9/12/2021 Do you want to be a doula? Choices!Why doula work is so important? Well, being a doula means helping mothers!! A doula means "servant" in Greek. A servant to help other mothers is important in these "covid" times. Working as a post-partum or post-natal doula is best idea for other mothers! Why: Less restrictions placed on you for working and helping moms. (Don't have to put up with hospital policies). Mothers still need help after the birth of their baby - maybe even more so. More mothers suffering from postpartum depression - you can help by taking off the "pressure" or "stress." Offering loving services as a postpartum doula. Some postpartum doulas can make up to $25 an hour depending on location! What does a postpartum doula do? Anyway? * She can do laundry for the baby and mom * She can cook a meal that will help feed mother (though it may include the family). * She can help with pantry building and cleanout of old stuff. * She can go grocery shopping for the family (finances will have to be arranged) or she can pick up an order already made. *She can help with baby care while mom gets rest - this should be only for mom's rest time. *She can train mom on baby care if she is ignorant on how to do things. *She can help mom learn about breastfeeding - if she has issues - suggest a lactation specialist for her to go too. (Note: Some postpartum doulas go on to train and learn about breastfeeding more in depth). Etc...lots more!! So, hiring a postpartum doula is important to help mothers in their 6 weeks after birth time! (or longer!) However, I have to stop and give thought to moms who need this help and are lower income - should not they be allowed to have a post-natal/postpartum doula as well? Yes, of course!! So, here are two ideas on offering services to lower income mothers: 1. Offer a sliding scale - you go by their income level and see what they can afford. Let's say they can afford $15 an hour - that's not bad and if you can get a friend or hubby to watch any of your kids for free - then you are still making a profit by serving mothers - or see if the mom doesn't mind a couple of kids coming over! 2. Partner with another organization - you say - I need this $25 an hour in order to make my ends meet - however, if you can sponsor this person, then it can work! So the organization would need to have some funds to offer to help pay your fee or something like that - I am sure there is someone out there who may want to help - it could be a non-profit group who wants to make a donation to someone, a hospital looking for extending things outside the regular realm, a church (not necessarily Catholic - could be Protestant) may sponsor you, etc. Reach out and see what you can get done that way. 3. Another idea - fundraisers to get this mother the postpartum doula services! 4. Another idea - offer a flat rate for helping the mother over a certain number of hours or days - this might work out better esp. if going by days. She may decide she doesn't need you on a certain day after all, then you still get paid (esp. if an organization is helping with the postpartum fees). So, think of a flat rate that is acceptable to you over number of days as an alternative way to get paid. Anyway, so whether you do a sliding scale or not - how do you get trained to become a postpartum doula? First of all there is Catholic Doula Program - their trainings are online - sometimes they have a live class or self-pace. Check out the program's website: http://www.catholicdoula.com/postpartum.html If you are non-Catholic, we recommend this site for a postpartum doula class: https://kitchendoula.weebly.com/postnatalnutrition.html Ok, hope you consider becoming a postpartum doula!! Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
September 2021
|