OUR PASSION IS PROVIDING EACH FAMILY WITH
POSITIVE & CUSTOMIZABLE POSTPARTUM SUPPORT
Bringing home baby is one of the most rewarding but also the most challenging life events you will experience. Through hands-on support and a passion for an optimal postpartum recovery, The Maternal Sidekick is here to help you adjust to parenthood and navigate through the wide range of feelings and situations you will face. We will work together to lessen the overwhelm.
OUR PASSION IS PROVIDING EACH FAMILY WITH
POSITIVE & CUSTOMIZABLE POSTPARTUM SUPPORT
Bringing home baby is one of the most rewarding but also the most challenging life events you will experience. Through hands-on support and a passion for an optimal postpartum recovery, The Maternal Sidekick is here to help you adjust to parenthood and navigate through the wide range of feelings and situations you will face. We will work together to lessen the overwhelm.
Choose Your Package
Postpartum support on your terms
Deposit – Based on package selected at all contract signings – Discussed during our consult
Pay As You Go – Starting @ $350
10 day/evening-time hour commitment with additional hours are invoiced biweekly @ $35/hour
No Discounts and no commitment to total hours used after the first 10 hours
30 Hours – Starting @ $975
30 anytime hour commitment with additional hours invoiced bi-weekly @ $30/hour
SAVE $75 *Payment Schedule Available
60 Hours – Starting @ $1725
SAVE $375 *Payment Schedule Available
90 Hours – Starting @ $2500
SAVE $650 *Payment Schedule Available
Hybrid Overnight Shift
12am – 4am these hours can be used within the hour packages
Choose Your Package
Postpartum support on your terms
Deposit – Based on package selected at all contract signings – Discussed during our consult
Pay As You Go – Starting @ $350
10 day/evening-time hour commitment with additional hours are invoiced biweekly @ $35/hour
No Discounts and no commitment to total hours used after the first 10 hours
30 Hours – Starting @ $975
30 anytime hour commitment with additional hours invoiced bi-weekly @ $30/hour
SAVE $75 *Payment Schedule Available
60 Hours – Starting @ $1725
SAVE $375 *Payment Schedule Available
90 Hours – Starting @ $2500
SAVE $650 *Payment Schedule Available
Hybrid Overnight Shift
12am – 4am these hours can be used within the hour packages
Additional Services
Boost Your Postpartum Experience
Add these services with your postpartum support
Interactive Newborn Prep Workshop – $150
This session happens in the comfort of your own home! Spend 2 hours immersed in interactive experiences using props to build your confidence and know how once your little one arrives! Learn how to use your carseat, navigate bath time, breastfeeding positions, how to change a diaper and so much more!
Virtual Postpartum Planning – $60 / session
Additional Services
Boost Your Postpartum Experience
Add these services with your postpartum support
Interactive Newborn Prep Workshop – $150
This session happens in the comfort of your own home! Spend 2 hours immersed in interactive experiences using props to build your confidence and know how once your little one arrives! Learn how to use your carseat, navigate bath time, breastfeeding positions, how to change a diaper and so much more!
Occasional Childminding – Starting @ $11/hour
Looking for some time away from home without the baby / older children?
This add-on allows for you to step away without worrying about the wellbeing of your littles. Postpartum tasks are not included with this service. This service is not covered under the Postpartum Doula service agreement.
Day-time rate: $15/hr Nighttime rate: $11/hr
Virtual Postpartum Planning – $60 / session
Proudly supporting first-time parent(s), seasoned parent(s), families of multiples, families created through surrogacy & adoption, BIPOC families, 2SLGBTQIA+ families & most importantly, YOUR family
Postpartum Support Love Notes
Melissa M.
Love NoteMelissa M.
Erika quickly became my favourite person over the first three months of motherhood. She helped me navigate (and survive!) those sleep deprived days and nights and provided calming support and postpartum care for my son. She guided me through many firsts such as bathing, feeding, pumping, sleep and encouraged me to care for myself too. Im so happy to have shared this time with you, and know others would be also very lucky to have you by their side!!!
Tannis J.
Love NoteTannis J.
Erika has been a fantastic addition to our life with a new little one. She exudes positive energy, is a non-judgmental and supportive sounding board, and is full of knowledge for a new mom’s many, many questions! Having Erika’s Postpartum Doula support has taught me a lot, and made the transition to new motherhood less stressful. Having an extra set of hands helped to get us organized as well as allow for stealing much needed moments to recharge. Best of all – my daughter simply adores her! I would highly recommend Erika’s services for any new parent.
What Can We Do?
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Overnight support for a restful family
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General infant care – bathing, diapering (cloth & disposable), calming techniques, sleep
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Feeding support – bottle, breast/chest feeding
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A safe sounding board to discuss birth and parenting experiences
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Spend 1:1 time with siblings
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Light household duties – laundry, dishes, vacuuming
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Meal prep & grocery shopping
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Referrals to a variety of local care providers and services
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Email, text and phone support upon service agreement
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The list could go on, send a quick message and see what else we can help YOU with!
Yes!!!! We strongly urge including support that is not related to the family, aid in making the family experience run as smoothly as possible. We will work to complement the support you already have in place without stepping on any toes. While everyone wants to focus on the baby, we want to make sure that the parents, siblings, and pets fell supportive so that when we are no longer working with each other, there is less overwhelm for all involved.
Hiring a professional is liberating because you do not have to worry about entertaining or feel judged if you haven’t showered in three days or if you are still in your pyjamas. In fact, we can help tidy up the house, hold baby so you can enjoy a shower, or have a nap because that’s our job.
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During the building of our agreement of our relationship, we will decide on a base number hours you would like to start with the option to add more later on. How you divvy up those hours will be up to your needs.
Shifts range from 2 hours to an overnight 8 hours. The average shift is 3 hours. This is a good amount of time to feel the affects of having in-home support.
A postpartum doula usually helps families in the early months of the little one’s life but can help all the way up to a year postpartum.
If this is the parent(s) first baby, they may need more time to adjust to all the baby’s needs and learning how to adjust their expectations. If parents are adding a sibling to the family, their needs will differ and the timeline of support will depend on how confident the parent(s) feel to go on with their own journey.
Timelines are as unique as there are people on this planet, our care can grow with your family.
Being able to help new families is a great passion of The Maternal Sidekick. If your growing family would benefit from a postpartum doula and cost is holding you back from reaching out, fear not as there will be a solution for us working together. Solutions include but not limited to: multiple payments, sliding scale or trading services.
The doula industry is not regulated meaning anyone can call themselves a doula and there isn’t a strict requirement that doulas (birth and postpartum) be regulated or certified. That being said, Erika (Owner of The Maternal Sidekick) certified as a Postpartum Doula with Doula Canada . Erika is also insured and a member of the Association of Ontario Doulas. Certification + life experiences + learning from past clients = THE BEST TEACHER <3.
Please reach out if you have any questions about our qualifications in providing care.
The Maternal Sidekick believes that the birth experience and postpartum healing is integral in how you embrace parenthood. Giving space to all involved and allowing for a respectful transition into parenthood is essential. Although we have had our own birth and postpartum experiences, we will work with you to find your own groove and pace of what becoming a parent looks like to your family within our scope of practice.
If you do not feel comfortable with our support, we urge for open communication so that we can work towards a solution that gives you the customized support you deserve.
The Maternal Sidekick takes on 2-3 in-home postpartum clients at a time to allow for sufficient availability for visits. Our other services availability is based off of our in-home postpartum support.
Once the agreements and deposits are in place, there will be access to me via: email, text, phone and social media before and after the little one has arrived.
Interested in working with me? Add details below and I will be in touch.
Once you become a client of The Maternal Sidekick, there is access to our Client Portal. Within the Portal there is a booking system. There is the ability to book up to a month in advance. When it comes to booking overnight shifts, we will manually enter the visits but other than that, you will book the visits that work with your family without having to ask when we are available.
Please allow at least 24 hours before booking a visit unless the need for support is urgent than exceptions will be made.
Ideally, we want to meet with you and your partner before baby arrives. This way we can discuss and accumulate action steps of how to make the transition into parenthood as smoothly as possible.
We will start with a consult to make sure our services would be a great fit for your family, and once agreements and deposits are completed, we are available via: email, text, phone and social media before and after the little one has arrived.
Participating in our Interactive Newborn Prep Session is recommended if baby is still on the way at the time of hiring The Maternal Sidekick. Click here to book a session
The Maternal Sidekick has a select few postpartum doulas we call on if a need arises. If our availability does not meet all of your needs in the postpartum phase of your journey, we will introduce your family to trusted colleagues that can contribute their services.
Each client’s needs are different. Some want nothing more then for us to hold the baby so they can spend some alone time doing whatever the heck they want, others wants us to tidy the home and prep food while they cuddle their babe, while others wants us to entertain the older sibling for some quiet time with their new squish.
The first couple visits may feel awkward as asking for help usually does at first, but once our presence feels more of a comfort, having us in your home will feel natural and oh so beneficial to your well being.
A postpartum doula is a professional who offers care with:
- Physical, emotional, informational and practical support
- Feeding assistance (Chest/Breast, Bottle, Formula)
- Infant behavioural guidance
- Guidance on well-baby care
- Overnight care of baby
- Help create an action plan for new parents to cope with the changes that comes with a newborn
Reasonable housekeeping (secondary task, family is top priority)Every client’s needs will vary, The Maternal Sidekick takes pride in offering care that suits your family
A postpartum doula does not perform:
- Postpartum clinical care
- Medical tasks
- Diagnose or treat and medical conditions
- Heavy housekeeping or yard work
- Care for the infant without the parents present in their dwelling (We offer occasional childminding services to cover this!)
Please never hesitate to ask, we will be open with our limits and possibilities of supporting your family.
Your family doctor is your go-to contact (6 weeks postpartum and beyond) with any of your medical concerns or questions. They are also your referral point for any medical professionals that you may need. Your family doctor won’t come in to your home and relieve you of the household tasks or provide the time for you to rest if thats what you need.
This is where a postpartum doula comes in. They lighten the load that comes with raising a newborn. They also provide information and referrals based on your postpartum needs.
While we are knowledgeable with the pelvic floor, unless the doula is certified in providing pelvic floor exercises and diagnosis, providing local pelvic floor physiotherapists recommendations and general information on the pelvic floor is within our scope or practice.
The Maternal Sidekick thrives in providing in-person support. At this time initial consults can be done over video. Book a consult here!
Your midwife will be taking care of the medical needs for you and baby, while they do provide in home visits, they most likely won’t provide hands on support needed within your home to reduce the overwhelm of housekeeping tasks.
We encourage our clients to ask their midwife questions they may have regarding postpartum healing and questions/concerns they may have with their newborn. You may ask your doula these questions too but if the issue is medical in nature, we will direct you to ask your health care provider.
Everyone can benefit from a postpartum doula. Having extra support in your home especially the first weeks and months as you adjust to your new role. Having an unbiased support person in your home can reduce the feelings of being judged and the need to host.
If you struggled with mood disorders before pregnancy, hiring a postpartum doula can help with reducing the risks of developing or reducing the affects of a postpartum mood disorder.
Doula services are not covered by OHIP but there has been some success within the doula community of their clients gaining insurance coverage through extended health benefits they may have. Best course of action is to reach out to your insurance provider and ask. Your doula (if certified) can provide you with a letter for the insurance company.
We help the whole family! A newborn not only affects the birthing person but the entire family unit. While care may seem baby and mom oriented, we encourage partners to ask for resources and support as well. We will also care of siblings and pets as directed.
You can find my rates and packages here. If cost is an issue, I would like to work out an agreement that would benefit all parties. Please reach out and ask. We are pretty flexible :)
Erika from The Maternal Sidekick is a certified postpartum doula, current with her first aid certification, also can provide a police check. As for experience, Erika has been rocking the postpartum life for seven years, raising her 3 kiddos and two bonus pregnancies through surrogacy. Erika has also supported 30+ families in various postpartum capacities. Please reach out if you would like to know more :)
At this time, The Maternal Sidekick does not hold any safe food handling certifications, although if clients feel comfortable with us doing so, we can prepare meals and snacks as requested.
Doulas are unable to assess any medical issues for both baby and parent. However we can provide professional resources that can aid in any need you may have.
We are trained to look for signs that reaching out to a professional may be in order. We will delicately suggest to yourself or partner that talking with a health care provider may be a great course of action.
Consider doulas like a Rolodex of resources!
While not certified, The Maternal Sidekick is familiar with a variety of baby wearing apparatuses and what to look for in a proper fit. Within the Hamilton area we have a great resource if you are looking for baby wearing pros!
A postpartum doula is like a neat all in one package. We come into your home and assist wherever you need the support. Need a tidy of your home to help reduce overwhelm? You got it. Need laundry started and dare we say finished? You got it. Need the baby cared for so you can rock some time to yourself? You got it. Need supper made and snacks prepared for the days ahead? You got it. Each doula will have a limit on what they are willing to do. Best to have an open line of communication and ask your doula if they can complete the task or not :)
Going through a caesarean is major abdominal surgery! Your healing will differ from a vaginal birth (there are still some similarities). Having a postpartum doula in your home especially those first few weeks while you gain your bearings will be key. Not only are you healing, learning how to care for a newborn is an added challenge.
Your doula will provide support as is needed for you and your family. On top of the common tasks done by your doula, having them run errands such as grocery shop may be in the cards as the ability of driving will be limited.
Ideally hiring a doula while in the second to third trimester is ideal for your booking your desired doula. This allows for their availability to be open and the opportunity to build a relationship with them before baby arrives. Having a postpartum doula ready to go also gives you peace of mind for your recovery.
Once your doula is booked (through signing of an agreement and deposit paid), they will ready whether baby comes early or late to start supporting you.
If baby has arrived and the realization of needing more help has come up, there isn’t a time limit of when you can hire your postpartum doula within that first year of postpartum. Usually past a year, caring for your child(ren) would be then considered childcare.
Let’s Connect
Heyo! Thanks for scrolling this far down and taking an interest in what The Maternal Sidekick has to offer. Take a moment and fill out the contact form and we will get back in touch with you within 1 – 2 days of receiving this form. We look forward to exploring how I can best support your postpartum needs.