Doula Contract Template: What to Include

A doula contract is the document that turns a warm conversation about birth support into a working professional arrangement. It sets out what you will do, when you are on call, what you charge, and where your role ends. Most doulas start with handshake arrangements and learn the hard way that a missed expectation during labor is impossible to renegotiate in the moment.

This guide walks through how to write a doula services agreement that holds up: the scope of care, the on-call window, fees and refunds, backup coverage, and the scope-of-practice language that keeps you out of clinical and legal trouble.

What is a Doula Contract?

A doula contract is a service agreement between a doula and a client that defines the support the doula will provide before, during, and after birth. It covers birth doulas, postpartum doulas, and increasingly fertility and bereavement doulas, all of whom offer non-medical support during major reproductive life events.

The contract does two things at once. It reassures the client that they know exactly what they are paying for, and it protects the doula by drawing a clear line around scope, payment, and availability. Without it, you are relying on memory and goodwill during one of the most emotionally charged events a family will go through.

Doula work sits in a specific legal spot. You are not a midwife, nurse, or physician, and your agreement needs to say so in writing. A good contract is as much about what you don't do as what you do.

Types of Doula Agreements

The structure of your contract shifts depending on the kind of support you offer.

Birth Doula Agreement

Covers prenatal visits, continuous labor support, and usually one or two postpartum visits. The defining feature is the on-call period, a block of weeks around the due date during which you must be reachable and ready to attend the birth.

Postpartum Doula Agreement

Covers in-home support after birth: newborn care guidance, feeding support, light household help, and overnight shifts. These are usually billed hourly or in packages of hours rather than as a single flat fee, so the contract reads more like an ongoing services arrangement.

Combined or Package Agreement

Many doulas bundle birth and postpartum support, or offer tiered packages. When you do, the contract needs to break out what each tier includes so a client on the basic package can't later claim they were promised overnight postpartum care.

Specialty Doula Agreements

Fertility, abortion, and bereavement doulas work in emotionally heavy territory where expectations are easy to misread. If you offer this kind of support, the contract should be even more careful about scope: what sessions look like, how you handle a client in distress, and where your support stops and a therapist's or clinician's begins. The clearer the boundary, the safer it is for both of you.

Key Clauses in a Doula Contract

1. Scope of Services

This is where you list, in plain language, what the client is actually buying. Be specific enough that there is no daylight between expectation and delivery.

For a birth doula, that typically includes:

• A set number of prenatal meetings (say, two visits before the due date)
• Continuous physical and emotional support during active labor
• Comfort measures such as positioning, breathing guidance, and counterpressure
• Informational support to help the client understand their options
• Phone and text availability during the on-call window
• One or more postpartum follow-up visits

For a postpartum doula, the list looks different: newborn care guidance, feeding and bottle support, light meal prep, help establishing a sleep routine, and a set number of daytime or overnight hours. Spell out what falls outside the role too, such as deep cleaning, older-sibling childcare, or anything that turns you into a general housekeeper.

The more concrete the list, the less room for "I thought that was included." A short sentence noting that any work beyond the listed scope is billed separately, and only with the client's agreement, saves you from quietly absorbing extra hours.

2. Scope of Practice and Medical Disclaimer

No clause matters more for your protection. State clearly that you provide non-medical support only. A doula does not:

• Perform clinical tasks such as vaginal exams, blood pressure checks, or fetal monitoring
• Diagnose conditions or interpret test results
• Give medical advice or make medical decisions
• Speak to medical staff on the client's behalf or override provider instructions
• Prescribe or administer medication

Spell out that the client remains responsible for their own medical decisions and for choosing their care provider. This single section is what separates a supportive role from a liability you can't afford.

It also helps to describe what you do offer in those same moments, so the disclaimer doesn't read as a list of refusals. You can hold space, suggest position changes, remind a client of the questions they wanted to ask their provider, and help a partner stay grounded. None of that crosses into clinical territory, and naming it reassures a nervous client that "non-medical" still means real, hands-on help.

3. On-Call Period

Define the exact window during which you guarantee availability, usually from around 38 weeks until the birth. State what "on call" means in practice: that you will keep your phone on, stay within a reasonable travel distance, and avoid travel or commitments that would prevent you from attending.

Also define when on-call ends if the pregnancy runs long or the client is induced or scheduled for a cesarean. A pregnancy that goes two weeks past the due date can stretch your on-call window well beyond what you priced for, so some doulas cap it at a set date and charge a small extension fee after that. Whatever you decide, write it down. The middle of week 42 is the worst time to discover you and the client pictured different things.

4. Fees and Payment Schedule

Lay out the total fee, the retainer due at signing, and when the balance is due. A common structure is a non-refundable retainer at booking with the remainder due a few weeks before the due date. Include any travel fees, mileage, or charges for support that runs beyond a set number of hours.

Be explicit that the fee covers your reserved availability and labor support regardless of how long labor lasts or how the birth unfolds.

5. Backup Coverage

Births don't wait for your schedule. Name how backup works: whether you have a specific backup doula, whether the client can meet them in advance, and whether the fee changes if the backup attends. A client who knows the plan ahead of time won't panic if your understudy shows up at 3 a.m.

6. Refund and Cancellation Terms

Address the awkward scenarios before they happen. Cover what happens if the client cancels, if you have to withdraw, if there is a miscarriage or loss, and if the client transfers to a different doula. Decide which portion of the fee is refundable and under what conditions. Many doulas keep the retainer non-refundable because it reserved weeks they could have sold to someone else.

7. Confidentiality

You will see a family at their most vulnerable. A confidentiality clause assures the client that you won't share details, photos, or their story without written consent, and it carves out an exception for sharing anonymized information with a backup doula or for legally required disclosures. If you want to use birth photos in your marketing or post a testimonial, get that permission in writing as a separate opt-in rather than burying it in the fine print. A client who feels their privacy was respected is the one who refers you to three friends.

How to Write a Doula Contract Step by Step

1. Identify the parties. Full legal names of the doula and the client, plus contact information and the client's estimated due date.
2. State the type of agreement. Birth, postpartum, or combined, so the rest of the document reads in context.
3. Detail the scope of services. List exactly what is included at the client's chosen package level.
4. Insert the medical disclaimer. Make the non-medical scope unmissable, ideally in its own bolded section.
5. Define the on-call window and backup plan. Give dates and name the backup arrangement.
6. Set the fee and payment schedule. Retainer, balance, due dates, and any extra charges.
7. Write the refund and cancellation terms. Walk through cancellation, withdrawal, and loss scenarios.
8. Add confidentiality and a signature block. Both parties date and sign, ideally well before the on-call period opens.

If you'd rather not start from a blank page, a tool like Contractable can assemble these sections for you and let you adjust the scope and fee terms to fit your practice.

Common Mistakes Doulas Make

Leaving scope vague. "Support during labor" means different things to different people. The client who expected you to advocate against an epidural and the doula who saw her role as neutral will both feel let down. Write the scope down.

Skipping the medical disclaimer. Without it, a poor birth outcome can turn into a claim that you failed in a duty you never actually had. This is the clause that protects your livelihood.

No backup plan in writing. If you get the flu or are at another birth, an unprepared client feels abandoned. A named backup turns a crisis into a footnote.

Fuzzy refund terms. A loss or an unexpected cancellation is painful enough without a fight over money. Decide the rules in advance when everyone is calm.

Treating the retainer as fully refundable. You turn away other bookings to hold someone's due-date weeks. If you refund everything, you've worked for free on availability that had real value.

Related Agreements Worth Reviewing

A doula contract shares DNA with several other personal-service agreements. If you run a broader support or wellness practice, these are worth a look:

• For the general structure that underpins any client engagement, see the service agreement template.
• Postpartum and overnight support overlaps with childcare, so the babysitting contract template covers useful in-home care language.
• If you also offer guidance-based sessions, the coaching agreement template handles scope and outcomes for advisory work.
• Doulas who add prenatal fitness or movement support can adapt terms from the personal training contract template.

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Generate Your Doula Services Agreement with Contractable

You don't need a lawyer on retainer to put your doula practice on solid footing. Describe your services, your fee structure, and your on-call terms, and Contractable drafts a doula services agreement with the scope, medical disclaimer, backup, and refund clauses already in place. Review it, adjust the language to match how you actually work, and have it ready to sign before your next client's on-call window opens.