Hello there! I am currently looking into becoming a Doula and I am very excited about it!

I have two small children, 4yr and 2yr. My question is, how do you manage if and when you need to go to a birth and it's long? I have read that you could be with the client for more than 24hours sometimes. How do you deal with this and does it balance?

Hi,
It is definitely important to prepare ahead of time for being away from home for a long time. My first 8 births averaged between 24 and 42 hours! (The 42 hrs was out of state for a friend though)

I have a good friend who I pay a flat fee (very discounted) per month. She doesn't need much and she saves me $ from having to hire a true sitter.
But then I also have 2 on-call sitters who get called if my friend is not available.

It works out - though you have to keep an eye on your cost per client if ykwim.
Best of luck.
-Heidi

With two young children, the first thing is that you have to have rock solid childcare in place and that understands you may not have 9-5 needs. So for example, if your dh gets home at 6:00 PM and leaves for work at 7:00 AM, you know he has those hours covered, so you'll need to have childcare arranged for if you are gone between the hours of 7 AM and 6 PM. And you need to have backup childcare in place as well - what happens if your primary babysitter is sick or unavailable?

If you don't have good childcare set up, reconsider whether this is the right time for you to get started as a doula.

The other thing is after the birth. If you were just at a birth for 24 hours and are stumbling home at 6:00 AM after no sleep, it's not like you're going to be able to catch up on sleep that day with a 2yo and 4yo. Think about how are you going to handle the after the birth part of things.

I would suggest at first taking births that are widely spaced - at least a month or two apart, so that you can see how it works out for you.

It is not easy doula-ing when you have young children. It does get easier when they are older. (Except then you need to have contingency plans in place to get them to their activities, etc)

I have been a doula for almost three years now and have a 6yr old, 4yr old and 22months old (who I am still breastfeeding). Because I am a SAHM I only take on 2-3 births a month. Between prenatal appointments, postpartum visits, childbirth classes, and births this keeps me very busy (So I guess I am more of a WAHM?) I have a very supportive husband and a list of about four possible sitters. I let those ladies know what I have as far as clients every month. If I get a call in the middle of the night, I send a text msg. letting them know that I am leaving for a birth and that DH may call them in the morning for childcare.

I pay my sitters as well as barter (swap childcare, etc.)

I have four children, aged 3, 5, 7 and 10, who I homeschool.

I have to echo what the other posters said about childcare. When I was first starting out, I interviewed a whole bunch of babysitters (checked references, had them come spend time with the kids with me there, etc) so that there would always be someone available if I had to be away when dh was at work.

It can be tough to balance doula work with taking care of children, but it can be done.

I have five children under the age of six. Last year I supported five families, attended three births, and I had a baby in July. I think I could have supported three more families and attended their births without straining myself or my family.

My childcare situation: My lovely mother-in-law does not work and lives two blocks away. My wonderful mother would take my children to her house for nights and weekends, if needed. My children are already enrolled for one-day-per-week in a mother's day out program that takes drop-ins on Tues.Wed.Thurs. 8a-2:30p.
For a birth I'm planning to attend soon, my MIL may be busy, or after the daycare's hours, or it might be a Monday or Friday so I remembered a great tip I read about here on AllDoulas. I hired a friend to be on-call. When I go on-call for the momma, she'll go on-call for me; I'll pay her $35 to keep her schedule clear and ready for me for two weeks, and $7 an hour for childcare, if I use her. She can transport the children, if needed.

Between all those options, as soon as momma calls me, I can cobble together a childcare plan in 15-20 minutes. Depending on when she calls I might have to wake some people up to do it, but they should be used to that by now. Ha!

Oh and I should mention that I tell my clients: Call me twice - first for when you suspect labor (a heads-up call) and the second for when you want me to come.

I just want to echo this. I am going to be training for postpartum doula work until my kids are a bit older and can be left for short periods of time if needed. I want to be a birth doula but I also realize that it just isn't going to fit in my life right now. I need something I can schedule and set up appointments for etc.

My husband takes off sick when I have a birth to attend. If you have a hubby with ample sick/flex/vacation time like I do this is a very good option. Also many births happen in the night, weekend or in the case of an induction can be "planned" to cover childcare. We have my mother for backup to watch my son when hubby works, etc. Also many times he only has to miss part of a workday, not all.

We moved from Europe. In our country moms usually stay alone in hospital. Without dads. My husband will not be with me. I think he is just scared and woried a bit. But he will come to visit us as soon as the baby appear. That is for sure.

I'm appreciating this thread as I'm new to the birth doula role and have two young boys- 4 and almost two.

Here's what I have planned. If I get a call in the middle of the night, my husband will be home and then he will drive my kids to my parents (retired and flexible!) for the day until I am done or he is done working. If I get a call in the middle of the day I have friends who live close by who will take the kids until my parents or husband can pick them up. If I am on-call and my husband is out of town for the night I plan to sleep over with the boys at my parents' house so I can leave in the middle of the night if necessary.

I am still nursing too, and for now am only taking second-time Mom clients (hoping the births will be shorter!) and telling them that I may need to take some time during a long birth to either pump or have my toddler brought to the hospital to nurse. I"m also working to set up back-ups (preferably doulas without kids) to go to a birth before me if I get caught in a bind.

I really feel like the universe is telling me that this is the time for me to start doing this work. I hope we will figure out a process that works well for us! Good luck to you too!!

I have a breastfeeding toddler, so it is difficult for both of us to be separated for long periods of time. It was harder when she was smaller - my first birth as a doula was when she was 13 months old. However, when I'm not at a birth or a prenatal meeting, I am home with her. So I think it's a good trade-off to be home with her the majority of the time. When I'm not home, it's doing something I love, rather than a monotonous, unrewarding corporate job like I had before.

I am very fortunate that usually my husband and/or mom are able to watch her (I have just been lucky that most births have landed on DH's days off). I also have a good friend of mine is a doula, so we swap childcare and are also one another's backups. Our kids are the same age, and they adore each other too. Makes it so much easier than leaving her with a stranger and having to pay someone, kwim?

P.S. - I couldn't imagine being comfortable leaving a child under 6 months for more than a few hours at a time, as it could cause issues with breastfeeding. 12 months would be preferable, but obviously most of us can't afford to take that much maternity leave from our doula business. I also teach childbirth classes, so with the next LO I think I will give myself a 6-month hiatus from taking clients while just teaching classes, then start to take clients who are due a few months away from their due dates at least.

This is a great topic. I have a 4 year old son and was wondering how doulas manage with young children.

I have a one year old and I am currently pregnant with my second baby. I'm planning on HOPEFULLY getting everything I need for my certification before the new baby arrives, then taking a few months off (maybe longer) before jumping back into the game again. It will be tough going at first I am sure, because then I will be leaving dad at home with two babies instead of just one. Right now my husband will stay home to watch our son whenever he needs to. Fortunately since I only have about one birth per month, it doesn't happen terribly often - and the last few have been on weekends and during the night so it's been good with his job. We really juggle things in order to make it happen, but we do make it happen.

Loving this thread!

I just joined this site today, looking for information just.like.this!

This is probably my #1 concern at the moment. I have a 3 year old, a 16 month old, and we are hoping for at least 2 more babies, so I know that having little ones/nurslings is in my future....