Advice please?

[A.K.]

I have an apointment with an un-wed mother's home next week to be able to do some volunteer work. I am still in the middle of my training and this will be my first "professional" experience with potential clients. This is a non-profit organization that helps mother's get on their feet during and after pregnancy and birth. They house many ages and different types of women, and they live there while being helped with schooling and career training. My meeting is with the coordinator, not any actual mother's just yet. When I spoke to her on the phone she was completely unaware that the word Doula even existed . What kind of questions should I ask or expect to be asked. What information should I volunteer if she doesn't know what to ask me. And also is a contract necessary for volunteer services? Am I missing anything else? TIA!

[amymaew]

What a great opportunity! There's a home for unwed mothers near me which has a doula program now. They do childbirth education classes and then there's 2-3 doulas who rotate being on call. I would just talk to her about what a doula is and what you could offer these moms. And I always used a contract for my volunteer births just so everyone knew what my responsibilities were and what theirs were. Good luck!

[DL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amymaew What a great opportunity! There's a home for unwed mothers near me which has a doula program now. They do childbirth education classes and then there's 2-3 doulas who rotate being on call. I would just talk to her about what a doula is and what you could offer these moms. And I always used a contract for my volunteer births just so everyone knew what my responsibilities were and what theirs were. Good luck!

I'd love to elaborate, but Amy's post is pretty much what I would've said. Yes, that is a wonderful opportunity!

[doulajamie]

I would want to discuss protocol when mom thinks she is in labor. Are you going to be able to transport (I would think you would need to be put on the company's insurance and use their cars IF you are going to to do this)? Do you want mom to go to triage and be checked before you are called? These will be important issues to discuss and you need to consider your distance to and from the center, you don't want a lot of trips for very early labors.

I would have a couple of contracts: 1) with the center specifying your responsibility to them, their responsibility to you, if there is any pay or benefits involved, length of term (if you are specifying this), any other expectations you have (is this an internship? do you need paperwork signed to verify hours? etc). 2) another contract with the client again specifying your responsibility to them, their responsibility to you, expectations, filling out evaluations, etc.


Honestly, consider your committment to this organization, especially if you are going to be needing to take paid clients to cover your own bills. How long are you willing to volunteer for? If results are positive, would you like to move into a coordinator position to help coordinate doula and other services for the organization? Approximately what value do you think this would be worth? What resources would you need? How many hours a week will this take? I know this is very forward thinking but if you aren't thinking ahead, they won't either!!

Just my thoughts on this!

Jamie