As doulas, we know there are certain times of year which can be difficult to balance. Doula service and the holidays, and doula service and summer can be hard. This is especially true for doulas who also have children or other commitments which have unique responsibilities depending on the season.
For some doulas, balancing doula service and summer can be easier. There may be less commitments like school activities. For other doulas, balancing doula service and summer can be difficult due to vacations, childcare, and more.
At IDI, we want to support you throughout all stages of your doula journey. This includes learning to navigate a balance between life and doula services.
Why is Balancing Doula Service and Summer Sometimes Difficult?
Doula service always has a difficult element in that birth is unpredictable. Most of our birthing families experience spontaneous labor over a potential span of four weeks. Occasionally, birthing people may have a scheduled induction or surgical birth, but it is rare to have those dates more than a few days or weeks in advance.
Summertime often brings a desire for a vacation, spontaneous day trips, and a call for extra relaxation. Navigating that with unpredictable births can be difficult. It is so important that we meet our needs, but we also need to be reliable for the people we serve.
So, how can doulas balance service and summer? These tips can help.
Plan Ahead – Know When You Will Have A Vacation
One reality of doula service is spontaneity can be difficult. If you plan to travel more than ninety minutes from your home, you need to book in advance. This way, you can look at your calendar and know which due dates you should not accept. Or, you can know to inform people you will potentially support of the increased likelihood of needing to work with your backup.
Alternatively, if you only accept a certain number of people per month and you have people booked out for four to six months, you can look at your calendar and see if there is a time of overlap you are not on call.
It can be hard, but it is often easiest to book a vacation several months in advance. Then, you can avoid accepting people to serve with certain due dates.
Use Ironclad Backup or Serve in a Partnership
Serving with a backup or having a doula partnership is an excellent way to balance doula service and summer. And honestly, it is an excellent way to balance doula service and personal life all year.
It’s important to always serve with a backup. Life can be unpredictable in terms of illness or emergency. It is never fair for a person you agree to serve to be left unsupported. Certainly, someone might decline the use of backup, but the option should always be available should the unexpected occur.
A partnership is actually a wonderful way to make it possible to plan vacations, time off, etc. In some situations, two or more doulas will serve together to share on call time. People they serve have the opportunity to get to know both doulas and feel comfortable with either attending their birth.
It is important, however, that if you work in a shared on call situation that all the people you serve are fully aware of the arrangement. It is important that people be comfortable and confident in who will be attending their birth.
Use Day Trips, Staycations, Etc.,
For seasons where you have a full load of families to support but need a break, consider a staycation or day trip. Nearly every community has something tourist or vacation like to offer. However, we so often want a change of scenery, we miss the hidden gems in our area.
Take time to explore what is around and nearby. Find accommodations and activities within an hour or so that would allow you to still make it back for a birth if needed.
Doula service offers a lot of flexibility in work, but also the difficulty of being on call. With time, backup doulas, and support experience, you will find a way to balance doula service and summer.
Author: Aliza Juliette Bancoff
Aliza Juliette Bancoff is a well-known doula and doula trainer who has been providing doula services to families for over a decade. She is the founder of Main Line Doulas, a doula group providing doula support in the great Philadelphia area for the last decade, the International Doula Institute, which provides online doula training and lactation training and certification programs and the International Breastfeeding Institute which provides lactation training and certification. She is the co-founder of United Birth, a company devoted to increasing access to doulas across the country to make the perinatal time safer both physically and emotionally. “Every birthing person deserves access to quality doula support. And we are working to make that a reality across the country. The work we are doing to get doulas to every birthing person will decrease the black infant and maternal mortality rate significantly by 2030.” Says Bancoff. Aliza is known for her compassionate and empowering approach to doula work, and she has been featured in numerous media outlets, including United Nations Maternal Health Report, Parent Magazine, CafeMom, theBump and many more. Aliza's journey into doula work began when she gave birth to her first child and felt a strong calling...