DoulaMatch.net vs. Bornbir: Two Very Different Ways to Connect Doulas and Families
Since our inception in 2008, we've seen the doula directory market has exploded. We welcome the additional support for new parents. Any platform that supports the ease of people transitioning to parenthood is a good thing. We want to compare what we do with one of the newest yet fastest growing platforms: Bornbir.
If you’re a doula deciding where to spend your marketing dollars, or a parent looking for support, you’ve probably seen both DoulaMatch.net and Bornbir. They both connect families with perinatal professionals, but they work in opposite ways. Here is how they differ and why we believe DoulaMatch.net is the better choice for doulas and for families.
Two different models
DoulaMatch.net is a directory built for one purpose: helping expecting families quickly find doulas who are available around their due date. Since 2008, doulas have built profiles listing their experience, training, certifications, fees and availability. Parents search, read, compare and choose which doula to contact.
Bornbir is a broader marketplace covering doulas, midwives, lactation consultants, night nannies and more. Its own provider page says it is “built around active demand.” Parents post a care request, and providers browse those requests and reach out first.
Both approaches can lead to a hired doula, but the experience is very different, and so is the cost.
1. Cost: a doula profile that pays for itself with one client
DoulaMatch.net charges a flat annual profile fee:
- $25/year in years 1 through 3, then $40/year from year 4 on
- $15/year for Black and Indigenous doulas, every year
- No commissions or booking fees on the families you serve
Bornbir lets providers join free, and it takes no commission when a family hires you. The free tier is limited, though. According to Bornbir’s pricing page, unlimited outreach to leads, access to client phone numbers and top search ranking all require Premium, at $79.99/year ($9.99 if paid monthly). Bornbir also keeps 5% + $0.30 of any payment a family makes by card through a Bornbir invoice.
Over your first three years, that’s $75 on DoulaMatch.net versus about $240 for Bornbir Premium. After that it’s $40 a year versus $79.99. For a doula building a practice, or a community doula working on a tight margin, that difference matters. We set our fees so doulas can still afford their certification dues, and we keep the profile accessible on purpose.
2. Ease for parents: search, see, and contact
On DoulaMatch.net, there is no cost to parents. (Bornbir is free for parents too, so the difference is the experience, not the price.)
Parents are tired and busy. On DoulaMatch.net they don’t have to write a request and wait. They search their area, see the doulas serving it, and read each profile’s experience, certifications, fees and testimonials from over 30,000 reviews. Certification images are posted so parents can verify credentials themselves. They can also filter for Spanish-speaking, Black or Indigenous doulas, and find our Medicaid information in one place.
Then they contact the doulas they like, directly. There’s no form to fill out and no waiting to see who responds.
3. Finding available doulas, which is the real question
The question most parents are really asking is “Who is free around my due date?”
DoulaMatch.net was built to answer it. Doulas keep an availability calendar on their profile, and must keep it updated and refreshed to appear at the top of the search results. Parents don’t have to message ten doulas just to find out none are available. Doulas can also draw a custom service area, so they can leave out bridges, tolls and punishing commutes, and parents see doulas who will actually travel to them.
On Bornbir, matching starts from the parent’s request. It doesn’t start from a calendar the doula keeps current. Availability gets sorted out in the conversation, after the first message.
4. Referrals that are worth your time
For a doula, the quality of an inquiry matters more than the quantity.
On DoulaMatch.net, a parent who contacts you has already read your profile. They’ve seen your fee, training, certifications, service area and calendar, and they have chosen you specifically. We believe the referrals doulas get through DoulaMatch are much higher quality for exactly this reason. The parent has done most of the screening before the first message arrives.
On Bornbir, a parent posts a general request, essentially an advertisement addressed to no one in particular, and waits for any doula to respond. The lead isn’t specific to you. Bornbir’s own provider page shows open requests posted four or five months earlier sitting next to recent ones, and many requests have budgets or needs that don’t fit every doula who sees them.
Working a lead board can feel productive, because there is always another lead to answer. But a busy inbox isn’t the same as booked clients. Doulas tell us that parents who post ads on Bornbir often never reply. A doula can spend time, and Premium dollars, reaching out to families who never chose them and may not answer.
5. Who’s behind the website?
Transparency matters when you’re trusting a platform with your business or your family’s data.
DoulaMatch.net was created by me, Kim James, a certified doula, doula trainer and childbirth educator in Seattle, and my husband Pat. Our About page names us, says how we’re funded (primarily by the doulas who list on the site), and gives an email address for suggestions, questions and concerns. You can reach the people who run the site, and they read what you send.
Bornbir’s Terms of Use say only that the services are “operated by Bornbir LLC,” with a support email and a contact form. We couldn’t find the names of its owners or officers, or a mailing address, on its Terms or Privacy Policy pages. Before you hand your professional reputation or your family’s information to a platform, it’s reasonable to ask who runs it and how to reach them.
Which fits you?
Bornbir is a well-built platform with a large network and useful practice tools such as contracts and invoicing. If you want those, it has them. If you want a low-cost, doula-focused listing where informed parents come to you, and where you can reach the people who run the site, DoulaMatch.net is the better fit.
Doulas can create a profile at DoulaMatch.net. Parents can start searching for available doulas today, at no cost.