Doula contract guide: scope, on call coverage, backup, and the nonclinical line

The clause checklist

What must a doula contract cover?

• Support scope: birth, postpartum, or combined, with prenatal and postpartum visit counts stated, so the package boundary is explicit.
• On call window: on call from 38 weeks through 42 weeks or the birth, whichever comes first; outside the window, support is by appointment.
• Backup doula guarantee: if a simultaneous client, emergency, or illness prevents you attending, a vetted backup from your network steps in at no extra cost, introduced to the client before the on call window opens.
• Nonclinical disclosure: you complement (never substitute for) clinical care; you don't give medical advice, perform assessments, or replace the medical team.
• Postpartum scope limits: visits cover newborn care guidance, feeding support, emotional check ins, and light baby related tasks, not general housekeeping, sibling childcare, or overnight care unless contracted.
• Confidentiality + reporting limits: your client's health information is confidential except where law requires disclosure (mandatory reporting, court order) or there's imminent risk.
• Bodily injury insurance backstop: the liability cap explicitly does not limit death/personal injury claims; your general liability insurance is the operative backstop.

Educational summary, not legal advice.

Every BookNox contract also carries the clauses that protect any service booking: a nonrefundable deposit tied to reserving the date, a cancellation policy written as a reasonable estimate of your losses rather than a penalty (with a rebooking credit), a force majeure clause, a liability cap that does not limit claims for death or personal injury caused by negligence, binding arbitration through a provider such as AAA or JAMS with a small claims carveout, general provisions (severability, entire agreement, no waiver), and an electronic signature block that cites the ESIGN Act and UETA, with a SHA-256 tamper evidence hash.

Illustrative examples, not advice

Example numbers: how doulas commonly structure these terms

Every doula sets their own fees, and the right numbers depend on your market, your experience, and the package. The examples below are illustrative structures, not recommendations or industry averages. They exist so you can see how the clauses above read with real figures in them. Two of them, the hourly overage and an hour cap on the backup trigger, are terms you would add in writing; the generated contract does not include them.

• Retainer split: one structure is half the package fee at signing as a nonrefundable retainer, with the balance due by 36 to 38 weeks, so no money is still arriving while you are on call.
• On call window: for example, on call from 38 weeks through 42 weeks or the birth, whichever comes first, which is the window the BookNox contract states. A doula who wants to open it at 37 weeks for a client with a history of early labor would put that change in a written amendment.
• Hourly overage: for example, a birth package covering up to 12 hours of continuous labor support, with additional hours billed at $50 per hour, so a long labor has a price both sides agreed to in advance.
• Backup doula trigger: for example, the backup steps in when you are attending another birth, ill, or past a stated hour cap such as 18 hours, and the client meets the backup by phone or video before the on call window opens.

How BookNox generates this contract

From the booking, not a blank document.

You don’t fill in a template. Your client builds the booking on your quote page (package, date, options) and BookNox generates the finished doula contract with the right clauses already in it, freezes the wording at send time, and collects a signature compliant with ESIGN and UETA and the deposit through one link. The signed PDF carries a SHA-256 hash that shows any tampering and a full audit trail (IP, user agent, timestamps).

Sources, read on October 22, 2026: 15 U.S.C. 7001, the federal ESIGN Act, which says a signature or contract may not be denied legal effect solely because it is electronic, and Florida Statutes 668.50, one state’s enactment of the Uniform Electronic Transaction Act, which says the same under state law.

Educational summary, not legal advice. Have a licensed attorney in your state review any contract before you rely on it.

What it costs you

$29/month flat. No booking fee.

No tier gates. No fee on top of Stripe’s standard processing. The deposit lands in your bank directly via Stripe Connect Express. BookNox is never in the money path.

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