Post edited 12:09 am – October 25, 2011 by Emily

Hi Melissa!

Many people feel inclined to become doulas – particularly after the birth of their own children. The first thing to be aware about is that this requires extreme flexibility on yours and your family's part. I will start with first things first!

The most commonly recognized / well known certifying body for doulas is DONA (Doulas of North America). There are many places that offer DONA courses and once you've completed this 4 day course you are required to attend 3 births and get evaluations from clients and care providers as well as write about the births yourself. Here is the DONA website for more information: http://www.dona.org/
Some people choose to certify through DONA or other organizations, while others choose not to. Doulas are not regulated by anybody, therefore anyone can choose to call themselves a doula!

Once you've chosen your route most, doulas will offer several births at a discounted rate, or for free in order to gain experience. Once you have gained experience most doulas will increase their rates gradually, but also many continue to do volunteer work as many women cannot afford a doula. Doula services are not covered by the government, or private insurance companies.

Building business is about building connections – volunteering at a midwifery clinic, connecting with naturopaths and acupuncturists in the area, and joining forums online are all great ways to get involved with the birthing community around you!

Ok – down to balancing the work and home life. I worked for 6 years as a solo doula – I always had back up of course in case of emergencies, but I took on clients on my own and never missed a birth (once I went to 4 births in as many days with virtually no sleep in between). It made it hard to take on clients at certain times like around Christmas, or my son's birthday – I didn't want to risk missing those things, but at the same time I wanted to keep my business going and I really love and am passionate about my work, so it's always hard to say no to the honour of attending a birth! I often burnt out at the end of a busy stretch, it also meant if I had a client due I couldn't go camping or other such outings. This can be hard on the family life! You have to be firm about booking certain time off, and not get tempted by taking on a client if you've committed to taking that time with family / friends. Having a calendar with your availability on your website is really helpful for this!
The year before I had my daughter I decided to try out working in a partnership. I found a doula that I felt was a good match, and we setup taking on clients as a team, and setup a call schedule so that we could take clients over holidays etc. while still being able to have guaranteed days off to spend with family and make plans.

I'm going to add more later as I have to run to my waking baby!