What do you do about childcare when at a birth?

aetrusty · 06-11-2007, 07:12 PM

What do those of you who attend births do for childcare? Do you add that into the fee that you charge your client?

If you have multiple children, do you make money attending births or break even after you include the cost of childcare?

UtahDoula · 06-11-2007, 07:56 PM

I figure it as part of my expenses when setting price. And when I end up doing a weekend or overnight birth and don't need to pay childcare, then WOOHOO! Extra profit!
I do still make money at births.

Acacia · 06-11-2007, 08:07 PM

I have family that is close by so it hasn't been an issue with me. I have also found that the women so far anyway have tended to go into labor in the evening or on the weekend when dh is home and can take the kids!

aetrusty · 06-11-2007, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UtahDoula

I figure it as part of my expenses when setting price. And when I end up doing a weekend or overnight birth and don't need to pay childcare, then WOOHOO! Extra profit!
I do still make money at births.

So do you have someone who will watch your child(ren) at the last minute? Is it family members? How did you find someone who would watch your child when you're called at the last minute?

UtahDoula · 06-11-2007, 08:33 PM

I have 4 on-call babysitters. They're all friends/neighbors or doulas not practicing at the moment because they have nursing babies. You'd think that was enough, but there was this one week.....
Family 1: Out of town
Family 2: Kids had pink eye
Family 3 (lives next door to family 2, right around the corner from me): Kids also had pink eye
Family 4: Kids had chicken pox (and because I can't go to towrk at the hospital if I've been exposed, I didn't want to do that)

Fortunately my client waited until the pink eye passed and family #1 was back in town before birthing, but I was SO nervous that week!

They are all families with moms that stay home who have kids dd's age (only my youngest needs care - my older 2 can be home alone together if needed) I end up changing fairly often - I recently had to scratch a babysitter off my list because she had twins 14 days ago. She didn't tell me she can't do it any more, I'm just assuming.... So far I've offered all my on-call sitters a small fee to be on-call, they've all refused.
I've used neighbors, friends, inactive doulas, women I got to know at LLL meetings, and family.

tlcdoula · 06-11-2007, 08:41 PM

Thankfully mine are old enough that they don't need childcare. If I leave in the middle of the night I just go and leave the kids with my oldest (19 yrs old), and if it is during the day they are in school or dh is home (he works 3rd shift).

BlessedBottomz · 06-11-2007, 08:53 PM

You all that have family and friends that live near by are so lucky. We moved to a new state and I am relying on friends that I just met a couple months ago and trying out new drop-in daycares. Maybe look into the price of local home daycares that have extra opennings often and see if you could work out a drop in charge?

teachinmamaof4 · 06-11-2007, 10:38 PM

My dh's job is fairly flexible. If he needs to be late while waiting on a ride to work (he can't drive b/c of his vision), it's ok.

I have a couple friends that I can call on to do babysitting. One is a mw and the other a doula so they understand the last-minute-ness of this work.

I also have a teen girl at our church I can call. She is homeschooled so she's available during the day. The downside to using her is I'd have to pay her.

DoulaCBE · 06-11-2007, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aetrusty

So do you have someone who will watch your child(ren) at the last minute? Is it family members? How did you find someone who would watch your child when you're called at the last minute?

I use family. If I had to use a center or nanny service I'd wait until my youngest was older (she's 3 on Sunday).

If my parents watch my girls I don't have to pay them. If my Sister In Law watches the baby or both girls I pay her about $5 for hour for extra spending money and that covers any food my girls will eat. I usually average about 5-8 hours of care from her with any given birth, since my husband picks the kids up on his way home from work.

aurorabirth · 06-11-2007, 11:46 PM

We have a live-in Filipino nanny arriving in September. She is actually coming so I can go to school fulltime, my doula business and prenatal classes are on the side of school.

doula Michele · 06-12-2007, 08:47 AM

My kids are grown up, and I don't need to worry about it....I can come and go as I please.

But had I done this when they were younger...I would have went insane. I hated working a real job and having to deal with childcare. ( so I became a babysitter).

I also would not have made enough money to make paying a baby sitter feasable, and I do not believe in dropping the kids off with friends or family, without paying them. Especially If I am getting paid....but that is just me.

amymaew · 06-12-2007, 09:06 AM

I have a list of people - my parents, my best friend, my neighbor, my nieces, my sil (but she's a bit nuts, so she's my last last resort). Some I pay, others accept a bottle of wine and dinner as payment.

empowered-birth · 06-12-2007, 10:03 PM

Great question!!!! I have been pondering this, as I have resolved myself to kick my BA work up a notch and actually do something! Still, we're moving to a place where we know NO ONE, and I have a 6yo, 3yo, and a 9mo (nursling, still). It will still be some time before I attend births, but I am hoping to establish connections in this way. Any homeschooling doula-mamas here? We'll be HS'ing, officially starting this fall (but we're messing around now).

Another thought -- do you work "with" other doulas? MW's have back-ups, so shouldn't we? And if you do, how do you prepare the back-up doula on the information of the mother, the information, the money?

Thanks doula-mamas!
Sally

jesscardona · 06-13-2007, 01:11 AM

Well, I've been able to leave my dd with my dh or my mil or my sil or a friend..
It also depends on the time, how long, etc..

dorothyh · 06-13-2007, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by empowered-birth

. Any homeschooling doula-mamas here? We'll be HS'ing, officially starting this fall (but we're messing around now).

I'm a homeschooling doula!! There are quite a few of us here, and Im sure once you network with the homeschoolers in your area that you will find homeschooling mamas happy to earn a little extra $$ by doing childcare for you while you are at a birth!

Quote:

Another thought -- do you work "with" other doulas? MW's have back-ups, so shouldn't we? And if you do, how do you prepare the back-up doula on the information of the mother, the information, the money?

Absolutely I work with other doulas, and we back each other up. If someone is covering for me, I give her the basic info about my client, a copy of her birth plan and other paperwork, and go over anything significant that my backup should know. I keep a portion of the fee to cover prenatals, and my doula partner would get the rest. Definitely work out ahead of time what you are paying your backup! I also pay a small amt to my backup covering if she is on call for me during the 2 week window before/after the due date.