January 2024 Newsletter
Book Release Coming Soon! Stay tuned …
We are in the final stages of publishing the new, fully updated 4th editions of The Doula Business Guide and Workbook. These two books will doula you through establishing a successful doula business by:
- identifying the questions you should be asking (thereby avoiding common mistakes that waste time and money),
- enabling you to make the informed choices that are right for you (doula work is not a one-size-fits-all calculation),
- encouraging you to jump in and start doula-ing once training has been completed (keep it simple and let go of perfectionism)
- managing the emotional challenges of being self-employed,
- guiding you, step-by-step, through business set-up, choice of doula business models, how to market on a budget,
- and so much more!
Expand your services and income potential with an additional certification.
When just starting out, I recommend doulas keep their offerings simple. It’s great to have a grand vision, but it needs to roll out organically, evolving as you go. As your business gets rolling, specializing in more than one area allows you to change gears and adapt as your life circumstances dictate. For example, a pregnancy, divorce, or illness might make living the on-call lifestyle of the birth doula an untenable stress. Having the option to shift gears and serve postpartum or end-of-life doula clients can see you through these inevitable life challenges.
Diversifying your services is a long-term sustainability strategy for doulas. We have made this option more accessible for 2024. See the requirements for each doula certification specialty. Once you have invested in one training, simply check the chart to see which courses are required to complete an additional certification. For example, if you have already completed a birth doula certification with us, your fee to add postpartum doula certification is $400.
End-of-Life Doulas in the News
- Fort Wayne Death Doula allowed to resume work while lawsuit against her is pending. This is good news as the doula was initially told she was not allowed to even engage in advance care planning unless she became a licensed funeral director. This certainly seems like a free speech issue to me—or is it okay now for the funeral industry lobby to “own” the conversation on death care? Note: A similar lawsuit in California was settled in the doulas’ favor.
- What Really Matters Workbook: Seven Lessons for Living from the Stories of the Dying (free PDF download), by Karen Wyatt, M.D. Great resource for taking stock at the beginning of the new year.
- Helping Hands in Hospice. This article describes a hospice volunteer EOL doula program.
- Breaking Down Costs, ROIs of Hospice-Death Doula Partnerships. Some hospices that have layered end-of-life doulas into their workforce are seeing a return on these investments in various forms—including quality outcomes, retention, and care continuity. Good news for our profession!
Honoring Birth: 5 Phases of the Childbearing Years
As a birth consultant since 1996, Jo Anne Lindberg has helped parents understand the benefits of working with midwives who support mothers and babies by allowing birth to unfold naturally. Her book, Honoring Birth, is now available as a free download. It is meant to be shared so more parents can be inspired to step away from the medical model of birth. Jo Anne’s website, Birth Link, also hosts a Resource Directory that includes service providers in the Chicago area, as well as national resources.
How are birth and death similar? And what is the “Death Positive Movement”?
The very first lesson in our online End-of-Life Doula Training program provides insight into these questions. Here’s an article and two videos to give you a taste.
- Behind Closed Doors (PDF)
- Let’s Talk about Death (TEDx Talk by Rochelle Martin)
- The Death Positive Movement
We offer students a choice between a 100% self-paced study program (no expiration date on your access to materials!) OR a hybrid course that includes self-paced study plus a live, interactive workshop on Zoom. Workshops take place on Saturday and Sunday, from 10am to 4pm Eastern Time. Our first workshop of 2024 will take place on February 3rd & 4th. Join us! Questions? Register for our Top 5 Questions about Becoming a Doula free webinar.
Palliative Care Resources for End-of-Life Doulas
Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care, 4th edition (free PDF download available) establishes the foundation of gold-standard palliative care, including evidence-based processes and practices for providing safe and reliable high-quality care for all people living with serious illness, regardless of their diagnosis, prognosis, age, or where they live or receive care. The guidelines expand on the eight domains of palliative care identified in the previous edition:
- Structure and Processes of Care
- Physical Aspects of Care
- Psychological and Psychiatric Aspects of Care
- Social Aspects of Care
- Spiritual, Religious, and Existential Aspects of Care
- Cultural Aspects of Care
- Care of People Nearing the End of Life
- Ethical and Legal Aspects of Care
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The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) has relaunched its Palliative Care Provider Directory. All palliative care programs in the U.S. can be listed for free, including specialty programs in both hospital and community settings. Get your listing today.
2024 Members Only Webinars
As a member benefit, Lifespan Doulas hosts bi-monthly webinars with invited guest speakers throughout the year. Become a Member and enjoy priority access to all webinars (plus 4 years worth of webinar archives). In 2024, we will be featuring presentations by end-of-life doulas who will share their post-training success with us. It’s so interesting to see the different ways doulas are taking this work out to their communities. Join the conversation!
January 17 (Wednesday 8-9pm EST)
DOULAS EMBEDDED WITHIN HOSPICE: A SUCCESSFUL MODEL
With Jane Euler, MS, Certified End-of-Life Doula
This presentation will cover how Present for You doulas support hospice and how doulas can help solve several ongoing gaps in care within the health system. Our speaker, Jane Euler, will share how she formed collaborative relationships with hospice care providers to better serve families.
After completing doula training with two different organizations and pursuing “private pay” clients, Jane realized that collaborating within the current health systems for end-of-life care might serve more individuals and families. Concurrently, Jane obtained a Masters in Palliative Care which solidified her commitment to working within both palliative and hospice systems.
Jane Euler is a practicing end-of-life doula, palliative care leader, hospital hospice liaison, and co-founder of Present for You LLC, a public benefit company. Present for You LLC provides support for individuals and their families navigating serious illness and the end of life.
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March 20 (Wednesday 8-9pm EST)
BRINGING BACK TRUE CONNECTION THROUGH NETWORKING: TOP TIPS FOR END-OF-LIFE DOULAS
With Kelly Collins, CEOLD
This webinar addresses why professional networking often gets a bad rap and reframes the activity by bringing it back to its roots and true, authentic purpose—connecting with people. Attendees will walk away with a fresh perspective on networking, understand the importance and critical need to do it, and learn the skills to do so successfully and with ease.
Kelly Collins is a Certified End-of-Life Doula and Owner of Soul Bridge Partners, offering concierge care for seniors and those at the end of life.
BECOME A DOULA!
Do you have questions about becoming a doula?
Sign up for one (or both!) of our FREE monthly interactive webinars and get your questions answered.
