A calm, patient personality, a love for babies, a helpful nature and nimble hands… If you possess these combinations in your character, you can consider a prospective career as a ‘Birth Assistant’ or commonly called as, a ‘Doula’.
There are two types of doulas, Birth or labor doulas that provide non-medical, emotional, and physical support and the knowledge required for pregnant couples during labor and delivery, and most likely, even afterwards, during the early days of motherhood. And the other type is postpartum doulas that nurture new moms, helping them recover from childbirth and supporting them to take care of their infant, providing essential support on breastfeeding, bathing, meal preparation, sibling care, errand-running, household chores and any other tasks that would be godsend assistant to a new mother.
Training…
Although it may not be necessary to have special qualifications to become a birth assistant, experience in nursing and midwifery will definitely provide an added advantage. If you plan to assist new moms with their deliveries, then it may be especially useful to have had some sort of training or certification in basic child birth techniques. You don’t necessarily have to follow a course for gaining this knowledge. You can do a lot of reading on childbirth, at the local library, or the internet, where you will be surprised to find an overflow of information. You can also begin your career by working as a mentor for a qualified doula, assisting them with their clients and gain the required knowledge through this experience. Once you are confident in the skills required and have mastered the techniques involved, you can venture out on your own. You can ask your trainer to provide you with references, good recommendations bring good contracts!
Clients…
Your target market is always young moms, and almost always they are likely to be first time parents. So how do you market yourself to them? You can try holding special seminars or talk groups for young moms in your area at free of cost or for nominal fees and provide them with brochures and loads of tips on early stages of parenting. Your professionalism and knowledge will definitely boost their confidence in hiring your services!
Start-up
This is a home enterprise that doesn’t require minimal start-up costs, as there are no overheads involved. You visit your clients in their homes and provide your services. You will probably have to spend a bit on advertising, until you are well known in the trade, but once you have established yourself as a professional, even that may not be required.
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