There are independent childbirth educators who choose to develop their own childbirth classes, as well as doulas who wish to offer their clients childbirth education as part of their services. A common challenge for these birth professionals is the desire to develop a comprehensive curriculum that meets the needs of a broad audience, is current, [...]

If you’ve been following this series and doing the work along with me, you created a vision for summer with your family as well as a vision for your business over the next few months. Now that you know how you want to feel and have an idea of what you want summer to look like, it’s time to create some clear goals and take a look at your current systems.

Set your business and family goals for the summer

List any projects you want to complete, activities you want to do with your family, and also any other personal goals you can think of. and set a deadline to accomplish each. Remember to think about and create SMARTER goals:

Just as you and your family explored your collective vision for the summer, it would be equally valuable to create your vision for how your business will support you during the summer months. By focusing on your family’s vision first, you’ll be giving your personal values priority. This will help you put your business goals in perspective and integrate your business into your life rather than allowing your business to take over your life. You’ll be able to more easily allow your values to guide your business building and management decisions so you can honor yourself and your family during the summertime.

Each year, my biggest challenge has to do with setting boundaries for my work so I can make my family and my self-care a priority. In the crazy moments, what helps me is to return back to remembering the overall vision for how I want to be and feel when it comes to my family and business.

Every May, I spend time with the kids creating some intentions on how we want to spend our time, and this helps us develop a good rhythm over the course of the summer months. A vision for home and business life helps everyone set expectations, develop a few systems, and a big plus – we get along without much cabin fever or many squabbles. Over the next few days I’ll be sharing five steps that could help you create a great summer rhythm.

On a forum I’m a part of, there was recently a discussion of hospitals that require birth doulas to sign consent forms in order to practice there. These forms typically list what a doula can or cannot do in that particular hospital.

It’s a good idea for doula clients to be aware of their doctor’s and hospital’s policies regarding access to and acceptance of labor support. One way to address this is to include specific wording on the doula contract that raises awareness and voices the expectation that the client needs to understand how supportive their caregivers will be of their doula.

You’ve probably heard that one of the keys to a successful practice is to create a vision and a plan to go along with it. I’ve got something else to add to this.

In order to move forward, it’s important to create structure in your LIFE. This will help you immensely in giving you the mental and emotional space necessary to invest in your business.

If you’re not sure what I mean, perhaps these questions will help you:

* Do you have a time management system that helps guide your day?
* Do you feel peaceful in your home environment? Is it a a place that’s comfortable for you (tidy, organized, filled with objects and people you love)?
* Do you have a positive relationship with money (is it coming in, is it sticking around, do you know where it is and where it’s going)?
* Are you nurturing your sacred relationships?

After I attend a birth, it’s important for me to process through it. Sometimes I ask my husband to listen, sometimes I call a fellow doula or mentor, and every time, I put pen to paper. My whole being runs the gamut of emotions

Many birth professionals wear more than one hat. Part of that comes from the love we have of birth, breastfeeding, early parenting, and other related areas. Sometimes it comes out of the necessity to bring in more income.

Here is a a question I received about a month ago from Val Peterson of Birthday with Val: I love being a doula!! I would have to say that the most challenging area for me with this work is the financial consistency aspect

I have tried a lot of time management systems – the ol’ trusty Day Timer, one big list, prioritizing tasks in a list, scheduling tasks in blocks of time…