Thinking of hiring a doula to support you during your childbirth and parenting journey and wondering if they are covered by OHIP? This blog will answer this question for you.
Having a doula on your birth and postpartum support team has been shown by research to be beneficial to expectant and new parents. One of the most asked questions we get as doulas is, “Are your services covered by OHIP?”
OHIP is the government-run health insurance plan in Ontario and it pays for many different health care services. Most basic and emergency health care services are covered by OHIP. These services include doctors’ visits, lab tests, ambulance services, and travel for northern Ontario residents. OHIP also covers the majority of your hospital stay costs including doctor and staff services, tests, medications, accommodation and meals.
Doula support is unfortunately not covered by OHIP at the present time. However, there is a silver lining for us Ontarians! Some 3rd party private insurance plans have been covering doula support for a few years now. They do require the doula to be certified with a reputable association like DONA, CAPPA or Doula Training Canada. In some employee 3rd party insurances, a personal spending account will cover items such as breast pumps, doulas services and classes.
So, what is a personal spending account? A PSA is used for wellness costs like fitness, health products and services. PSA’s work by your employer allocating credits into your PSA and you use them to pay for a wide variety of wellness services including yoga, gym subscriptions and doula support.
Another more recent option is Carrot Fertility. Carrot works by reimbursing their members’ doula costs when they submit their invoices to Carrot. They have some service requirements and documentation requirements for doulas. Carrot will only cover support provided by doulas who hold current certification and can prove they have kept their professional development portfolio up to date. An attestation form will be emailed to the doula you intend to hire digitally, which they have to complete. Carrot will then decide if the doula qualifies for reimbursement.
Sometimes private insurance may be out of reach for some families. All is not lost though.
There are doulas that work with a sliding scale or offer support pro bono and this can make it more affordable. Some doulas may also be working towards certification and may be able to offer lower fees in order to obtain testimonials from clients to fulfill certification requirements.
Another option for setting up doula Support for yourself is to include them in your baby shower registry. It can be hard to ask for support during pregnancy. It may be even harder to ask for support once the baby is here. By setting up a postpartum doula support fund your family and friends can help fund doula services. Birth and postpartum support are immensely important for both physical and mental health, experiencing one of the most amazing and momentous transitions in your life.
While the answer to this question may not be the one we want, hopefully the information we have shared may be useful to you. We wish you the best of luck in your childbirth and parenting journey.
While the answer to this question may not be the one we want, hopefully the information we have shared may be useful to you. We wish you the best of luck in your childbirth and parenting journey.
