Doulas Of The Roundtable

In this episode, we focus on two questions, "When will I make money?" and "How soon can I leave my other job?"  We dive into both of these questions and peel back what it looks like to make money from our passion. 

Welcome to Season 2!  We kick the new season off with talking about shadowing and mentorship. When you are first starting out it's very easy to want to watch someone else do the work for jumping in yourself or have someone there to help guide you as you get hands-on.  In the doula world that can be a little tricky and not always the best for the client. In this episode, we discuss the pros and cons of shadowing and mentorships and some of the alternatives that exist. 

As we come to the end of 2019, we also come to the end of Season 1! In this episode, we look back on the episodes we have recorded, the impact we have seen, and then we shift our focus to Season 2 and 2020. 

In this episode, we talk about writing birth stories and giving gifts. Why doulas do this, how it helps or hurts, and is it necessary to our success with our clients. It's a topic that comes up now and again and we wanted to chat about why doulas do this. 

In this episode we discuss inductions. How our support can look, the feelings around inductions, and how to navigate medical professionals as well. 

In this episode, we talk about Virtual Doulas. Someone who provides emotional and education doula support but are not physically present. We explore how virtual doulas fit into the doula world and the impact they have with clients. 

As doulas, our role is to support. We support physically, emotionally, and educationally. Sometimes it can be tough to determine if the pain your client is feeling is emotional or physical. In this episode, we talk that through. We discuss the importance of keeping track of both of these types of pains and how to navigate them. 

Doula Philosophies. What does that mean? Do you have one? Do you allow them to dictate which clients you support? In this episode, we talk about some of the philosophies that we know doulas subscribe to and the reasons why. We try to unpack the reasons why doulas support some clients vs. others.  

Interventions. We all know about them and we all have clients that use them everyday. In this episode, we explore the pros and cons of intervention use. We talk about why our clients get them, how one doesn't always lead to the other, and how we, as doulas, sometimes allow our biases to cloud the support we provide. 

Business structures! Do you become an agency, an independent contractor, or do you strike out on your own and go solo? In this episode, we weigh the pros and cons of all of those options. 

This is a Doula Byte do you do not want to miss! CAN SOMEONE WHO LACKS EMPOWERMENT IN THEIR OWN LIFE EMPOWER ANOTHER? We recognize that birth as an individual's sacred moment. An experience that lasts and lifetime. A powerful experience where there are no do-overs. It's a story that they will tell again and again. Yet when a birth worker is carrying trauma from their own experience they can't effectively help another have an empowering experience of their own. If you are dealing with your own past experience, you can't be fully present for the client that you are serving. THERE IS A TENDENCY AMONG BIRTH WORKERS TO NOT OWN OUR POWER AND KNOW OUR WORTH, AND ULTIMATELY WE LEAD LIVES THAT WE DON'T INTEND TO LEAD. There are two things that the majority of birth workers have in common: We want to contribute to the empowerment of women/birthing people. We want to leave birth better than we found it. 

Insurance for clients, insurance for doulas. We talk about it all in this episode. Can clients use insurance to cover the cost for doula services? Will it ever be a widely accepted? How about insurance for you as a doula? What ae the pros and cons of having insurance as a birth worker?

In this episode we discuss doulas attending unassisted births. We talk about the pros and cons for both the client and the doula.

In this episode we discuss creating professional and personal boundaries. We discuss social media practices and pitfalls, reaching out to other doulas for help, and the importance of creating these boundaries for yourself.

Do you provide non judgmental support? In this episode Angela and Eva sit down with Kristyn Blocher to discuss the ways that doulas can provide true non judgmental support. We look at the language we use, the actions we take, and the biases we bring into our client's lives and how we can provide better support.

In this episode Eva and Angela talk to Lacey Bauer about doing this work without having children of our own. How that impacts us, do we do anything to compensate, and how our clients and colleagues feel about it.

In Episode 6, Angela and Eva dive into the reality that is being on call for our clients. There can be a lot of ups and downs with being on call as well as different things to navigate. We give some tips and tricks to help, but mostly we discuss the truths of being on call.

In this episode Angela and Eva sit down with Mona White-Ortega to discuss grandparents and other support persons in the birth rooms. Mona teaches a Grandparents class that helps grandparents navigate the birth room and helping their child through the birthing process.

In this episode Angela and I sit down with Lacey Bauer and discuss all things Infant Feeding. How do we support our clients with breast feeding, bottle feeding, pumping, the physical and emotional stresses, as well as the joys, and so much more? Sit down with us and let's have a conversation!