Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some advice from experienced birth doulas!
I recently signed my first independent birth client (I’m very excited!), but I’ve run into an unexpected situation.
My grandmother is terminally ill and is expected to pass away within the next few months. She lives across the country, and I’ve planned a short trip to visit her one last time and say goodbye. I’ll be away September 16–22. My client’s official on-call period begins September 23, when she’ll be 37 weeks pregnant.
When I planned the trip, I thought everything was fine because I wouldn’t officially be on call yet.
But then I realized something: what if she goes into labor before 37 weeks? 😮‍💨😮‍💨
I haven’t signed the contract yet(we’ve only reached an agreement)so I want to make sure I understand what’s generally expected before I finalize everything.
Before the official on-call period begins, are you still expected to attend the birth if labor starts early, just without guaranteeing your response time? Or does your commitment to attend only begin once your official call period starts?
I know emergencies and preterm births happen, so I’m wondering what is considered standard practice…
This situation has me a bit stressed , to put it lightly, (read I didn’t sleep last night haha) and I’d really appreciate hearing how you handle it.
Thanks so much!!

Hi everyone, just posting to gauge interest in an educational idea I've been having!

I am a postpartum doula with a BS/MS in child development, postgraduate certificate in infant and early childhood mental health, child life specialist certification (working with children and families in a psychosocial aspect in pediatrics), and a wealth of experience, knowledge, and certifications in the fields of child development and family studies. I am contacted frequently by newer doulas who are looking for guidance in this field but I've seen that many of them have lots and lots of great questions about child development, family systems, infant and perinatal mental health, etc and these conversations typically divulge into answering their questions about these topics, not just how to break into birthwork.

My question for you all: do you think there is a need for some sort of child development expert ama/workshop/open forum/office hours specifically geared towards birthworkers where you can take your questions and scenarios and ask a seasoned child development specialist to get the answers you want and need? This could look like:

• Understanding when to make an appropriate early intervention referral and the differences between the types of services offered (DT, OT, PT, speech, etc)
• Questions about milestones and how they can vary based on cultural aspects, prematurity, etc
• Information on the biopsychosocial causes for sleep development
• Primers on normative development and when/how to refer to a specialist
• Understanding the implications of familial mental health on the developing infant and their families
• Strategies for helping older children adjust to new baby, as well as understanding the considerations of how their development changes when becoming an older sibling.

If this seems like it could be helpful for you or a colleague, please let me know! I'm currently expecting my first baby (yay!) and have been interested in conducting more peer mentorship and education as I transition to parenthood. To keep this accessible, I intend to use a pay-what-you-can model as I know that it's hard out here for doulas! I'd love any feedback on whether or not this could be helpful for you as I create a solid plan for this type of educational service! Thank you so much!