Will this work? Having a doula partner

[JessicaE]

A friend and I are getting certified as doulas this fall.

We're planning to work as partners, with each of us on call 50% of the time. I have a natural client base, as I'm already a Bradley CBE.

I know it will be a bit of a hurdle, to get couples equally comfortable with both of us. We do have very similar styles and personalities. I'm thinking that we'll both attend at least one prenatal visit, maybe two.

Maybe we'll have to dive into it to know for sure... But since both of us have little ones at home this setup appeals to us.

Has anyone tried this? Suggestions or thoughts?

[courtenay_e]

I have a "partner" (actually another mdc mama), but we work it differently. We are on call all the time for our "own" clients (meaning the ones we find, and they pay us 100% of our fee)...but we are also always on call as backup for one another. We don't charge one another for the backup thing, we just share the fact that we support each other. I know that if I have a weekend getaway planned and my clients know that if they hire me and "go" that weekend, my partner will be there instead of me...or if I have the flu, or were two of my clients to go at the same time...I would know that she'd be there for me...and the same goes for her knowing that I'll back her up if she needs me. It's cool so far, and we've been doing it over a year. We actually had one birth we both did the prenatals for, cause we were going to be on vacation in shifts, with about three days overlapping with us both at home...and the mama happened to go on one of those three days! We both ended up there with her (though, luckily, my partner got there BEFORE the very quick birth...I got there ten minutes after!)That happened to be a volunteer birth, too.

I like our setup!

[Alison Cole]

I think your partnership thing sounds totally doable, as long as you and your friend are clear about how the money works. I've done things like what the pp discribed, and it's worked well.

All the best in your work!

[saritabeth]

Originally Posted by courtenay_e

I have a "partner" (actually another mdc mama), but we work it differently. We are on call all the time for our "own" clients (meaning the ones we find, and they pay us 100% of our fee)...but we are also always on call as backup for one another. We don't charge one another for the backup thing, we just share the fact that we support each other. I know that if I have a weekend getaway planned and my clients know that if they hire me and "go" that weekend, my partner will be there instead of me...or if I have the flu, or were two of my clients to go at the same time...I would know that she'd be there for me...and the same goes for her knowing that I'll back her up if she needs me. It's cool so far, and we've been doing it over a year. We actually had one birth we both did the prenatals for, cause we were going to be on vacation in shifts, with about three days overlapping with us both at home...and the mama happened to go on one of those three days! We both ended up there with her (though, luckily, my partner got there BEFORE the very quick birth...I got there ten minutes after!)That happened to be a volunteer birth, too.

I like our setup!

This is how me and my doula partner work. We do actually pay each other 50.00 to be 'on call' for one another's clients. It has worked out really well for us. We also swap childcare for each other's kids, but do pay each other for that if it is longer than an hour or so.

It's great to have a doula partner!

[JessicaE]

Thanks for the feedback! I was kind of expecting that someone would say that it wouldn't work... It seems really logical to me, but it also seems that there are few (if any?) doulas working in this way. Maybe we'll have to be the trailblazers and figure it out.