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Episode 90: Community Referrals
As a birth worker, networking and developing a community referral list are important to your work. Those new to the field often wonder how to begin. Another common question is what services should be included on a referral list. No matter the approach, who you add to your referral list is a task that requires careful consideration. Do the business’s beliefs and values align with your own? In the digital age, a fumble on the part of one business can reflect badly on your own. For example, if your business is LGBTQIA+ friendly, referring to another business, no matter how skilled they may be, who does not share these values…
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Episode 89: Partner Support
Partner support during the postpartum period is one topic we don’t see discussed often. Yet, for the partner, having a baby and learning to parent is an equally transformative experience. Partners experience the birth in a different way than the birthing person. They can experience worry, feelings of helplessness, and even experience vicarious trauma. Partners will typically self-sacrifice to support the birthing person. This is often where the need for more focused support can begin. Sacrificing their own needs to support the birthing person. Setting their need for rest and nourishment aside. As postpartum doulas coming into this dynamic requires assessment skills. What does this partner need most at this…
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Episode 88: Birth Photography & Labor Doula Support
As doulas consider expanding into other birth-related services, birth photography is often a common consideration. It seems like the perfect mesh, doula skills paired with photography skills equals the perfect match. But can a doula be both at the same time? While it seems like a simple answer, there are many factors that doulas often fail to consider. Will doula support or photography take priority when a client needs hands-on support? What happens if doula support is needed simultaneously as the one “perfect shot” a client wants presents itself? How birth is viewed as a photographer vs. a labor doula is also vastly different. Photographers typically look for moments to…
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Episode 87: What I Wish I Knew
What do you wish you knew before becoming a doula? This is a question that we see frequently from those considering birth work or those who have just entered the field. Working with growing families is the part of the work that most have at least a loose idea about. But when I think about what I wish I knew it’s the practicalities that many often fail to consider. Living the on-call life. Pacing yourself when supporting families. What self-care actually looks like. These are just a few things that come immediately to mind as experienced birth workers. Then there are other things that many may not consider. Running a…
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Episode 86: Doulas & Personal Mental Health
 As a birth worker, your personal mental health is just as important as your physical health. The very nature of our role often places us in stressful situations that can cause or exacerbate our own mental health issues. Anxiety, depression, and other conditions can all factor into our ability to care not only for our clients. These conditions can also heavily influence our ability to care for ourselves as well. However, there are strategies to help birth workers combat compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma. From therapy to medication to processing with a trusted colleague, there are many ways to help birth workers cope. Come join us as we discuss…
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Episode 85: Working With Repeat Clients
As a birth worker working with repeat clients is always an exciting and humbling experience. For many, the repeat client is like working with an old friend. Someone you’ve developed trust, a deep bond with, and a healthy mutual respect for. Yet at the same time we as birth workers have to be careful not to make assumptions about what the client will need in this birth or postpartum experience based on previous experiences. There are also many questions that birth workers have when it comes to working with repeat clients. For example, we often hear the following: “How much do I charge a repeat client if my prices have…
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Episode 84: Navigating Postpartum Overnights
Providing daytime postpartum care often comes with helping families find a routine. A routine that works best for them. However, navigating postpartum overnights can be a much more challenging type of care. Some doulas struggle with setting boundaries for how frequently or how long they will work overnight postpartum shifts. Others will experience challenges in feeling like they need to “do something, or “do more” during overnights shifts. It’s not uncommon for postpartum doulas to experience unsafe sleep situations or for families to use unsafe practices when caring for their newborns. It is important for doulas to give careful thought and consideration to how to handle these situations long before…
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Episode 83: Supporting Epidurals
One skill set that many doulas express a lack of confidence in is supporting clients with an epidural. Many doula workshops overemphasize how to support an unmedicated birth. As a result, doulas may feel uncertain and often unprepared to support the client who has chosen an epidural. Supporting the client with an epidural is multi-faceted. Many clients and even doulas assume that the doula’s job is done once an epidural is in place. The reality is, that the doula’s job has just begun. Physical support is still necessary when supporting epidurals. Frequent position changes help the baby navigate the changing diameters of the pelvis. The necessity for emotional support can…
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Episode 82: The Art of Newborn Soothing
Newborn soothing can sometimes seem like a mysterious, magical, art, especially to new parents. The phone rings, it’s a new parent who needs help. Sometimes they need more sleep. Others need help with learning how to settle or soothe their newborns. They are feeling panicked, helpless, desperate, and oftentimes as if they are not doing it right. Some also express that they feel as if their baby doesn’t like them. For some, the frantic urgency to try and calm their baby perpetuates the cycle. For others, they cycle through the newborn claiming techniques they know too quickly. As a result, no one technique is given enough time to work. This…
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Episode 81: Navigating Family Challenges
Navigating family challenges surrounding our clients and their support systems can be challenging for many doulas. The relationships between our clients and their support systems are nuanced and built over time. As with all relationships, there is often a deep history that we as doulas are not privy to. Helping clients navigate the challenges that family and friends can present is often a huge part of our role. Giving birth and becoming a parent are emotionally charged transitions. At the same time, it is also an extremely vulnerable state, both emotionally and physically. The people our clients choose to have around them during birth can impact how they view themselves.…
