So, you're thinking about becoming a Doula!

Many of us are drawn to this line of work due to our own experiences with pregnancy, birth and postpartum. Sometimes we have incredible experiences that we want to help other families achieve and sometimes we come from a place of wanting to make things better.

Personally, I came into this with a bit of both. I had a traumatic first birth, and an incredibly empowering second birth. But before I began my Doula journey, I did a lot of inner work to ensure I was ready to enter this space without bringing my own baggage along. My goal as a Doula is to support women to make confident and informed choices, and then to be there for them physically and emotionally however that plays out. I am very cautious about not prescribing one 'right way to birth', or trying to save women from the system or less than ideal birth outcomes. So, if this introduction doesn't align with your thoughts or feelings this blog post might not be for you, and that's okay!

A career as a Doula is one that can offer flexibility, autonomy a good work-life balance, and fill your heart and soul through meaningful and deep connections. But it can also be isolating as a one-person business, with many nights spent working and countless admin and business tasks to do. This blog will hopefully provide you with a realistic outline as to what life as a Doula is like to help you decide if it is the right path for you.

What Does a Doula Actually Do?

First things first: let’s get clear on the role. A doula’s job is to provide emotional, physical, and informational support to families during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum. Birth doulas work with families during pregnancy to educate and support them as they prepare for birth, attend the labour and birth (sometimes over multiple days), and then they usually follow up with the family during early postpartum. Postpartum doulas, on the other hand, assist families as they settle into life with a new baby, offering support in feeding, baby care, and the emotional adjustment to parenthood. Sibling Doulas provide specialised on-call babysitting services to families during labour and birth, particularly when families wish to have children present at birth.

It’s important to understand that Doulas do not provide any medical care—no advice, no exams, no diagnoses, and we have no clinical skills. This is a role about offering comfort, guidance, and an unwavering presence, making sure that families feel heard and cared for. It’s about supporting choice, not taking over. It's about holding Mum's, not holding babies.

If you're thinking you'd like to provide any type of clinical care to women during pregnancy, birth or postpartum then you need to explore your pathways to study midwifery, as the Doula role is not suitable for you.

What Training Do I Need?

The Doula Industry is completely unregulated, meaning that anyone can call themselves a 'Doula' without having any experience or training, unlike Midwifery or a 'Midwife' which is a legally protected title. Because of this, Doula training can vary significantly in quality, content and duration. Some academies or training organisations offer Doula training over a couple of days, others are online and some are more intensive incorporating a couple of weeks in person training and online modules. I would never suggest that someone starts working as a Doula or attending birthing families without any form of mentoring or training as this can be extremely dangerous for everyone involved (physically and legally). Having a mentor/trainer/guide is invaluable to ensuring you understand the social and political landscape of the birthing world, know how to use techniques such as acupressure, Rebozo, and massage correctly and are able to provide quality un-bias evidence-based information and education.

When I was deciding where to train as a Doula, I considered every option I could find within Australia (yep, I nearly flew across the country, leaving my 4-month-old breastfed baby at home to do a 4-day long course). In the end I choose the 2-week intensive in-person course 'Platinum Level Doula Training' with The Doula Training Academy by Vicki Hobbs. This course covered literally everything you could think of, and the ongoing learning, support and opportunities have well and truly paid off the cost of the training. (And yes, that is an affiliate link, but I would shout this course from the roof top, even if it wasn't).

And once you complete a recognised training course you will be able to become a member of the Doula Network Australia helping you to establish credibility and reassure potential clients that you’ve completed a recognised training program.

The Realities: Emotional and Physical Demands

Being a doula is emotionally and physically demanding. Births are unpredictable and you will be called to births in the middle of the night, during a holiday, when you've just sat down to eat, or in the middle of a hair appointment. You will work long hours, sometimes attending a birth for multiple days, and you will spend most of your life 'on-call', so you will have to book personal holidays roughly 9 months in advance. Then there's the pre and postnatal visits (which are usually done within the clients home) and all of the business administration tasks.

Emotionally, you’ll experience the highs and lows of others, especially if you are a deeply feeling person. There will be moments of overwhelming joy and tears of pure happiness, but there may also be moments of sadness, loss or trauma. It’s crucial that you have the emotional resilience and support system to handle these experiences while keeping yourself mentally and emotionally well.

Personally, the hardest parts of my job as a Doula are:

• Leaving my kids at the drop of a hat to attend a birth and not knowing if I'll be back in the same night, or if I won't see them for a few days.
• Having to wear all of the hats (although you could outsource): admin, email maintenance, bookkeeping/accounting, social media, salesperson, IT support, finance planner. There is so much to learn and so many tasks to do, just to keep things running smoothly, and everything takes time and/or money.
• And, supporting women through complications during pregnancy and birth, especially when these complications mean they have to deviate far from the original birth plans, sometimes resulting in trauma for the Mum, partner or even myself. I debrief every birth I attend with either my hubby, a peer or a birth trauma councillor depending on how it leaves me feeling.

The Rewards- A Career Like No Other

Despite the challenges, being a Doula is incredibly rewarding. It’s not just about supporting women through pregnancy and birth, though that is undoubtedly special (my favourite part is watching mothers in that moment—they are truly incredible). What makes this career so fulfilling is the relationships you build with your clients and the freedom that comes with the work.

As a Doula, you get to choose your workload, set your own schedule, and create a business that works for you. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to being a doula, and that’s what makes it so flexible. Whether you want to work with a few families a year, take on a full schedule, or do this alongside a 'day job', you have the power to design a career that fits your lifestyle. You don’t have to attend births to be a Doula (though the demand for birth support may be higher), and you have the freedom to select your own service area and the types of services you offer. It’s all about finding balance, knowing your strengths and limits, and building a business that aligns with your values and priorities.

The relationships you’ll form with your clients are unlike any other. You’re there during some of the most intimate and vulnerable moments of their lives, and you become more than just a professional service provider—you become a trusted advocate, cheerleader and support system. It's these relationships that makes it all worth it!

Is This the Right Path for You?

Birth Doula work might be the right path for you if:

• Your passionate about pregnancy, birth and postpartum.
• You want to support women and families in their choices.
• You don't already have clinical midwifery skills, and you are not interested in providing a medical service.
• You like working with lots of different types of people in lots of different settings and contexts.
• You have a great support network to help you practically and emotionally.
• You want to be your own boss.

Birth Doula work might be a little tricky if you:

• Want to attend births but have a strict existing work schedule.
• Have limited support system, especially if you have your own young children.
• Don't like bodily fluids.
• Have a prescriptive mindset about how women should birth.
• Have birth trauma or fears that impact your ability to provide non-bias support.
• If you are a man, because the demand for male Doula's is extremely low.
• Don't want to run your own business (there are some agencies out there).
• If you need Birth Doula work to provide a regular and stable income from the get-go.

You should probably consider a different role if you want to:

• Catch babies, save women from the system, or tell women how to birth.
• Provide clinical care to women or babies.
• Have rostered days off or work set days/hours.