Doulas of the Roundtable

Postpartum loneliness is common. It's also easy to miss. A client can have a clean house, a full fridge, and family around and still feel alone. In this episode, we take a look at the reasons postpartum can feel so lonely. We explore questions that get past "good, tired," when we ask how a client is doing. We also discuss the clients and partners who seem to have it all handled and under control. We wrap up with talking aabout what happens when the doula relationship ends. Research shows some families feel a real loss when our support stops. Join us as we explore how postpartum doulas can help clients withe postpartum loneliness and build connections that lasts beyond the contract.

SEO for doulas sounds technical, expensive, and easy to put on the back burner. Meanwhile a family in your town is searching for a doula right now. Your name may not be anywhere on the first page. Throwing up a website and hoping people find it is keeping a lot of good doulas invisible. This is the next part of the Doula Business Blueprint Series. In this episode we take a look at what SEO is in easy to understand terms and the four places it belongs. We alsoa explore paid ads and paid followers, including what they will and won't do for your business. This one is for the doula who cringes at the word SEO. It's also for the doula whose website isn't doing what it's supposed to do. Inspiring families to reach out to learn more about what you offer. Join us as we break down SEO for doulas and show you how to help local families find you.  

Once Pitocin is started, the approach has often been to keep it running through delivery. That protocol, has been built into standard induction and augmentation approaches over time. New research on Pitocin discontinuation once active labor is achieved complicates that approach. There are three major studies we can now look to on this topic. Depending on interpretation, they neither fully support nor fully refute it. This episode breaks down what an effective labor pattern actually looks like by research standards. Provides information on when and how to raise the possibility of Pitocin discontinuation once active labor is achieved with a client before labor starts. We also covers what to do with evidence that pulls in more than one direction at once. Join me as I walk through what three different studies found, where they disagree, and what that means for how you support a client through this conversation. Sources: Whitley J, Burd J, Doering M, Kelly J, Frolova A, Raghuraman N. "Reduced risk of cesarean delivery with oxytocin discontinuation in active labor: a systematic review and meta-analysis." American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2025;233(1):25-39.e11. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2025.03.015 Jiang D, Yang Y, Zhang X, Nie X. "Continued versus discontinued oxytocin after the active phase of labor: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis." PLOS ONE. 2022;17(5):e0267461. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267461 Boie S, Glavind J, Uldbjerg N, Steer PJ, Bor P, CONDISOX trial group. "Continued versus discontinued oxytocin stimulation in the active phase of labour (CONDISOX): double blind randomised controlled trial." BMJ. 2021;373:n716. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.n716

You can do everything right in a doula business relationship and still miss the doula business red flags that may show up along the way. These patterns rarely look dramatic at first. They look like warmth. Or like being told you're valued, essential, part of the inner circle. By the time it starts to look and feel different, you've already committed. This episode breaks down the specific behaviors that show up when a business relationship isn't built on equal footing, whether it's a certifying body, an agency, a mentor, a business partner, or a doula partnership. Approval that has to be repeatedly earned. Generosity that gets punished either way. No acceptable reason to say no. Roles that stay deliberately unclear. Refusals with nothing offered in return. Opportunities given to some people and not others, with no real explanation. Join me as I walk through what to watch for before you sign anything, and what to actually do if you recognize yourself already in a business relationship where these doula business red flags exist.  

Most doulas will tell you their ideal client is anyone who is pregnant or postpartum. Without a well defined doula client market every marketing decision, pricing decision, and visibility strategy is aimed at no one in particular. Having an undefined market is much like shouting into a crowd and hoping the right person happens to be listening. And this approach is preventing most doulas from building a sustainable business. This is is Part 2 of the Doula Business Blueprint Series. In this episode we dive into who your ideal client actually is, how to build their profile whether or not you have a long track record of clients to draw on, and how that profile becomes the living document that guides all the other decisions you make regarding your business.. Join me as as I show you how to define your doula client market and explain why that kind of clarity is necessary to the long term success of your business.