I agree with the comments made already about the hourly rate for a doula once you break the fee down over all the 'behind the scenes' hours put in. I think the level of training a doula has is also very important.

I think a good doula should cost more and personally I'd rather pay more for a good one than risk my birth experience with someone ill equipped. I had a public hospital birth in a birth centre to save money on a home birth so I figured some of that money saved was going on the best doula I could lay my hands on. I'd rather have pushed my baby around in a shopping trolley than buy a pram if it meant finding the money elsewhere for a good doula!

A good doula will have good training and really 'get' the birth experience and the birth industry. For me, my doula was insurance to navigate me through 'the system' should my birth become medicalised and also a knowledgeable woman to guide me through positions etc as labour progressed. Through my pregnancy she gave me educational materials to use and our discussions ensured I was educated on birth and my choices. I wanted to know that I could trust her. And I did. I am still so grateful to have had her there. I have friends who have used doulas who are not as trained and ended up with preventable interventions suggested by the hospital staff that I still wonder why they had them. Perhaps a more highly trained doula would have helped them be more educated on birth and ask the right questions when the time came?

So for me, I absolutely think the cost justifies the service.