One of the things brought to my attention a few years ago was how “white” and “middle class” the doula profession was. It’s something I have spent a lot of time thinking about the past few years. As I learn more and more about the…

Have you ever wondered what you’d say to your younger (or less experienced self)? I’ve had an amazing opportunity this past year to do something of the sorts. Here’s how my story begins… A couple of years ago I was doing a birth doula training…

How to launch (or grow) your doula practice I’ve spent the past 6 months preparing a program to help doulas (and other birth workers) to grow their practice. After years of not making enough through my birth work, I decided to stop the excuses and…

How to end the doula client relationship I’ll start by saying that I suspect if you asked 10 different people this question, you may get 10 different answers. But here are some thoughts for you to consider around setting appropriate boundaries and ending the doula-client…

How to provide great postpartum support As birth doulas we provide two types of postpartum support. That immediate support right after the delivery and most of us also provide at least one in-home visit as part of our package. We’re going to discuss the in-home…

How to live “on-call” When I was a new doula I was stressed to the max the first few times I was on-call. It was like at any moment of the day or night the phone would ring and I would have to go screeching…

How do I know I was helpful at a birth? Sometimes a doula will call me to discuss a birth. There’s a feeling that something feels “off” but they can’t pinpoint it. This is usually the time when you need to process a birth. “Processing”…

What to do when a partner doesn’t want to be involved I got a call from a new doula recently after one of her first few births (story used with permission). She mentioned she’d done two births so far and both had been quite different…

What to cover in Prenatal Visits When I first started as a doula, all of my clients came from the prenatal classes I taught. Back then we needed a captive audience to discuss what doulas were and how they helped ?  I loved that I…

Identifying our Ideal Doula Client It probably isn’t the first time you’ve heard the term “ideal client” or “target market”. It’s something ALL businesses talk about, a big part of every business plan, and has been discussed a lot recently in the doula community. Defining…

How to follow-up with clients As an agency owner I have the privilege of hearing the odd customer complaint. Admittedly we don’t get very many (thankfully!), but when we do one of the comments I hear is that the doula didn’t follow-up as promised. Types…