The Ramblings of a Jacksonville Doula
It seems that when most people think of a doula they think of “birth coach” and that the primary function is to attend the labor and the birth. We usually charge a flat rate for our services which is perceived mostly to cover our time during the labor. This has prompted me to take some time here to educate a little of what makes up a doulas fees.
When we tell people our price is $500, it’s not uncommon for us to hear an “oh no, we can’t afford that” and that is understandable since it is a lump sum…usually when we explain that we take half at the time of hire and half after the birth, families find it much more doable. (As a Jacksonville doula, this fee is pretty reasonable and price should consider experience and offerings as well).
I have thought about how to educate families on the importance of a doula and how it is worth the investment to the outcome of their births but the number $500 sometimes keeps getting the main attention. (I will be addressing ‘fair pricing for all’ in a later blog).
Why is it important to charge this amount or more for these services? I strongly believe (and if you ask any other doula or family who has hired a doula they will most likely agree) it is a valuable service – one that deserves protection. Protection? Yes, this is the first in a series of blogs I hope to write that speak to the protection of the doula profession.
Let me start by sharing a little bit about our Jacksonville/St. Augustine doula group. Not all doulas practice in the same manner. We are a group of 6 women who look forward to creating a bond with our clients. That means we are involved…we call after doctor appointments to check in, we email, text and (if there’s time or if it is appropriate) we have lunch. We also have tight bonds within our group and we feel like the bond that is forged with clients is just as important. It is, after all, the most intimate moments of the family’s life. We don’t just meet a client once and then wait for “I’m in labor” call. And many of our clients remain important in our lives (if they want to be – we aren’t pushy about the whole thing, it just organically happens that way J).
So let’s get started with what makes a doula’s fees starting with the usual suspects. There is the:
· Initial consult
· In-home prenatal visits (one or two)
· The birth attendance
· Post-partum visit
I think everyone would agree that these are normal services and expectations of the doula. The services that I think get overlooked and could use some additional attention are:
· Phone, Text and Email: Wow! These can really add up! I have had *at least* one client that I exchanged over 500 texts with (yes, five hundred). We generally have to change our phone carrier plans once we become doulas in order to keep up! It’s a welcome added expense since this is communication in the year 2011!
· Client exclusivity: this topic has many facets. The most obvious is that in order to maintain that bond with clients, we don’t want to take on 10 clients a month. So we typically take between 1 and 4 per month and *try* to space it so that there aren’t birth collisions. This is a difficult task because babies come when they want to, not when it works best for our schedule.
So if we are to take a client who requests more exclusivity, it can be tricky for the doula if she has committed to being a doula as a primary *career* (and not a hobby – or on the side). If we are to contribute to our family income reasonably, we need to take between 1 and 4 clients a month.
We plan our vacations and our lives around the client, their exclusivity and the on-call status…(see the next bullet). We generally like to book our clients far enough in advance so that we can plan vacations…and then inevitably a baby won’t get the memo and will be born early!
· Being on – call: This is probably the most imposing part of being a doula (a job that I *love*). Imagine someone invites you last minute to a weekend away at the beach, your doula response, “Can’t, I’m on call for a momma”. You’re at dinner and everyone else is ordering wine, “no thanks, I’m on call”. A lot rides on the ‘on-call’ status. My typical on-call routine is “live life as usual” with a packed doula bag, clothes laid out in the bathroom (so I don’t wake my husband when I get up at 3AM), and go to bed about 30 minutes earlier than normal. I typically won’t do anything exhausting during the day (like going to the beach or running a marathon) while I’m on call…and may have more afternoon coffee than normal. My husband says that I really should go ahead and take 4 births a month because the procedure for being on call for one is the same for 10 (okay 4)!
And I am not the only person on-call…my family is on-call too! That means I may have to take a separate car to dinner or won’t be able to do the nighttime routine with my son. My mother may have to keep her phone on if my husband has a full day of work. It is a family effort.
· Which brings up a great point! The family of doulas! I tell people often that I have an amazing husband who supports my career and my antics! But I also have an amazing mother who makes so much of this doula business a success! She makes it happen! Because when I am on-call, so is she. If I get called while my son is at school, then she drops her plans to pick him up. There have been times that she would have to be here at the house at 7AM so that my husband can get to work. When we get *the call* we have to plan to be gone for 5-40 hours.
· The 24 hour + labor: Well this is a tricky one for the doula and for the doulas family. 24+ hours of constant physical and emotional support is wonderfully exhausting. It never feels like that long – and we don’t realize it until later. So the scenario is that we have been gone for 24 hours and now it is 8AM and we are home with a 3 year old who wants to play ;) it happens! We charge the same for a 2 hour labor as we do a 24+ hour labor since it seems to all even out in the end.
· Experience Factor: As a doula and childbirth educator, we keep up-to-date on the latest studies, procedures, protocols, and policies surrounding birth and Jacksonville area hospitals and providers. Every birth and every family teaches us something new and we bring that knowledge and the skills we learn to every birth. This requires time and effort.
There are also many costs associated with being a certified doula; the initial training, the tons of books, the membership fees, and continuing education. Being an experienced and successful doula requires more than a weekend course and reading (as helpful as that is!). The experience makes the real impact. We have to maintain a certain amount of local knowledge, continuing education in order to remain certified, in order to increase our learning in order to gain more experience. Continuing education is costly in many ways.
· Lastly, we are self-employed (independent contractors): The rule of thumb is that a self-employed professional's income is only half of what they earn, after deductions for vacation and sick time, self-employment taxes, insurance, travel and business expenses (and the others mentioned above).
It requires a specific formula for woman to take on the doula profession. It is something we have to take into consideration – sometimes before and sometimes we don’t realize the investment until we’ve been practicing a year or two. But it is an investment. Being a doula is an incredibly challenging, emotional, rewarding, amazing, stressful, exhausting, and joyful profession! One that should be respected and protected!
Melissa Johnson is the owner of Doulananda Birth Services in Jacksonville, FL. She is a birth doula, Midwife’s Assistant and HypnoBirthing Childbirth Class Instructor. Visit her doula profile.
It seems that when most people think of a doula they think of “birth coach” and that the primary function is to attend the labor and the birth. We usually charge a flat rate for our services which is perceived mostly to cover our time during the labor. This has prompted me to take some time here to educate a little of what makes up a doulas fees.
When we tell people our price is $500, it’s not uncommon for us to hear an “oh no, we can’t afford that” and that is understandable since it is a lump sum…usually when we explain that we take half at the time of hire and half after the birth, families find it much more doable. (As a Jacksonville doula, this fee is pretty reasonable and price should consider experience and offerings as well).
I have thought about how to educate families on the importance of a doula and how it is worth the investment to the outcome of their births but the number $500 sometimes keeps getting the main attention. (I will be addressing ‘fair pricing for all’ in a later blog).
Why is it important to charge this amount or more for these services? I strongly believe (and if you ask any other doula or family who has hired a doula they will most likely agree) it is a valuable service – one that deserves protection. Protection? Yes, this is the first in a series of blogs I hope to write that speak to the protection of the doula profession.
Let me start by sharing a little bit about our Jacksonville/St. Augustine doula group. Not all doulas practice in the same manner. We are a group of 6 women who look forward to creating a bond with our clients. That means we are involved…we call after doctor appointments to check in, we email, text and (if there’s time or if it is appropriate) we have lunch. We also have tight bonds within our group and we feel like the bond that is forged with clients is just as important. It is, after all, the most intimate moments of the family’s life. We don’t just meet a client once and then wait for “I’m in labor” call. And many of our clients remain important in our lives (if they want to be – we aren’t pushy about the whole thing, it just organically happens that way J).
So let’s get started with what makes a doula’s fees starting with the usual suspects. There is the:
· Initial consult
· In-home prenatal visits (one or two)
· The birth attendance
· Post-partum visit
I think everyone would agree that these are normal services and expectations of the doula. The services that I think get overlooked and could use some additional attention are:
· Phone, Text and Email: Wow! These can really add up! I have had *at least* one client that I exchanged over 500 texts with (yes, five hundred). We generally have to change our phone carrier plans once we become doulas in order to keep up! It’s a welcome added expense since this is communication in the year 2011!
· Client exclusivity: this topic has many facets. The most obvious is that in order to maintain that bond with clients, we don’t want to take on 10 clients a month. So we typically take between 1 and 4 per month and *try* to space it so that there aren’t birth collisions. This is a difficult task because babies come when they want to, not when it works best for our schedule.
So if we are to take a client who requests more exclusivity, it can be tricky for the doula if she has committed to being a doula as a primary *career* (and not a hobby – or on the side). If we are to contribute to our family income reasonably, we need to take between 1 and 4 clients a month.
We plan our vacations and our lives around the client, their exclusivity and the on-call status…(see the next bullet). We generally like to book our clients far enough in advance so that we can plan vacations…and then inevitably a baby won’t get the memo and will be born early!
· Being on – call: This is probably the most imposing part of being a doula (a job that I *love*). Imagine someone invites you last minute to a weekend away at the beach, your doula response, “Can’t, I’m on call for a momma”. You’re at dinner and everyone else is ordering wine, “no thanks, I’m on call”. A lot rides on the ‘on-call’ status. My typical on-call routine is “live life as usual” with a packed doula bag, clothes laid out in the bathroom (so I don’t wake my husband when I get up at 3AM), and go to bed about 30 minutes earlier than normal. I typically won’t do anything exhausting during the day (like going to the beach or running a marathon) while I’m on call…and may have more afternoon coffee than normal. My husband says that I really should go ahead and take 4 births a month because the procedure for being on call for one is the same for 10 (okay 4)!
And I am not the only person on-call…my family is on-call too! That means I may have to take a separate car to dinner or won’t be able to do the nighttime routine with my son. My mother may have to keep her phone on if my husband has a full day of work. It is a family effort.
· Which brings up a great point! The family of doulas! I tell people often that I have an amazing husband who supports my career and my antics! But I also have an amazing mother who makes so much of this doula business a success! She makes it happen! Because when I am on-call, so is she. If I get called while my son is at school, then she drops her plans to pick him up. There have been times that she would have to be here at the house at 7AM so that my husband can get to work. When we get *the call* we have to plan to be gone for 5-40 hours.
· The 24 hour + labor: Well this is a tricky one for the doula and for the doulas family. 24+ hours of constant physical and emotional support is wonderfully exhausting. It never feels like that long – and we don’t realize it until later. So the scenario is that we have been gone for 24 hours and now it is 8AM and we are home with a 3 year old who wants to play ;) it happens! We charge the same for a 2 hour labor as we do a 24+ hour labor since it seems to all even out in the end.
· Experience Factor: As a doula and childbirth educator, we keep up-to-date on the latest studies, procedures, protocols, and policies surrounding birth and Jacksonville area hospitals and providers. Every birth and every family teaches us something new and we bring that knowledge and the skills we learn to every birth. This requires time and effort.
There are also many costs associated with being a certified doula; the initial training, the tons of books, the membership fees, and continuing education. Being an experienced and successful doula requires more than a weekend course and reading (as helpful as that is!). The experience makes the real impact. We have to maintain a certain amount of local knowledge, continuing education in order to remain certified, in order to increase our learning in order to gain more experience. Continuing education is costly in many ways.
· Lastly, we are self-employed (independent contractors): The rule of thumb is that a self-employed professional's income is only half of what they earn, after deductions for vacation and sick time, self-employment taxes, insurance, travel and business expenses (and the others mentioned above).
It requires a specific formula for woman to take on the doula profession. It is something we have to take into consideration – sometimes before and sometimes we don’t realize the investment until we’ve been practicing a year or two. But it is an investment. Being a doula is an incredibly challenging, emotional, rewarding, amazing, stressful, exhausting, and joyful profession! One that should be respected and protected!
Melissa Johnson is the owner of Doulananda Birth Services in Jacksonville, FL. She is a birth doula, Midwife’s Assistant and HypnoBirthing Childbirth Class Instructor. Visit her doula profile.
The Ramblings of a Jacksonville Doula
It seems that when most people think of a doula they think of “birth coach” and that the primary function is to attend the labor and the birth. We usually charge a flat rate for our services which is perceived mostly to cover our time during the labor. This has prompted me to take some time here to educate a little of what makes up a doulas fees.
When we tell people our price is $500, it’s not uncommon for us to hear an “oh no, we can’t afford that” and that is understandable since it is a lump sum…usually when we explain that we take half at the time of hire and half after the birth, families find it much more doable. (As a Jacksonville doula, this fee is pretty reasonable and price should consider experience and offerings as well).
I have thought about how to educate families on the importance of a doula and how it is worth the investment to the outcome of their births but the number $500 sometimes keeps getting the main attention. (I will be addressing ‘fair pricing for all’ in a later blog).
Why is it important to charge this amount or more for these services? I strongly believe (and if you ask any other doula or family who has hired a doula they will most likely agree) it is a valuable service – one that deserves protection. Protection? Yes, this is the first in a series of blogs I hope to write that speak to the protection of the doula profession.
Let me start by sharing a little bit about our Jacksonville/St. Augustine doula group. Not all doulas practice in the same manner. We are a group of 6 women who look forward to creating a bond with our clients. That means we are involved…we call after doctor appointments to check in, we email, text and (if there’s time or if it is appropriate) we have lunch. We also have tight bonds within our group and we feel like the bond that is forged with clients is just as important. It is, after all, the most intimate moments of the family’s life. We don’t just meet a client once and then wait for “I’m in labor” call. And many of our clients remain important in our lives (if they want to be – we aren’t pushy about the whole thing, it just organically happens that way J).
So let’s get started with what makes a doula’s fees starting with the usual suspects. There is the:
· Initial consult
· In-home prenatal visits (one or two)
· The birth attendance
· Post-partum visit
I think everyone would agree that these are normal services and expectations of the doula. The services that I think get overlooked and could use some additional attention are:
· Phone, Text and Email: Wow! These can really add up! I have had *at least* one client that I exchanged over 500 texts with (yes, five hundred). We generally have to change our phone carrier plans once we become doulas in order to keep up! It’s a welcome added expense since this is communication in the year 2011!
· Client exclusivity: this topic has many facets. The most obvious is that in order to maintain that bond with clients, we don’t want to take on 10 clients a month. So we typically take between 1 and 4 per month and *try* to space it so that there aren’t birth collisions. This is a difficult task because babies come when they want to, not when it works best for our schedule.
So if we are to take a client who requests more exclusivity, it can be tricky for the doula if she has committed to being a doula as a primary *career* (and not a hobby – or on the side). If we are to contribute to our family income reasonably, we need to take between 1 and 4 clients a month.
We plan our vacations and our lives around the client, their exclusivity and the on-call status…(see the next bullet). We generally like to book our clients far enough in advance so that we can plan vacations…and then inevitably a baby won’t get the memo and will be born early!
· Being on – call: This is probably the most imposing part of being a doula (a job that I *love*). Imagine someone invites you last minute to a weekend away at the beach, your doula response, “Can’t, I’m on call for a momma”. You’re at dinner and everyone else is ordering wine, “no thanks, I’m on call”. A lot rides on the ‘on-call’ status. My typical on-call routine is “live life as usual” with a packed doula bag, clothes laid out in the bathroom (so I don’t wake my husband when I get up at 3AM), and go to bed about 30 minutes earlier than normal. I typically won’t do anything exhausting during the day (like going to the beach or running a marathon) while I’m on call…and may have more afternoon coffee than normal. My husband says that I really should go ahead and take 4 births a month because the procedure for being on call for one is the same for 10 (okay 4)!
And I am not the only person on-call…my family is on-call too! That means I may have to take a separate car to dinner or won’t be able to do the nighttime routine with my son. My mother may have to keep her phone on if my husband has a full day of work. It is a family effort.
· Which brings up a great point! The family of doulas! I tell people often that I have an amazing husband who supports my career and my antics! But I also have an amazing mother who makes so much of this doula business a success! She makes it happen! Because when I am on-call, so is she. If I get called while my son is at school, then she drops her plans to pick him up. There have been times that she would have to be here at the house at 7AM so that my husband can get to work. When we get *the call* we have to plan to be gone for 5-40 hours.
· The 24 hour + labor: Well this is a tricky one for the doula and for the doulas family. 24+ hours of constant physical and emotional support is wonderfully exhausting. It never feels like that long – and we don’t realize it until later. So the scenario is that we have been gone for 24 hours and now it is 8AM and we are home with a 3 year old who wants to play ;) it happens! We charge the same for a 2 hour labor as we do a 24+ hour labor since it seems to all even out in the end.
· Experience Factor: As a doula and childbirth educator, we keep up-to-date on the latest studies, procedures, protocols, and policies surrounding birth and Jacksonville area hospitals and providers. Every birth and every family teaches us something new and we bring that knowledge and the skills we learn to every birth. This requires time and effort.
There are also many costs associated with being a certified doula; the initial training, the tons of books, the membership fees, and continuing education. Being an experienced and successful doula requires more than a weekend course and reading (as helpful as that is!). The experience makes the real impact. We have to maintain a certain amount of local knowledge, continuing education in order to remain certified, in order to increase our learning in order to gain more experience. Continuing education is costly in many ways.
· Lastly, we are self-employed (independent contractors): The rule of thumb is that a self-employed professional's income is only half of what they earn, after deductions for vacation and sick time, self-employment taxes, insurance, travel and business expenses (and the others mentioned above).
It requires a specific formula for woman to take on the doula profession. It is something we have to take into consideration – sometimes before and sometimes we don’t realize the investment until we’ve been practicing a year or two. But it is an investment. Being a doula is an incredibly challenging, emotional, rewarding, amazing, stressful, exhausting, and joyful profession! One that should be respected and protected!
Melissa Johnson is the owner of Doulananda Birth Services in Jacksonville, FL. She is a birth doula, Midwife’s Assistant and HypnoBirthing Childbirth Class Instructor. Visit her doula profile.
It seems that when most people think of a doula they think of “birth coach” and that the primary function is to attend the labor and the birth. We usually charge a flat rate for our services which is perceived mostly to cover our time during the labor. This has prompted me to take some time here to educate a little of what makes up a doulas fees.
When we tell people our price is $500, it’s not uncommon for us to hear an “oh no, we can’t afford that” and that is understandable since it is a lump sum…usually when we explain that we take half at the time of hire and half after the birth, families find it much more doable. (As a Jacksonville doula, this fee is pretty reasonable and price should consider experience and offerings as well).
I have thought about how to educate families on the importance of a doula and how it is worth the investment to the outcome of their births but the number $500 sometimes keeps getting the main attention. (I will be addressing ‘fair pricing for all’ in a later blog).
Why is it important to charge this amount or more for these services? I strongly believe (and if you ask any other doula or family who has hired a doula they will most likely agree) it is a valuable service – one that deserves protection. Protection? Yes, this is the first in a series of blogs I hope to write that speak to the protection of the doula profession.
Let me start by sharing a little bit about our Jacksonville/St. Augustine doula group. Not all doulas practice in the same manner. We are a group of 6 women who look forward to creating a bond with our clients. That means we are involved…we call after doctor appointments to check in, we email, text and (if there’s time or if it is appropriate) we have lunch. We also have tight bonds within our group and we feel like the bond that is forged with clients is just as important. It is, after all, the most intimate moments of the family’s life. We don’t just meet a client once and then wait for “I’m in labor” call. And many of our clients remain important in our lives (if they want to be – we aren’t pushy about the whole thing, it just organically happens that way J).
So let’s get started with what makes a doula’s fees starting with the usual suspects. There is the:
· Initial consult
· In-home prenatal visits (one or two)
· The birth attendance
· Post-partum visit
I think everyone would agree that these are normal services and expectations of the doula. The services that I think get overlooked and could use some additional attention are:
· Phone, Text and Email: Wow! These can really add up! I have had *at least* one client that I exchanged over 500 texts with (yes, five hundred). We generally have to change our phone carrier plans once we become doulas in order to keep up! It’s a welcome added expense since this is communication in the year 2011!
· Client exclusivity: this topic has many facets. The most obvious is that in order to maintain that bond with clients, we don’t want to take on 10 clients a month. So we typically take between 1 and 4 per month and *try* to space it so that there aren’t birth collisions. This is a difficult task because babies come when they want to, not when it works best for our schedule.
So if we are to take a client who requests more exclusivity, it can be tricky for the doula if she has committed to being a doula as a primary *career* (and not a hobby – or on the side). If we are to contribute to our family income reasonably, we need to take between 1 and 4 clients a month.
We plan our vacations and our lives around the client, their exclusivity and the on-call status…(see the next bullet). We generally like to book our clients far enough in advance so that we can plan vacations…and then inevitably a baby won’t get the memo and will be born early!
· Being on – call: This is probably the most imposing part of being a doula (a job that I *love*). Imagine someone invites you last minute to a weekend away at the beach, your doula response, “Can’t, I’m on call for a momma”. You’re at dinner and everyone else is ordering wine, “no thanks, I’m on call”. A lot rides on the ‘on-call’ status. My typical on-call routine is “live life as usual” with a packed doula bag, clothes laid out in the bathroom (so I don’t wake my husband when I get up at 3AM), and go to bed about 30 minutes earlier than normal. I typically won’t do anything exhausting during the day (like going to the beach or running a marathon) while I’m on call…and may have more afternoon coffee than normal. My husband says that I really should go ahead and take 4 births a month because the procedure for being on call for one is the same for 10 (okay 4)!
And I am not the only person on-call…my family is on-call too! That means I may have to take a separate car to dinner or won’t be able to do the nighttime routine with my son. My mother may have to keep her phone on if my husband has a full day of work. It is a family effort.
· Which brings up a great point! The family of doulas! I tell people often that I have an amazing husband who supports my career and my antics! But I also have an amazing mother who makes so much of this doula business a success! She makes it happen! Because when I am on-call, so is she. If I get called while my son is at school, then she drops her plans to pick him up. There have been times that she would have to be here at the house at 7AM so that my husband can get to work. When we get *the call* we have to plan to be gone for 5-40 hours.
· The 24 hour + labor: Well this is a tricky one for the doula and for the doulas family. 24+ hours of constant physical and emotional support is wonderfully exhausting. It never feels like that long – and we don’t realize it until later. So the scenario is that we have been gone for 24 hours and now it is 8AM and we are home with a 3 year old who wants to play ;) it happens! We charge the same for a 2 hour labor as we do a 24+ hour labor since it seems to all even out in the end.
· Experience Factor: As a doula and childbirth educator, we keep up-to-date on the latest studies, procedures, protocols, and policies surrounding birth and Jacksonville area hospitals and providers. Every birth and every family teaches us something new and we bring that knowledge and the skills we learn to every birth. This requires time and effort.
There are also many costs associated with being a certified doula; the initial training, the tons of books, the membership fees, and continuing education. Being an experienced and successful doula requires more than a weekend course and reading (as helpful as that is!). The experience makes the real impact. We have to maintain a certain amount of local knowledge, continuing education in order to remain certified, in order to increase our learning in order to gain more experience. Continuing education is costly in many ways.
· Lastly, we are self-employed (independent contractors): The rule of thumb is that a self-employed professional's income is only half of what they earn, after deductions for vacation and sick time, self-employment taxes, insurance, travel and business expenses (and the others mentioned above).
It requires a specific formula for woman to take on the doula profession. It is something we have to take into consideration – sometimes before and sometimes we don’t realize the investment until we’ve been practicing a year or two. But it is an investment. Being a doula is an incredibly challenging, emotional, rewarding, amazing, stressful, exhausting, and joyful profession! One that should be respected and protected!
Melissa Johnson is the owner of Doulananda Birth Services in Jacksonville, FL. She is a birth doula, Midwife’s Assistant and HypnoBirthing Childbirth Class Instructor. Visit her doula profile.
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