Do you know what it means for me as your doula to be on call for you? It means: backup plans for my work and fun outings both -- it means people one step removed from me having to have backup plans for if I can't show up. It means not being able to go on family vacations, saying no to camping trips that are out of cell range, lugging birth supply bags in and out of the car day after day when I go to town just in case I get the call so can drop everything and get to my client quicker. It means carrying 24 hours worth of food and water in case I'm stuck at a long birth where I can't leave my client even for a minute. It means not knowing if I get to sleep through the night. Living in limbo about where I'll be tomorrow.
It means friends and family knowing birth comes first for me. It means wolfing down Thanksgiving pumpkin pie sitting in a bathroom while watching a woman push outside the door (because I finally got a breather with care providers stepping in after hours of my support). It means spending my own birthday welcoming a new little soul into the world, or missing one of my family member's birthdays entirely. It means keeping my pro CPR license up just in case I am needed to step outside my scope in an emergency to give a breath. It means constantly checking my phone to make sure I didn't miss a call from a client going into labor.
And when I go on call two weeks before a due date, with just 2-3 births a month my life can look like this much of the time. This is what you pay for when you hire a certified birth doula. Experience. Devotion. Just peeling the window back from my professional veneer to get real with you. This is the on-call life. And it's worth all the sacrifice to have the honor of standing by your side.
It means friends and family knowing birth comes first for me. It means wolfing down Thanksgiving pumpkin pie sitting in a bathroom while watching a woman push outside the door (because I finally got a breather with care providers stepping in after hours of my support). It means spending my own birthday welcoming a new little soul into the world, or missing one of my family member's birthdays entirely. It means keeping my pro CPR license up just in case I am needed to step outside my scope in an emergency to give a breath. It means constantly checking my phone to make sure I didn't miss a call from a client going into labor.
And when I go on call two weeks before a due date, with just 2-3 births a month my life can look like this much of the time. This is what you pay for when you hire a certified birth doula. Experience. Devotion. Just peeling the window back from my professional veneer to get real with you. This is the on-call life. And it's worth all the sacrifice to have the honor of standing by your side.
RSS Feed
