Taking My "Baby Steps"

Here I am, starting a new blog, going crazy with writing, bursting with energy and enthusiasm and desire to start attending births right now!! Pregnant mamas need support, and I want to be out there lending it to them!

So what steps am I taking to make all this happen? I mean, technically, you don't have to be "certified" to take doula clients, as doulas aren't medical professionals, just support personnel. However, I feel strongly that the care given as a doula needs to come from a basis of education, knowledge of statistics, study, and the like, and not just personal opinion. Having that certification will put authority behind my philosophies and such, and give my clients the confidence that I know what I'm talking about, because I have taken the time to become educated. How could I tell mothers to educate themselves if I hadn't done it myself?

My first step right now is researching different doula certification programs and organizations. It's difficult to meet a lot of the requirements right now, seeing as I have two little ones to care for and that makes it hard to travel to workshops and the like, so I'm trying to find a credible online program that I can do at my convenience and balance with motherhood. I'm leaning toward Childbirth International at the moment, because they have a program that seems to fit my needs. I haven't formally decided or signed up yet, but that's where my inclinations lie. I'm waiting to start until my husband completes the online course he's taking, but that won't take more than a few months, and by then I'll have made my decision and can get signed up.

Until then, I'm reading reading reading. I'm researching everything I can think to research, and building a knowledge base so that when I start the doula course, I can breeze through it faster because I'll already have studied so much of the material. It helps that I've personally given birth twice, so I know the ins and outs of the labors I had, so that will lend me a lot of credibility to potential clients, in addition to the certification. I'll need at least 2 "practice" clients to gain certification, so contact me once I've started the process if you're interested in a free-of-charge doula who's learning the ropes, but not totally inexperienced in the labor and delivery world!