay—and that it’s a really great thing.

Major Care was founded as a virtual-first company in January 2020, just before the pandemic began. So we’ve always been hip to the power inherent in virtual care for postpartum families and providing support for the fourth trimester with the affordable, accessible “doula in your back pocket” model we’ve become known for. Still we know that people may be wondering how virtual postpartum doula support actually works and whether it’s as intimate and beneficial as in-person support.

What it looks like to have a virtual postpartum doula

While we can’t be in your home holding your babe and making you bone broth like an in-person postpartum doula might, we’re experts on exactly how to support you as a postpartum person—virtually. Virtual postpartum doulas provide a host of emotional and mental support, tips, advice, information-sharing, and so much more.

Wondering what virtual postpartum doulas do? Working with a virtual postpartum doula may look like:

• Demonstrating how to put your newborn in a ring sling over Zoom, then following up via text with recorded video you can play anytime you’re trying to put your baby in the carrier
• Listening to your birth story, holding space, and providing an opportunity to process
• FaceTime-ing with you and your your partner to share the best burping methods
• Checking in aily via text about how you’re doing
• Talking about how your body is recovering from birth and offering best practices
• Suggesting communication strategies for dealing with eager new grandparents
• Helping you come up with a list of questions to ask your pediatrician
• Researching the bottles that work best for breastfed babies and emailing a list for you to look at
• Troubleshooting your pumping experience with you, from flange size to how to advocate for yourself in your workplace

And so much more! As virtual postpartum doulas, we function as personalized postpartum coaches, always at the ready with a kind word and a good resource. Our relationship with you is based on respect and trust. It’s built over text and email, FaceTime and Zoom, and is not dependent on physical location, boundaries, or borders.

We know that the potential for postpartum doulas to provide powerful support virtually is limitless.

To get your own virtual doula, check out our plans and pricing and then take our quiz to get matched with the perfect doula for you.