Anyone doula with another profession?

[Noah's mommy]

I'm a part time second grade teacher. I work 2-3 days per week and I was recently trained by ALACE. I am extremely passionate about all I have learned and I am very excited to get things going as a doula BUT I have a pretty full life with working and two little ones. I'm trying to get my name out with friends (elementary school=lots of pregnancies) but many just aren't interested because they don't have any desire for labor support other than SO. I'd hate to wait until next summer to pull this all together, but I'm not sure how to balance doulaing with my other responsibilities. Anyone do it? How? Let me know how you transistioned (as I'd love to do sooner rather than later!)

[1stimestar]

I have a job that I work at for 32 hours a week. You must be able to take off of work when you need to and/or have a couple of back up doulas you can call if needed.

[tlcdoula]

When I first started out doing doula work I also ran a full time daycare - it was hard coordinating it all, but I had a back up who was ready to come into the daycare when I needed to go to a birth.

Right now I am a massage therapist (working for myself), teach at a local hospital, teach privately in my office, and am a mom to seven children. It takes a lot of planning and a reliable back up doula to make it all work.

[amygoforth]

Yes, what PPs said. I have a full time "day" job, but fortunately it's flexible enough for me to take off when I need to. I don't take too many clients (I've had four this year, and I'm on call for my fifth), and I work very hard to stay on top of all my responsibilities during my on-call times.

That said, it is very stressful being a doula with little kids and a full-time, non-birth-related job. Each time I've gone on call, I question if this is the right time in my life to be a doula.

[Stacymom]

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I'm taking DONA training in Sept, and along with homeschooling my two kids, I teach about 26 violin lessons a week. Should be very interesting...

[megadoula]

I was also trained by ALACE and have kept jobs, been a great mom and been a doula. The trick is to have a partner. We both meet for the interview and work our schedule out accordingly. The parents can call whomever they like, but if my partner is working, out of town or just plain tired she calls me. Sometimes we both show up to a birth, it is great. We each do one prenatal and one post partum. We split the money up by doing a set smaller amount for the prenatals and post partum and a large amount for the birth.
I hope that helps. Look for a stay at home mom partner who isn't busy while you are teaching.

[Stacymom]

Hey Meg, want to be my partner? I'm in Utah too!

Actually, if thinks wokr out the way I think they might, I will be working with a local midwife on her "team." I can't imagine that it would be more that 1-2 births a month, although things are rather up in the air right now.

[JessicaE]

Originally Posted by megadoula

I was also trained by ALACE and have kept jobs, been a great mom and been a doula. The trick is to have a partner. We both meet for the interview and work our schedule out accordingly. The parents can call whomever they like, but if my partner is working, out of town or just plain tired she calls me. Sometimes we both show up to a birth, it is great. We each do one prenatal and one post partum. We split the money up by doing a set smaller amount for the prenatals and post partum and a large amount for the birth.
I hope that helps. Look for a stay at home mom partner who isn't busy while you are teaching.

I'm trying something similar, although we're just starting out. My partner and I will both attend prenatals, then we'll split call time 50/50 (my husband works 14 days out of 28, so I'll be on call on the days he's off). There's always the possibility we could both go to a birth. Whomever does the birth will do the post-partum visit. We'll split the income as described, with a larger amount to the person who does the birth and a smaller amount to the person who only does the prenatals. I work part-time (two days a week) in marketing and public relations. My employer is fine with me leaving for a birth and making up the hours another time.

Megadoula, I'd LOVE to hear more from you about how your partnership works for you! Do clients find it appealing, knowing they may or may not get their "preferred" doula? Do you do OK when you're attached to a client but don't get to go to a birth? Does your partner ever take over for you at a long birth, or vice versa? I'm attending several births on my own this year, but I think we'll start our shared called time in 2008.

[Surfacing]

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[DoomaYula]

I work at the gym on the weekends, I just let my boss know if I have a client coming up. I'm also a sahm to almost-4 kids, is that a profession? LOL.