Journey to Doula Certification
About three and a half months postpartum was when I knew I needed something, anything to get me out of the house. She's my third sweet baby and I love her to pieces, but mommy needed some adult conversation. Something to break up the monotony of summer break with three small children at home. So I went to google and typed in "doula," a word I'd heard of on "19 Kids and Counting." One of the girls was studying to be a doula, while the other was training to be a midwife. Anyway, after typing in the word doula I found the website for DONA International. After a little research and much prayer, this deemed to be the answer I was looking for. Not only did my trainer get in touch quickly, she let me know of a scholarship for military wives. The whole thing was paid for. God is good.
Next, I had to spend a weekend away from my baby. My sweet sweet bundle of perfectly soft newborn skin and warm snuggles. I chose to pump and give daddy bottles for her, as I was supposed to be getting away for a little while. But lets face it, she ended up joining us for the latter half of the doula training, which was fine because this is the business for babies!
Fast forward a week and I had my first client! It was so exciting, and a little nerve wracking, but altogether wonderful.
Shortly after this I tried to learn the business end of doula-ing, which is more difficult for some than others. I fall under "some." Having limited funds, I started with creating a facebook business page. Soon after I had my second client! This was very exciting! And after her delivery, she referred me to someone else seeking doula information on facebook, and I had the pleasure of attending her birth as well. But after that, I had a "dry spell.: It seemed as though facebook was not going to cut it.
I thought that having a face to match the name would help, so I began my search for a photographer and it turns out the one who took my maternity and newborn pics offered a generous deal, as she had a passion for home businesses. This was another motivator to keep me going.
Like a baby learning to walk, I had to first learn to roll over, then sit up, then crawl, and finally walk! I thought I was at the "sitting up" stage when I began researching how to get a logo. My goodness, who know how expensive it could be? Facebook helped me in the past so I thought, let's see if I can find help here. Unfortunately, the graphic designer I paid gave me copies of other doula's logos and I was so very discouraged. In the end, I used an app on my phone and designed my logo.
I started to second guess my ability, mostly my business ability when I got a message from my trainer one afternoon. She asked if she could introduce me to a doula from out of town that was moving to the area. See, Fort Lee is a bit of a drive from Richmond, and this doula was moving to Petersburg, right next to post. My husband and I invited her family over to dinner when they first moved here, and we hit it off. Sarah Newton, own of All Things Doula encouraged me, guided me and motivated me to get my certification packet sent in and I could not give her any more gratitude!
After sending in my packet, the waiting game began. I waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. It felt like months had gone by. Thank you to the amazing volunteers at DONA, I got my call about four months after I mailed my packet it with my certificate soon to follow. Just being certified has helped my confidence on the business end of things. And let me tell you, especially for those working toward certification, once you have your first client after certification and you don't have all the certifying paperwork, it is like a whole new world. It is a little more laid back with much more time to focus on your client.
Every single step of the way, every unique labor challenge, every ominous business encounter, the long hours at labor and delivery, and all the paperwork to go with it, all the reading, assemblying the certification packet, every sing step was absolutely worth it. I look forward to serving many more families in the years to come.
