What is the Best Website for Meal Train Setup?

As a doula, your goal is to support new parents in whatever ways they need. Much of this can happen before their child is born or during the course of labor, but postpartum care is also critical for new parents. One way that doulas help during this time of transition is to ensure the parents (and any older children) are well fed. In the past, this involved intense coordination among family and community members, but today there are a number of websites available to create a meal sign up for new moms. We’ve outlined some of the most popular choices here and how they can best work for doulas to provide value and care to their clients.

Meal Train

Aptly named, this service is a simple option that is one of the most popular in the market today. There is a free version that can be used not as a meal calendar for new parents, but for people suffering from an injury, a loss, or for any other reason. The interface is clean and easy to use, even for those who aren’t very familiar with the internet, as some relatives may not be. 

Meal Train allows for meal sign up to happen in a number of ways. It offers a traditional calendar to assign participants a meal for each day, as well as the ability to send gift cards for services like Grubhub or UberEats. Additionally, you can set up a PayPal and Venmo donation section when that is preferred. 

One perk of Meal Train is that it allows multiple organizers. If a doula wants to work with a family member or friend, they can share that responsibility to reach more people. Participants will receive automatic reminder emails 1 week and 1 day before they are scheduled without the organizers needing to do anything.

The paid version requires a one time fee of $10 and offers the ability to set up multiple meals per day as well as tasks outside of providing food. 

Take Them a Meal

Take Them a Meal was founded in the face of a friend’s medical issue, but is widely used to organize meals for new parents. With a simple interface, the tool has an interactive calendar and automated reminders. 

Two unique features of Take Me a Meal are their databases. One shows all recipients in the system so that a new parent can be searched by someone, even if they don’t have a link. The other database contains a list of recipes that are easy to transport, store, and reheat. People operating with a large local community or a less internet-savvy one may prefer this site. 

Rather than connecting you to meal delivery, Take Me a Meal offers their own meal delivery service where participants can pay for a fully-cooked meal to be delivered to the new parents. 

Give in Kind 

This service is newer to the industry and is designed specifically with the postpartum period in mind. The founder created Give in Kind after she suffered a stillbirth and the website allows for meals to be claimed, as well as other tasks like childcare and housekeeping. 

Give in Kind has many of the core features of meal train apps, including interactive calendars and the ability to add multiple organizers. Recipients (or a designated loved one) can also use the page to provide a sort of news feed with centralized updates all in one place. 

The app allows for Grubhub gift cards and PayPal donations, as well as a connection to Amazon wishlists and baby registries. Give in Kind will even curate a situation-specific gift box.

Organizing Meal Trains as a Doula 

Whichever service you choose, meal train apps are a great way to ensure your clients can enjoy their time with their baby without worrying about cooking. They’ll be grateful for the help and by having you set it up, may feel less guilty asking for the help. With these free and low-cost options, you’ll be able to easily meet this need, bring their community together, and continue to nourish them well past birth.