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Episode 15: Doula Support – The Partner’s Perspective
As doulas supporting the partner is as important as supporting the birthing person. We often hear lots of feedback from the birthing person about how the doula helped them through the process, but we hear from partners with far less frequency. In this episode, we explore the partner’s perspective with a fan of the podcast and one of our own Tucson Doulas’ clients. Join us as Jo Jo shares and what he thought a doula was. What lead Jo Jo and his partner to hire a doula. How they found a doula to interview local to them. Why it’s important for doulas to be responsive to inquiries and return calls and…
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Episode 14: Interventions – The Cascade of Interventions
Have you ever heard the phrase, “The cascade of interventions”? You know, that concept of agreeing to one intervention in labor will inevitably lead your client to another. And another, and yet another? Many doula training organizations teach this concept, but is it actually accurate? Is it possible that they have it all wrong? Most importantly, are they adequately preparing doulas to support clients who choose or need interventions in their births? In this episode, we explore the paradigm of interventions during labor and birth. Does this paradigm actually support and teach doulas to provide the best care to clients who need intervention? Or does it leave doulas lacking the…
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Episode 13: Agency vs Independent Contractor vs Solo Doula
One of the first decisions you will make about your doula business is one that determines your doula business structure. Before you create your LLC, secure insurance or even choose a name, you’ll need to decide how your business will be run. Will you simply open a solo practice? Do you want to start an agency? Or would you prefer to be an independent contractor? Each of the options has its own unique benefits and drawbacks. Do you want to call all the shots and love working on your own? Perhaps you envision a team of doulas or other birth professionals working together to serve your community. Or do you…
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Doula Byte: Empowerment
Let’s talk about empowerment! 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 a 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…
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Episode 12: What We Are Taught: Why It Matters
What we are taught as doulas shapes the way we move within the birth world. It shapes how we interact with providers, nurses and other complementary professionals. On this episode, we discuss the history of what doulas have been taught and why it matters. The messages that doulas were taught have influenced how providers perceive doulas. It hasn’t always been positive. Some doula organizations teach doulas to set themselves apart from the providers. Even going as far as to tell doulas to not interact with providers. Be a fly on the wall. Doulas have also been taught to not discuss their own experiences with their clients. When building a relationship…
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Episode 11: Doulas and Insurance
Today we bring you a double shot of round table talk about doulas and insurance. First up we take a look at insurance coverage for doula services. The desire to have health insurance cover the cost of doula care is a popular one in the doula community. However, when doulas join a managed health care system, this comes with regulation, restrictions and allowing someone else to see our fees. As we’ve recently seen in New York state, covering doula care in a state healthcare system comes with problems. There is a fee to participate. The state sets the fee and what services the doula must provide. Most concerningly, the state…
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Episode 10: Unassisted Homebirth
In this episode, we take a look at unassisted homebirth. As doulas, it is important for us to understand why families decide to have an unassisted homebirth. Giving birth at home without the assistance of a medical professional. Fear of litigation often limits the options that providers are willing to provide. Families in search of options that fall outside the medical norms often feel left with no choice but to explore options outside of the medical system. It is also important for us to understand the potential risks of being involved in an unassisted birth. Are you willing to stand by in an emergency? Can you remain in a doula’s…
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Episode 9: Creating Boundaries As Birth Workers
Let’s talk about boundaries. As a birth worker, it is important that we establish boundaries. One of the most important boundaries to establish are those surrounding the use of social media. While we may use social media as a tool to promote our businesses, there are some potential pitfalls to doing so as well. Even in large communities, sharing photos, tagging a location, using hashtags and talking about the client’s experience can disclose identifying information. As birth professionals protecting client privacy & confidentiality is an important part of what we do. Boundaries are an ever-evolving part of our work. Boundaries around social media. Setting boundaries around when you schedule client…
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Episode 8: Nonjudgmental Support
In recent years the phrase nonjudgmental support has become a buzzword in the birth community. As birth professionals, we know that language matters. Yet our implicit and explicit biases can often cause us to express judgment. Even when we do not intend to do so. Today we discuss nonjudgmental support with Kristyn Blocher. Nonjudgmental support is unconditional. Often we hear a birth professional say “I provide nonjudgmental support as long as my client is making an informed decision”. Statements such as these apply conditions to the support we give. The reality is that people make decisions based on different criteria. Only as mall percentage will make decisions based on all…
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Episode 7: Childless Doulas
Doulas who do not have children. Some call themselves childless others identify as childfree. There is longstanding insecurity in the doula community and it is one that is often deeply personal. It involves a topic that is intensely intimate and one that often defines individuals to others. There’s no denying that there are biases that exist in the doula industry against doulas who do not have children. Both from other doulas, doula trainers and potential clients alike. In today’s episode, we sit down with two doulas who do not have children. We discuss the common insecurity among doulas who don’t have children. How can they support clients without having a…
