I've just gotten to a point where I can work full time toward building my doula business. I still need two births to complete my certification. I do know several people who are pregnant right now-- some friends from high school, friends of the family, etc.

I'm advertising that my fee for births until my certification is complete is 1/2 price. I'd hoped this would entice people that I know to contact me. However, I do live in an area where natural birth is not popular, and the idea of a doula is completely foreign...

I'd considered messaging the people that I know who are pregnant and offering my services for free.... just mentioning if theyd ever heard of a doula or ever considered hiring one, that i would love to attend their birth (at no charge, because i do need it for certification) and only ask that they complete the evaluation that i need and a testimonial for my website...

some of the pregnant people i know are first time moms (for some its their 3rd or 4th). and they are on all ranges of the crunchy scale.... i wouldn't think of messaging anyone i dont know personally, but at the same time, im worried about alienating (or otherwise weirding out) some of the pregnant moms that I know that really have no idea (or care to learn) what a doula is about....

opinions?

If you know them, I don't think that is tacky at all. That is how I got my fist few births and started building a name for myself! Go for it =)

I posted info about the benefits of a doula on Facebook, then posted that I am offering my services for free until I'm certified. I've had two people take me up on the offer from there so far. I have a couple of friends who are not on facebook that are preggers and I just let them know about my services and that I need births to certify. One friend has expressed interest, but the other has not (but it's her third baby and I think she's confident that, after two NCBs, she doesn't need/want me there, which is totally fine).

I think that as long as you're not being pushy and not directly messaging people you don't know, it's fine. My friends that are not interested in doula info just ignore it and I leave it alone.

a doula can be helpful for ALL kinds of births, not only vaginal, also c-section, planned, emergency.