Hiring a Doula with Your Carrot Fertility Benefits

More and more companies are offering their employees comprehensive birth and postpartum coverage with Carrot Fertility Benefits. So much so that we regularly have families inquiring with Doulas of Orange County asking about finding a doula that qualifies for Carrot reimbursement. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about hiring a doula with your Carrot fertility benefits.

What is Carrot Insurance? 

Carrot Fertility is a private health plan company that is provided as a corporate employee benefit by many companies around the US. Carrot boasts of “Comprehensive support and access to care for maternity through menopause — and pre-pregnancy through parenting”. Depending on the employer’s plan, they can cover everything from fertility and IVF treatment, egg freezing, prenatal support and childbirth education classes, doulas, midwives and OBGYN’s. 

Does a Carrot fertility health plan really cover birth and postpartum doula services? 

Yes, absolutely! Birth Doulas provide comfort, education and encouragement during pregnancy, labor and birth to improve overall maternal health and wellbeing. A postpartum doula provides in-home care during the first 12+ weeks for a new mother and her baby.   

Carrot recognizes the impact that a doula has on improving the overall maternal health outcomes and wellbeing of parents and by partnering with corporations; they set up a health plan that covers an allotted amount of doula care. 

Are there any requirements that Carrot requires for doulas to qualify for reimbursement by their network? 

Per their website, they share that, “Carrot members currently have unlimited access to chats with doulas for labor, birth plans, and postpartum questions. Members can use their Carrot funds to pay for eligible doula services. To ensure members receive high-quality support that promotes healthy birth outcomes, doulas must meet specific criteria –– like obtaining accreditation from an approved organization, participating in an adequate training curriculum, and having an appropriate breadth of experience.”

As of May 8th 2025 those requirements include:

• Certification and/or training

1. Proof of Medicaid approval (if practicing in a state that offers Medicaid coverage for doulas)
   OR 

2. Active certification from an approved certifying body.

1. We have aligned our acceptance of certifying bodies with those accepted by Medicaid, which includes more than 130 such bodies across the United States. A complete list of Carrot-approved certifying bodies is available on our application form. Due to the high volume of inquiries, we are unable to review additional certifying programs at this time. 

2. Certification must confer the title of doula and must correspond to the services you provide. If you have multiple certifications covering different services, we kindly ask that you upload copies of each for our review.
   
   OR

3. Training from an approved organization and a minimum of 3 years of experience.

1. We have aligned our acceptance of training bodies with those accepted by Medicaid, which includes more than 130 such bodies across the United States. A complete list of Carrot-approved training bodies is available on our application form. Training must confer the title of doula and should correspond to the services you provide. If you have completed multiple trainings covering different services, we kindly ask that you upload copies of each for our review.

2. In this case, we will additionally request a CV to confirm years of experience.
   

• Professional liability insurance

1. Professional liability insurance must cover their services as a doula, must be active (non-expired), and have a minimum aggregate coverage amount of $1 million.

1. Please note that we require a Certificate of Insurance (COI) that includes professional liability coverage; we do not accept coverage that is only general commercial liability.

2. All Doulas of OC members are required to hold Professional Liability Insurance
   

• CPR certification

1. Active, non-expired CPR (or BLS) certification that includes both infant/pediatric/child and adult training.

2. Training must be provided directly from one of the following organizations:

1. American Heart Association (AHA)

2. American Red Cross

3. American Safety and Health Institute (HSI) 

3. All Doulas of OC members are required to hold CPR certification

What is the process to get your doula support covered by Carrot fertility? 

Every company can choose and set up their desired health plan for their employees. Doula coverage by Carrot may include 6 weeks of daytime and overnight doula care, in addition to prenatal and birth support, but does vary from company to company. So double check with your employer!   

Depending on your employer’s plan you will either need to request a “superbill” from your doula that includes a detailed invoice showing the price and services included and you can submit this to Carrot for reimbursement. Other plans include a “Carrot Card”, similar to an HSA / FSA card that you can utilize to pay your doula invoices directly. 

How to Find Birth and Postpartum Doulas that qualifies for reimbursement through Carrot Fertility Benefits?

You will need a doula that is qualified for Carrot reimbursement through their doula application process or willing to submit their information to be listed in their doula network.  Many of the certified doulas on the Doulas of Orange County team have previously worked with families who utilize their Carrot Fertility benefits and are very familiar with the process.

How can i hire a doula in orange county that meets the requirements for carrot fertility benefits?

That’s exactly where we come in! Doulas of Orange County is available to match you with doulas in OC (and throughout Southern California) who meet the requirements for Carrot. How does that process work? First, fill our our inquiry form. Make sure to include details on your overall budget, location, and care requests… the more information you share, the better! And don’t forget to mention that you’ll be using your Carrot benefits! From there, we will match you with qualified doulas who closely meet your criteria and who have either worked with Carrot families before or meet the criteria for approval. You can review their member profiles and decide who you’d like to interview and hire. All doulas are hand-selected by owners, Lauren and Chelsea, and are matched individually - we don’t use any algorithms to do this work for us!

If you have any questions, reach out and we’re happy to walk you through the process!