Frequently Asked Questions
Pricing
Newborn Care Specialist
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Baby Care and Education
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Baby Related Cleaning
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Overnight Support
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Certified Postpartum Doula
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Holistic Family Care
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Lactation Support
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Baby Related Cleaning
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Baby Care and Education
Booking Your Sessions
We accept families up to 4 months postpartum, but most parents book 3–4 months in advance to lock in the schedule and Care Professional they want. Booking early gives you time to build your care plan through our Postpartum Care Planner, adjust it, and meet your care team by video.
Yes. Plans change, and many families don't realize they need help until they are in the thick of it. Our platform can help you find Care Professionals who are available quickly.
We currently service the NYC metro area and can accommodate other cities on a case-by-case basis. For location-specific questions, reach out to clients@boramcare.com.
Everyone starts with our Postpartum Care Planner, which asks about your location, birth details, budget, feeding preferences, and relevant background. From your answers we build a recommended Care Plan, which you can adjust on your own or with help from our team.
Certified Postpartum Doulas: $60/hr
Newborn Care Specialists: $36/hr
Boram Care adds a 5% processing fee to each payment for care, so a $60/hr doula session is billed to you at $63/hr. The fee does not apply to the Contract Termination Fee or to any amount owed for unrescheduled sessions at the end of your contract.
Session minimums differ by care type — 4 hours for a doula day session, 12 hours for a Newborn Care Specialist — so the lower hourly rate is not always the lower cost per session. See "How long is a session?" below.
For families with twins, we offer care at 1.5 times our regular rate to ensure both little ones get the attention they deserve.
Certified Postpartum Doulas: $90/hr
Newborn Care Specialists: $54/hr
Nothing. After the deposit, no further payment is due until your care begins. Sessions are billed weekly, for care delivered the prior week.
A one-time $50 deposit, due before your first Meet & Greet is scheduled. It covers all of your Meet & Greets — you never pay it twice.
The deposit is non-refundable. It respects the time our Care Professionals give to each introduction, and it covers our cost of matching you, which we incur whether or not you go on to sign.
If your Care Contract ends and you want to be matched with someone new, you can re-enter matching without paying it again.
The card you use for the $50 deposit becomes your payment method on file, and weekly session charges go to the same card. Keep a valid card on file for the whole engagement — you can update it at any time. If a payment fails, we will let you know and give you 5 days to sort it out.
Your At Home Sessions
Every Care Professional holds at least one of the two certifications below, and has completed Boram's interview and verification process and passed a background check.
Certified Postpartum Doulas on our platform are certified through ProDoula, CAPPA, DONA International, the International Doula Institute, or another established training organization. They focus on lactation and recovery support for you, alongside baby care.
Newborn Care Specialists are certified through reputable agencies. They focus on baby care, including overnights.
Each type of care has a session minimum, which is the shortest session you can book:
Certified Postpartum Doulas — day sessions are a minimum of 4 hours, starting at 8 a.m.; night sessions are a minimum of 8 hours, starting at 10 p.m.
Newborn Care Specialists — a minimum of 12 hours, available day and/or night
Family care and education
Baby (feeding, diapering, bathing, and so on)
Mom (physical and emotional support, lactation assistance, sitz bath, foot bath)
Spouse (included in education and experience)
Siblings (support to help bonding)
Lactation support — latching, feeding schedules, general breastfeeding technique
Product recommendations
Baby-related cleaning — bottles, diapers, baby laundry
Overnight assistance (night sessions) — managing nighttime wakings so parents can rest, prepping pumped milk or formula for night feeds, bringing baby to mom for a night feed. Doulas can also support mom with lactation at any point in a shift, so if you need latch support at 3 a.m., they have you covered.
Baby care and education — bottle feeding, diapering, bathing, soothing
Product recommendations
Baby-related cleaning — bottles, diapers, baby laundry
Overnight assistance (night sessions) — managing nighttime wakings so parents can rest, prepping pumped milk or formula for night feeds, bringing baby to mom for a night feed
Newborn Care Specialists focus on the baby. They do not provide lactation assistance or care for older siblings, except in the case of twins with prior approval. If you want lactation and recovery support for yourself, a Certified Postpartum Doula is the better fit.
Some things sit outside every engagement, and some can be added if you and your Care Professional agree to them before signing.
Never included. No Care Professional provides medical care — assessments, diagnosis, medication, treatment, or prescriptions. This is outside what they are trained, licensed, and insured to do, regardless of what you agree between you. If a medical concern comes up, your Care Professional will tell you to contact a licensed healthcare provider.
Available by agreement, if written into your Care Contract. Some Care Professionals offer these; it is their choice, not a standard part of care:
Meal preparation for the postpartum parent
Light general household cleaning
Not offered unless your Care Professional is separately credentialed and it is agreed in writing:
Transportation for you or your baby
Care for older siblings — doulas include siblings in education and bonding, but not direct care. Twins are the exception and are covered at 1.5 times the regular rate, with prior approval.
Full household cleaning unrelated to the baby or postpartum parent
Anything you want beyond the standard included list should be raised with your Care Professional before signing so it goes into your Care Contract. Requesting services outside your Care Contract mid-engagement can be grounds for ending it
Tell us straight away. Some things are serious enough to end a Care Contract on the spot, with no contract termination fee owed. Your Care Professional's platform access is suspended while we review, and you keep the right to leave a review. The below constitute contract termination for cause.
Safety. Your Care Professional shows up impaired or smelling of drugs or alcohol; is unresponsive or cannot be roused while they are supposed to be awake and caring for your baby; leaves your baby unattended to focus on a phone, laptop, or other device; or handles your baby in a way that puts them at risk.
Trust. They steal or take anything from your home without permission; are not who they said they were, in credentials, experience, or identity; or share photos or details about your family without your permission.
Conduct. They are abusive, threatening, or harassing toward you or anyone in your home; ignore your household rules after you have told them; or bring someone into your home without your permission.
Scope. They work outside what they are trained and credentialed to do.
If something has happened that is not on this list, still tell us. We will look at it the same way.
Yes — just let us know, so we can match you with Care Professionals who love your pets as much as you do.
Yes. Doulas are trained in lactation and can help with most breastfeeding challenges, like latching difficulties, feeding schedule questions, or general technique. Newborn Care Specialists do not provide lactation support.
For complex or medical concerns, see "For complex or medical lactation concerns" below.
Preparing for your Sessions
We keep three Amazon lists of recommended products, depending on your circumstances. Nothing on them is required — they are suggestions to make your first weeks easier. Buy whatever you prefer, or nothing at all.
Care Professionals bring their own meals. Just let them know where they can take a break or eat.
Your Care Professional will be close to your baby through the night and will need somewhere nearby to sit and take breaks. It does not need to be a bed — just a comfortable, quiet spot close to your little one.
How the night runs is something to settle with your Care Professional before you sign, including how much rest they will take and when. Overnight care varies, so agree on what you are expecting rather than assuming.
Changes, Cancellations, and Ending Your Contract
Yes. You and your Care Professional can move any session to another time by mutual agreement, at no cost. Rescheduling is always free and there is no limit on it. A rescheduled session is not a cancellation.
Cancelling more than 48 hours before the start time costs nothing.
Cancelling within 48 hours — or not being home for the session — is a late cancellation. The full session fee is charged and your Care Professional is paid in full.
If you cancel a session and it is never made up, it stays on the books as outstanding. Two things follow from that:
If three cancelled sessions are outstanding at once, your Care Professional can end the contract, and the termination fee applies. Rescheduling any of them brings the number back down.
If your contract finishes with sessions you cancelled and never rescheduled, you owe your Care Professional 20% of the value of those sessions. This is charged after your final week of care.
Late cancellations are not counted here, because you have already paid your Care Professional in full for those.
If you owe both a Contract Termination Fee and an amount for unrescheduled sessions, the two share a single $2,500 cap and together will never exceed it.
We hold Care Professionals to the same standard of reliability, and mutually agreed reschedules are fine on either side. If your Care Professional cancels or does not show up, you are not charged and they are not paid for that session.
If your Care Professional cancels two or more sessions within any 30-day period, you can end the contract with no fee owed. That is your call — if the relationship is working, you can also carry on.
If you end your Care Contract without cause within 30 days of your start date, or after care has begun, you owe your Care Professional a Contract Termination Fee: 20% of your remaining contract value — the sessions still to be delivered — up to $2,500. End the contract more than 30 days before your start date and there is no fee. Care you have already received is billed as normal, separately.
Without cause means ending the contract for reasons of your own, rather than because of something your Care Professional did or something outside anyone's control. Those situations carry no fee and are listed under "When is there no fee?" below.
An example. You sign an $8,000 Care Contract. Halfway through, your plans change and you decide to stop. You have received $4,000 of care and $4,000 remains, so the fee is 20% of $4,000 — $800. The $2,500 cap only comes into play on much larger contracts.
We charge the fee to your payment method on file and pass it to your Care Professional.
Your Care Professional holds your schedule and turns down other work to do it. Ending your contract early without cause leaves them with a gap they usually cannot fill, so the fee compensates them for that.
The fee is waived in any of these situations:
You end the contract more than 30 days before your start date
Your Care Professional steps back from the contract
Your contract is terminated for cause. See “What happens if something goes wrong”
Force Majeure
The fee applies when you end your contract for any other reason within 30 days of your start date, or after care has begun. The most common:
You have changed your mind
You found another option, or family is stepping in
You are moving, travelling, or your schedule changed
Your finances have changed
It also applies if your Care Professional ends the contract because you have three cancelled sessions outstanding and unrescheduled. Rescheduling any of them brings that number back down, so this only comes up if cancelled sessions are left unmade-up.
In all of these cases the fee is the same: 20% of your remaining contract value, capped at $2,500. On an $8,000 contract stopped halfway through, that is $800.
When you end your contract, you will pick the reason from a short list. We let your Care Professional know, and they have 2–3 days to respond.
If they agree, or do not respond, your reason stands.
If they see it differently, we take a look before anything is charged.
If your reason is not one of the listed ones, we take a look either way.
You will not be charged anything until this is settled. That covers both the Contract Termination Fee and any session billed as a late cancellation at the point you ended the contract — the two are charged together once the reason is confirmed.
Paying for Care
Sometimes, but it is not typical. Most standard plans do not list doula services, and coverage is more often partial reimbursement after the fact than direct payment. It is worth checking, and worth knowing it may come to nothing.
Check your policy documents. Look for terms like "postpartum care," "maternal support," or "doula services." Most plans don't list doulas specifically, so check the broader maternal health or home health sections.
Call your insurance company. Use the customer service number on your card and ask: Does my plan cover postpartum doula services? Are specific providers or certifications required for reimbursement? Do I need a referral or pre-authorization?
Ask about related benefits. Even if "doula" isn't covered, you may get partial reimbursement if your doula provides lactation support, mental health support, or newborn care — especially if they are a licensed provider such as a nurse or therapist.
Ask us for our insurance phone script. Email clients@boramcare.com and we will send you exactly what to say and which questions to ask.
You can pay with an HSA or FSA card the same way you would with any other card.
Whether postpartum care is an eligible expense is a separate question, and it is between you and your plan administrator rather than something we can confirm. These accounts cover medical care, and postpartum support is not automatically treated as medical. A Letter of Medical Necessity from your provider is usually what makes the difference, so get one before you pay if you intend to use these funds. Without it, your administrator may ask you to substantiate the expense later, and a disallowed expense can carry tax consequences.
If you are unsure, ask your plan administrator first.
An LMN is what most insurers and HSA/FSA administrators want before they will treat postpartum care as a medical expense.
Ask your OB-GYN, midwife, or primary care provider. You need a licensed healthcare provider to write and sign it — usually an OB-GYN, licensed midwife, primary care doctor, or psychiatrist or therapist if the focus is mental health support.
Explain why you need it. Tell them your insurance or HSA requires an LMN, what type of support you will be receiving — newborn care, lactation help, postpartum recovery, mental health monitoring — and any conditions or risk factors, such as C-section recovery, anxiety, lack of support at home, or a history of depression.
Provide a sample or template. Many providers are unfamiliar with LMNs for doulas, so bringing one makes it easier.
Submit it, along with documentation of what you paid and any forms your plan requires.
Get the LMN before care begins if you can. Some plans will not apply it retroactively.
Yes. Email clients@boramcare.com and we will issue a superbill on your Care Professional's behalf, covering dates of service, hours, amounts paid, and your Care Professional's name and credentials. We verify those credentials before a Care Professional joins our network, so the documentation reflects what we have already checked.
Pair it with a Letter of Medical Necessity if your plan asks for one. Whether the expense is approved is your plan's decision, not ours.
Yes. Families have used Boram Care to put their Carrot Fertility benefits toward postpartum care, and our Care Professionals are vetted with Carrot approval in mind before they join the network. Tell us what Carrot asks for and we will provide the superbill and supporting documentation. Approval is Carrot's decision, not ours.
For low milk supply, recurrent mastitis, tongue or lip ties, or feeding complications related to prematurity or a medical condition, consider consulting an IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant). You can create a profile with The Lactation Network to check whether your insurance covers IBCLC sessions.