MILWAUKEE — More exhausted parents of newborns are turning to “night nannies” for help. But the care these “night nannies” or “newborn specialists” provide is not just during the wee hours of the night.
Stephanie Boyd is a postpartum doula and newborn care specialist. She is also one of the co-founders of Swaddled Newborn Care.
The company has a team of women dedicated to overnight care, daytime support, sleep coaching and lactation support for families with newborns.
Swaddled Newborn Care’s services are in high demand. Boyd said her team is fully booked through the beginning of 2024.
New parents, Kristen and Alan Lopez, welcomed their daughter, Winter, into the world almost one year ago. They heard about Swaddled Newborn Care and decided to try it.
Boyd ended up being their newborn specialist.
Kristen and Alan Lopez said it was one of the best decisions they’ve ever made. Boyd was helping them within 24 hours of their daughter’s birth.
“It’s a lot of change very fast, and it’s overwhelming. My body was still healing,” Kristen Lopez said. “Stephanie helped us get some sleep. She helped us install our car seat. She was invaluable. When babies are still so fragile, you are scared to hand them off to anyone, but we didn’t have any doubts about Stephanie.”
“You have so many questions at first, like, ‘Is this how it’s supposed to be, or look?’” Alan Lopez said. “When it’s your first time going through it, having someone there to answer questions and show you how to best take care of the baby and mom is huge.”
They said Boyd helped them sleep train Winter and navigate breastfeeding. Boyd also helped clean up around the house and made food or coffee when they had their hands full with Winter.
“I supported them those first overnights, helped Kristen with breastfeeding and kind of took care of Winter when she didn’t want to sleep,” Boyd said.
Boyd said supporting both the baby and the parents is key for healthy outcomes.
“Postpartum depression and anxiety are really common amongst women, and our services can really help because sleep deprivation can affect someone’s mood drastically,” Boyd said.
Boyd said there are groups working to make the services her company provides more accessible to everyone. Right now, “newborn specialist” services are not covered by insurance.
Overnight care through Swaddled Newborn Care starts at $35 an hour, while daytime support starts at $30 an hour. The company accepts HSA and FSA as long as it is approved by your insurance.
Boyd said she hopes health care and insurance providers will see the necessity of making sure more families are fully supported in such a vulnerable time.
“We are not here to judge them, and we will do the best we can to provide them with the care that they need,” Boyd said.