Blissful Bellies Doula Training and Hello Birth Hypnobirthing

Aug 28

Transcript
Hello, and welcome back to Dula Tips and Tits. I want to preface this episode with a little bit of an intro because this is a guest episode, but I wanna give you a sense of what to expect. So coming up for the remainder of the year, we're doing a bit of an experiment here at Dula Tips and Tits where we are having a guest episode every Wednesday and a solo episode with me every Friday.
So the reason that I'm doing this is I have a number of guests that I want you to hear from and I decided instead of having a whole bunch of guests in a row, we could just do Wednesdays be guests and Fridays be me.
Now I do have to give some credit to my business, Bestie Kim, who helped me think of this, but I want you to know that on every Wednesday coming up, you have either a professional of some kind, a Dula trainer of some kind, or a Dula themselves ready to share some awesome, awesome juicy goodness with you and you are gonna get some really, really good insights over the next six months or so.
We'll see in 2025 if we decide to change this or if sometime during the route this year, if it doesn't seem to be working out, but that is what we're doing for now. So today is our first of those guest episodes.
You're gonna hear from Lindsay and she has some awesome things to share with you both in hypnobirthing and in a Dula training that she has that I just got certified with. So tune in to that and I will see you on Friday for our next solo episode.
Welcome to Dula Tips and Tips. This podcast is a place where we answer one question about Dula work, both to support you and to help you support your clients. I'm Kaylee Harrod. I've been supporting families in this perinatal space since my oldest was born, 12, nearly 13 years ago.
I am a birth and postpartum Dula, childbirth educator, La Leche League leader and a Dula coach. I love guiding and supporting Dulas as they work out their Dula business. It is a tremendous joy to be trusted in this way.
Thank you for joining us on this journey. Hello and welcome back to Dula Tips and Tips. I am here with a special guest and a dear friend, Lindsay Vick. She is a Dula who's local to me who I got connected with.
Maybe I'm like my third birth, like very, very early in my Dula life. And she has been a dear friend and mentor ever since. Lindsay, welcome to the show.
Thanks so much, Kaylee. It's really wonderful to be here with you again and I appreciate the invitation.
I can't believe it's been probably two years since you were on the podcast. We should do that like quarterly or something. Endless things. Part of why Lindsay is here is because she's amazing, but also because she does both certifying of doulas, training of doulas, and has a hypnobirthing program that she co -created with another dear friend of ours that she certifies doulas in to teach it.
And so we're kind of chatting about both those things. This is still along the lines of like, what are certifications that doulas can do that are beneficial? What are trainings that doulas can do that are beneficial?
And to kind of further your information in terms of what are your options if you're working on certifying or recertifying or adding services to your business. So Lindsay, I would love for you to share a bit about yourself and how you became who you are now.
Awesome, awesome. So, gosh, I started my business almost 14 years ago, but I've been a birth worker. Being a coach and being a volunteer in this in this world almost 20 years ago, which is even wilder than having a business for 14 years.
I got involved in this because I was planning my own birth. I wanted all the resources that were available and this kind of predates the internet. So, a lot of the research that I was doing was at the library and I recall being pregnant with my first child who was 18 and going to my in -laws house with a binder of things that I had printed off or notes that I had taken to, you know, demonstrate why the birth that I wanted to have and was planning to have was safe.
Which was a home birth, right? It was a home birth.
I was planning that's what I was planning. I didn't have having the birth that I wanted to have and with the second go round, I realized that there were things that I needed to do differently I needed less time researching why my plans were safe to justify to other people.
A smaller binder right smaller binder.
But the binder needed to be in my confidence. What I needed to do was prepare myself for birth. And the ways that I found to do that were regular chiropractic care, regular acupuncture, regular exercise, even on those days that I was butt -ass tired.
And finally, hypnosis, which was an amazing tool. Back in that day, I was working as a affordable housing counselor. That was my full -time nine -to -five job. And then I learned about hypnosis. And it was recommended to me by a midwife.
And I remember thinking, no, I'm kind of crunchy, but I'm not that crunchy. I think I'll pass. But I thought about it and decided to try it out. And it was life -changing, clearly. It was life -changing.
I learned how to use the power of my mind to create the reality that I wanted. And I learned how to let go of things that could create barriers, whether it was a physical energy, an emotional energy, or a mental block.
And I just thought, this is so amazing. I want to help other people learn how to do this. So literally during labor, with my second child, I birthed a human and a business. I was using hypnobirthing techniques that I'd learned from my hypnotherapist.
And it was just an amazing experience. It was everything I wanted it to be. And I was really proud of what I had worked hard to do. My daughter was 10 days old when I enrolled in a hypnotherapy certification program.
I like to say she's the youngest person ever to graduate from hypnosis training. It was a very comprehensive, all -day, six -week program. About halfway through, the instructor had a medical emergency and asked me to take over.
What? You and your child.
I'm, you know, facilitating discussion in our class. I'm not teaching the materials obviously because I'm learning them, but I'm facilitating discussion and practice of the techniques that we'd learned to date.
And that was when I discovered I like teaching.
Of course you do.
Yeah, this is really fun. I like helping adults learn new things. And what I like most about it is the discovery. It's the discovering of new information, and the discovery that you already possess a lot of knowledge that will take you far.
Yeah, I think so many of us forget that we're looking for others to validate. It comes from within first. Yeah, I love that. I love that about being a doula. You know, seeing my clients go from I'm scared shitless to do this to I'm ready.
I can do it. I know I can. I believe in myself. And then watching them do it. It's the most awesome thing. Yeah. So I became a hypnotist. And initially, I thought I would be working just with pregnant people or folks who are around the perinatal year.
And the very first client who knocked on my door was a professional boxer who needed to make his weight class and was having a hard time not snacking. And I thought, God, it universe open the doors a little wider.
And so I now see folks of all walks of life, no matter what their stages, I see people 16 and up. I still primarily see folks who are in and around the perinatal year. But I also see people for phobias like I did a couple sessions last week on fear of flying.
I see folks who just feel stuck in their life who are dealing with a lot of stress or anxiety. But my sweet spot still remains the perinatal year. So I do a lot of work with folks who've had trauma in birth, who've had fertility concerns, who have complications in a current pregnancy, who have a fear of pregnancy or some other issue related to being pregnant or being postpartum.
That's given me a lot of insight into how people are experiencing their births. As a doula, I'm able to understand when they say, and then the doctor told me I had no choice we had to induce. And I'm thinking, yeah, you probably did.
But you didn't know that at the time. So how can I help this person next time know how to ask the questions, know how to advocate. A lot of times that's bringing a doula onto the team. A lot of times that's having adequate childbirth education that's not offered through the doctor's office or through the hospital where typically you just learn how to be a good patient.
You learn a lot about how this doctor's practice practices and not a lot about what your actual options are and what your rights are in birth. So taking all of that information, I decided to be certified as a hypnobirthing instructor.
I did a training for a widely known commercial product. And it was great the first year or so that I taught that class. I thought I'm really making a difference in people's lives. But the more I drill down into what this curriculum was saying, the more I felt there were flaws.
There was judgment that was baked into the curriculum. There was a right and a wrong way to give birth to a baby. And there was an assumption that all people giving birth existed in cisgendered relationships of marriage.
The images that were part of the program materials centered skinny white women. And I'm looking at my classroom and that's not who I'm teaching. Yes, I had any white women in my classes and I had any black women and skinny Asian women.
I had plus size people. I had folks who were non -binary. I had same -sex couples. I had unmarried couples. I had single parents. I had to teach a program that centered all of them. And that's not what this program was.
So over the next year or so, I changed the curriculum quite a bit to the point where I wasn't teaching that commercial product anymore. I'm and, you know, continue to teach that over, I'd say the next five, six years, all while lamenting that I wasn't really teaching that curriculum, I was teaching my philosophy, I was teaching the programs techniques, I was teaching my curriculum.
I was teaching the programs terminology. I first year of the pandemic I was approached by a colleague who taught another commercial hypnobirthing program. She had similar concerns with the program that she taught different concerns but similar in that each of the programs while they attempted to do in a really wonderful thing did so with some flaws that were really significant.
And both programs had been informed about these flaws for years and had chosen not to address them I do understand that one of them has made some changes now, but kind of too late. You know you shouldn't need to be told for 10 years to make a change that is inclusive.
That is judgment free. So she and I spent the first year of the pandemic developing a new program. A lot of people spent their time in the early pandemic months baking bread and learning new hobbies.
Well we birthed a new childbirth program.
I feel like the fact that you birthed a business while you actually birthed means of course it's on brand for you to make a new business as we deal with the pandemic.
Yes, absolutely, absolutely. So we launched officially, let's see, when was that? I can't remember now. It was either early 2021 or early 2022. And initially, it was just a small group of people. Some of the folks in our class were people that I had previously taught.
Some were folks my business partner had previously taught. And a couple were new parents who had come to us wanting to learn our program, Hello Birth Hypnobirthing. We taught that class. It was sort of a beta test.
How does the curriculum flow in real life with real people having real babies? We got their feedback. We made some substantial changes to the curriculum and the flow. And then we advertised for instructors.
And we were so blessed to have a number of folks who had previous experience teaching hypnosis for birth come to our first training. And they were our first cohort. They loved the program. We got great feedback.
We continue to evolve the program over time. We're constantly looking at ways that we can make it easier for our instructors, easier for our parents. We teach instructors twice a year. So two times a year, we have a instructor training.
It's an online training. We offer it in March and in September. And we're just so blessed. We have instructors all across the country now from as far north as Massachusetts, south to Florida, west to California.
I believe we have an instructor in Texas who is coming to our next training, what will be an instructor, and many points in between, all up and down the East Coast. That was a very long. That's amazing.
But let's regard how you got here. It's OK. It's all very perfect. Yeah.
I love that. Um, especially because I've like seen this unfold, you know, and it's beautiful. I'm also not at all surprised that you had so many people interested who were previously trained in some of the other options for hypnobirthing because lots of people have had these issues with those curriculums.
And that's an issue with tons of curriculums, which is part of why, I mean, I have, I made my own because I was like, I'm so tired of just having these like skinny heterosexual couples in every freaking slide.
All right.
Yeah. So I love that. So how many instructors, do you know how many instructors you guys have at this point? I should have warned you.
I would say, I would say probably somewhere around 20. Yeah. Okay. That's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. We've had about five cohorts, four or five cohorts, and we have between four and six people in each cohort.
It's been adding up. Yeah. I love that. Yes. Yes. We have a team down in Tampa who is teaching. I'm a doula hive, I believe is their name and they have three doulas there. Two of them are hello birth instructors now.
They both had previously taught a different program. Yeah. We were introduced to hello birth. It was like, you know, the fireworks started going off and they're so excited about it because it really does address all of the, all of the flaws with other programs.
Yeah. Yeah. I love that.
I had to put my name on.
Yeah. I mean, I, I love the way that you guys did it too, because it was incredibly intentional where I feel like sometimes, I mean, in, when you become a doula, right? It's easy to just be inundated with things you could be certified in and trained in and they're all, you know, any number of thousands of dollars each.
I'm like, apparently doulas are mostly wealthy when they come into this field. Just not personally been my experience, but I think having personally seen the intentionality that you all took getting it started and, and putting into the curriculum and even how you tested it out with folks, that is what I love about it is that like, I know if I'm sending a person to it, what exactly they're getting and how intentionally it's been put together,
you know, and obviously every instructor is a bit different and how they teach it and what's, you know, what their own personality is that they bring to it. But the curriculum itself, I trust so much, you know, yeah.
That means a lot coming from you, Kayla, to create it. I'll tell you a little bit, yeah, that just to me was, yes, this is why we did this. So I'm also a doula, and I had clients a couple of years ago, same sex couple, having their first baby, just super nervous about everything.
They are also an interracial couple and they were anticipating judgment. They were anticipating discrimination, which happens for interracial couples, which happens for same sex couples. And their acupuncturist referred them to me and they hired me as their doula and they registered for my hypnobirthing, hello, birth class.
When I saw them for their postpartum visit, they had an amazing birth, amazing. I love that. When I saw them for their postpartum visit, they got tears in their eyes when they told me that halfway through the class, it dawned on them that this class was for them.
Oh, yes, that gave me goosebumps.
They said, we never expected to see our family reflected in a birth video. Yeah. And the materials in the book. Yeah. They never expected to see that. And I, I got goosebumps and a little teary eye because this is why we did this.
Yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, it makes me incredibly happy because how someone identifies with the curriculum that they're learning is a big piece of how they take it in and actually are able to use it. Right. And so if you're constantly in a class that you're like, this really wasn't intended for me, you're also not absorbing it in the same kind of way, you know, or you have to kind of make all sorts of exceptions for yourself,
you know, just because you clearly weren't the intended target audience, you know? So, yeah. Okay. So this, so you have a cohort coming up, um, this episode we're recording in early, uh, early August.
It's August tomorrow we're recording at the end of July, but when it's coming out, the cohort is starting soon. So the information to join that cohort is in the show notes. And so doulas that are interested in that, I really recommend it.
Um, I have plans to join it and just my business has been wild. And so adding something new has been impossible for the last year. Um, but, um, you also have doula certification. So I want to take some time to talk about that as well, so that doulas know that you're an amazing option, um, to be certified in the first place.
And that certification is called blissful bellies, correct?
Yeah. That's right. Yes. And it's birth only. It is birth only right now. I don't. I don't teach postpartum. History of experience has been solely. Pre -birth and during the birth. The kinds of postpartum things that a birth doula would do.
Yeah. Yeah, of course. Okay.
So share a little bit about how that certification works and who it's intended.
for. All right. So the certification is a four week, four week or day training.
It's a slight difference.
quite difference there. It's a four -day training and students will learn everything that they need to know to start off day one as a competent doula. They're going to learn the history of our work. They're going to learn about cultural competency in our work.
They're going to learn about the history of midwifery. This is all in day one because this is important. We can go forward if we don't understand the history.
I love this so much.
We learn about diversity and inclusion and equity and health care, we learn of course about advocacy strategies and the role of the doula in advocating for their client or for and with, I'll say that way, for the client.
We learn about childbirth education options and how to help clients think through what their options are, both from a class perspective but also from a birth plan, I put that in air quotes perspective.
We use the term preferences instead of plan. A birth plan implies accountability and specific outcome and you know only one person knows the plan and they're not talking yet. It's going to take them a couple more years before they have words that we understand.
So I like to use you know language as a tool. We start that on day one, we talk about preferences and helping our clients evaluate what their preferences are. We learn about complications of pregnancy, we learn about grief and loss.
I won't say that this training prepares someone to be a loss doula. There are separate trainings that I would recommend. But if you have a client who experiences a miscarriage, you'll be adequately prepared to support them through that.
You have experiences a stillbirth or has a loss during labor, you'll be prepared to support them through that. We learn about the different types of providers and their styles and techniques and who from the client perspective is aligned with them.
A lot of our clients come in and you know they say I want a low intervention birth, I want everything as natural as possible and I pick the best doctor. You know they're at this high risk hospital so I know if anything goes wrong I'll be in good hands and I'm like yes but it's more likely to go wrong because of where you are.
So Lola is knowledgeable about that. Not that she should go and say to the client you need to transfer, but she'll understand how to talk to a client so that the client listens. It's one of my favorite book themes, how to talk to whomever, so whomever listens by the model, the program, how to talk to your client so that they listen.
We don't want to tell them what to do but we do want them to think. We want them to think and reflect and make things that are right for them that are aligned with their goals and their values and they often don't come to us that way.
They often come to us burdened down by what society says and expects. Now society might be their best friend or their neighbor or the internet. We learn obviously about the stages and phases of pregnancy and labor.
We learn about attrition. That's a really big part of the training. It's something that I find most people who work in this industry have no clue about.
Nope. There's zero thing about that in most trainings.
Many doctors and midwives don't offer a lot of guidance on that. So my doula training includes, um, you know, we do a lot of fun games. So we, we learn about the nutrients that are necessary in pregnancy and the food sources where we can get them.
We learn about how that diet might need to change if the person has hypertension or gestational diabetes or a history of, you know, some other complex medical condition. So we talk about those things.
Um, we go through normal complications, normal procedures, procedures when there are interventions required. So we would learn all about those types of interventions. I remember my very first birth, Kaylee, I was, uh, I was shadowing another doula.
And the baby needed to be born with forceps. It was forceps or vacuum. I can't remember which either way. I hadn't learned about that in my class. And so when the baby came out in my head, I thought that baby was just decapitated.
And the baby came out and wasn't crying. So that confirmed my thought. And I'm, I'm in my head panicking. And the first thought that I had was this is not the right work for me. I'm not cut out for this.
What trauma? Oh my gosh.
I never want someone to think that we're going to learn about how these things work and how you stand strong as the professional in the room. You're worried about things. How is your feeling and your client hired you to help them stay in their body and stay grounded?
Yeah. So we learn about that. We learn about personality types and how to talk to folks. We learn about the things that happen after a birth as well. You know, the types of decisions that a parent needs to make.
We learn about the kinds of complications that can happen after delivery, how to support through them. And then one of the things that I think is unique about my training is we talk a lot throughout the entire four days.
We talk a lot about sustainability. And self -care and boundaries. We talk about what it means to be on call and the inherent stress that that comes with in researching for the curriculum. I found, I found some studies that talk about the burden that is based on people who have on -call jobs.
Yeah, it's wild. We suffer from more medical conditions than people who don't have on -call jobs. We have higher incidents of stress, anxiety, heart disease, high blood pressure, heart attacks, all of those not fun things, but there are ways that we can do this work that protect us.
And so one of my goals is that anybody who goes through my training comes out of it and knows how to do that. He knows how to build a sustainable business. Most doulas burn out within two years, right?
Two years. So wild. And as we started off this podcast saying how many costs are involved with starting up and all of these certifications that folks want to get to only work in this work for two years, you're not really seeing much return on that investment, but you can come out of the gate with an understanding of what your boundaries need to be, with a plan for how you're going to build a business that's sustainable,
with a plan for how you're going to find clients, how to interview with clients, how to build a contract, how to build forms, how to support and protect your business. Then we have professionals who can be sustainable in this work.
Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely. I own a doula agency and I have about $13 on my team. And one of them said to me today, she's been having some, some back issues and back pain. And, and I gifted her a gift certificate to see one of my favorite massage therapists.
Oh, I love that she go see a chiropractor. I'm connected with the chiropractor to make that relationship, you know, nice and seamless. And she went in today and got some really surprising news about why she's feeling what she's feeling.
And she, she wrote me and said, thank you for prioritizing and emphasizing self -care.
Mm hmm.
Yup. And I thought, again, that's why I do this. Yeah. A hundred percent. That's why I do this. Yeah. My doulas are encouraged to take time off. They're encouraged to step away when they need to have some boundaries on how long we'll be at a birth, but our clients are still supported through those boundaries and that's, that's made some finessing.
Yeah. Finessing. So training covers that. We learn about cesarean birth. We learn about the process of cesarean birth. I can't tell you how many people say, Oh, I don't want a cesarean because they're going to put my organs all over the table.
I hear that.
all the time. I think that's not how that works. I know for a fact that's not how I know because I've had one.
Yeah. I can see a world though, Kaylee, where, you know, there, there were some complications. There were some perforation organs and things needed to come out and be moved and so that they could properly, but that's not, that's not a typical, no, no, no.
So we weren't all about that process. I, I really try to focus people of color in the videos professionals. So there are videos from black OBs. There are videos from, who else do we have videos from?
I'm blanking right now, of course, on. Naturally. A few of them, because I'm not going to pretend to be the expert on everything. Room for other, other folks to have expertise. So I recognize that I bring those, those folks in.
And snippets. So, so we've gone through the first several days now, most of day four is building your business. How to run a business, what are the priorities? And there's a lot of time for breakout for folks to take some time and actually do some of this work.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Certification process begins when the training concludes and students have six months to complete it. It's a fairly easy process, but it takes time. Right. It takes time. It takes effort.
It takes energy. It's not something you're going to whip up and put together in five minutes. And it's not something you can have fast. Deep probing questions that are asked. It's not something you can have fast.
It requires them to do some research, some development of material. Because when they get that certification. I wanted to mean something. I want it to be good and just a piece of paper. And so many, so many of us started off this work with a paper that really meant nothing.
Yeah. We'll also say nothing replaces on the job experience. Totally. And while it's not a requirement that they shadow a birth, it is highly recommended that the shadow of birth before they submit that certification package.
Yeah. That's really important. And if they can shadow two or three, even better. Yeah. Even better. But once they've done the training, they call themselves a doula.
Yeah.
I think anybody can pick up tomorrow and call themselves a plus since there are no universal standards. But I think most people have integrity to not do that and at least have some training, some education.
I know that historically we haven't had training for doulas and yet we've read doulas historically. It doesn't necessarily need training. Let's say you're a truck driver and that's all you've ever done and you've never had a child before and you've never experienced pregnancy or know anyone who has, you're not really qualified to be a doula tomorrow.
You're not really qualified to do that yet. So having that training is really helpful for folks who don't have that experience coming into the work.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I love that it's so comprehensive because so many parts of that play into the maternal crisis that we have in our country, right? Like not understanding the history, not understanding racism in the medical system, but also like not having, I mean, I think especially when I've chatted with friends who are black women who are doulas, like having so much pressure put on them to also like kind of safeguard this person who's delivering rather than also having support around their own mental health and wellbeing,
you know, and not being like the folks that are dealing with the racism shouldn't be the first line of defense here. You know, like that, that idea, I think also is so prevalent. And then because it seems like an overwhelming issue, we don't dive into it all that frequently because people are like, I don't know.
It's a lot like, where do we start with this? You know, and especially trainings. I mean, I don't know any other training that dives into all of these different things. Like I know some that touch on different parts of it, you know, but all of them, I think is really unique and also speaks to your intentionality, you know, which matters.
Yeah, one thing I left out that's also a big part of yeah is comfort measures
Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, we are.
going to learn comfort measures. That part is a little tricky because we're doing it online. I was just gonna ask you that. We're learning the ideas, right? And then we ask folks to go out and practice.
They can practice on their partner or friend or their child, just the poses. You know, obviously, we're not going to practice with any kind of outcomes unless you're out of birth. But you can learn the techniques, you can absolutely learn them.
I also strongly recommend and have stopped just short of requiring my students to take a spinning babies class as part of their certification. Because it is a game changer. Yeah, it is a game changer to understand the physiology at that level of detail, and to be able to pull out of your pocket 50 different things that might help that baby navigate the pelvis.
Yeah.
It's more than we could cover in a duel of training. And that is a specialized training for it. Yeah, exactly. I think it's critical for any birth worker to go through that and to do an NF, what is the word, NRP plus.
Mm, yeah, yeah.
I think both of those are critical skills that aren't properly placed in a doula training, but are critical competencies for any doula, any virtual.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I mean, I think that both of those fall into the category of like the more tools you have in your bag, the safer you're making this space, you know? And like you said, hands -on learning is how we learn in this world, you know?
So also if you're a brand spanking new doula, we do not expect you to know everything because Lindsay and I have been doing this for a long time and don't know everything, you know, like that's not, that's not a thing in birth work, right?
Because there are things to be learned from every delivery, right? But also like the more tools you have, the more you also have space for yourself and your client to navigate through the various scenarios coming up.
And that is going to just support you in this work, you know, make it easier and not harder.
Yeah. And the more tools you have, the more you understand what you don't have. Yes. Before you then seek out those relationships that can complement what you don't have. Just recently, we had a client on my team who had done a really amazing job of avoiding an unnecessary induction.
And now we're at 42 weeks and still avoiding induction, but had a complication. And, you know, I had a thought about whether that rose to the level of a medically necessary induction, but I'm not a clinician.
Yeah. No, some. So I called that and I asked three different clinicians, you know, what's the thoughts on this particular scenario? And they all confirmed what I thought, but it would have been really irresponsible of me as a nonclinical birth worker to say, well, that's not a problem.
Oh, yes, that's a problem. That's not our role. Our role is to facilitate learning. And so I did that by contacting clinicians and transferring that information.
Well, and part of it is having reliable information that you can transfer, right? Like knowing who to call. I mean, the fact that you have three clinicians you can call is already part of your network that you've built over time.
But the ability to be like, let me send you information about that, even if you know this thing is for sure normal and not a complication, send information about why. And someone else, like ACOG or someone who has said, this is our standard, this is our recommendation for all healthy pregnant folks.
So that you're not saying you should or should not do this thing. Right, absolutely, absolutely. And that was what was happening.
It wasn't my opinion on anything. It was, this is what the standard is. This is what other clinicians recommend. Unfortunately, the client was, you know, with an OB who had been pushing unnecessary, you know, inductions and interventions all the time.
And so now we're in a boy crying wolf scenario. We don't know. We can't trust what you're saying to be accurate. Yeah. It's unfortunate, but it turns out that was a medically necessary indication or induction.
And that was what I thought. But I wanted that confirmation. Yeah. She went on to have a lovely birth.
Oh, I love that. It's a good end to the story.
It's a beautiful, beautiful end to the story. Yeah.
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, tell me, so we're going to wrap this up shortly because our episodes, our episode could go on forever. We do enjoy each other. Um, how frequently do you do the doula certification trainings?
How, cause you mentioned the hello birth is twice a year. I always second guess myself that I'm saying your company name wrong. Hello birth. Yeah, no, that's why that is. Um, so for the blissful bellies, how frequently do you do that?
What does that look like for someone to sign up? Yeah.
So our, our next training cohort begins in October. It's the, uh, the last week around the last week of October 23rd, 26. Um, I don't have one scheduled yet for 2025. Okay. I imagine if I get some folks who are interested, I can offer a spring class, but for now I'm probably just doing the fall class in October.
Okay. And I, that's one that I'm doing every year, but one that I did was a spring class because I had some folks who were interested in getting it done now. So I'm definitely open to that if, if folks want to.
I love that. Well, and, um, one thing that, that we were chatting about before we thought off, before we got on a started recording, um, is the recertification. Do you want to briefly just speak to that and then I can put your information to contact you so people can get in touch if they're interested.
So
So wrapping up the training and certification for new dual as yes months to complete their certification of mentorship and long certification.
Yeah, those are important things to know.
Yeah, there's another avenue for certification that I offer for folks who have been doulas, who have experienced as birth workers, who did a doula training and just either their certification lapsed or they chose not to certify through that agency.
Um, and that option is, it's far less expensive, right? Because I'm not, I'm not training you. I'm not offering mentorship or, um, or coaching, you know, through that first year, um, so that application, doulas will submit some evidence of their work, they will submit evidence of their training.
That's a training certificate. They will submit evidence of their liability insurance. Um, they will submit evidence of some births that they have attended by way of review, um, and I follow up on those.
I think there are a couple other things that they submit as part of that, that package as well. And then, um, and then there's some, some substantive questions that they answer around philosophy and how things work and challenges that they've experienced, how they've worked through them.
Um, you know, those kinds of interview questions, I take some time with each application, I go through it, I follow up on those references, I verify the training and the insurance, and then, um, I issue the certification.
And just like for the new doulas, it's a lifelong certification. I don't require highly encouraged, but don't require continuing education credits. I think it's important though. And folks who have done this work for a while also know that that's important and they take it upon themselves to do that.
I don't feel like you need to require it. Cause if you stay in this work, it becomes clear to you that you don't know seek out opportunities to learn. you
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think the difference to and requiring versus encouraging is, I mean, financially it's more inclusive, right? For folks who can't necessarily afford it, but also opens up to trainings that, that would definitely count as CEUs, right?
Continuing education trainings, but aren't certified because that process of being recognized as a CEU is also significant, right? So it also kind of opens like, okay, this training will definitely help your work will for sure build you up as a doula and also isn't technically a CEU, but counts, right?
Like is continuing ed. And that I think is huge, especially with online classes at this point that like, they're, they're plentiful, you know, but they're not all technically certified as CEUs. So yeah.
instance I teach a class for doulas on learning how to use a tens unit oh yes it doesn't give you a ceu but it certainly is yeah it is continuing education totally but I haven't applied for ceu yeah accreditation because the training is limited to one tens model i've used lots of tens models over the years and yeah stands out as superior in my opinion and in the opinion of our clients yeah and so I teach people how to use that tens unit so it's not you know comprehensive in scope of all tens units although we do learn about what is a tens yeah learn specifically about this one but we learned yeah what is tens how does that technology work how does it impact birth how do people experience it yeah yeah yeah that's one example i'm sure there are lots of examples out there
Yeah, my comfort measures class for doulas is the same that I haven't done the work to get it to be CEUs, but it certainly is, you know, especially for folks that haven't done. Oh, thanks.
I think one of my doulas has taken that course. He came back.
That's one of the beta testers, yeah.
It was like, oh, it was so good.
I mean, I love the light bulb moments in those courses as well, right? Where doulas are like, Oh my gosh, my skills are up level. I'm like, yes. Yeah.
I love it. Yeah.
Well, I will make sure to have all of Lindsay's information in the show notes. So if you're interested in becoming a hello birth trainer or instructor, that will be there. And then the class information for her certification will be there.
Lindsay, is there anything else that you'd like for our lovely doula listeners to hear?
Oh, gosh. That feels like an interview question. No pressure. It's okay to prioritize yourself. It's okay to prioritize yourself. You know, I spent a lot of time in, you know, doula groups online and it saddens me when I see a doula who is quick to offer a refund when she's done nothing wrong.
And only because the client asked for it. Well, you know, if we keep doing that, the expectation is always going to be that I'm just going to get it if I ask for it or that this work isn't that valuable.
You are valuable. Your work is valuable. It means something. Value it yourself first.
I love that. Wise words. I feel like we need you on a quote. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to be with us today. Um, and listeners keep an eye out for future episodes coming. Actually, Lindsay mentioned spinning babies and that's our next week guest.
So you get to hear all about what she's talking about. Um, and then do go and check out her stuff. Her, she, I a hundred percent am behind all of the things that she's doing. Cause she is amazing in this work and will support you with integrity and teach you amazing, amazing things.
So thanks so much, Lindsay.
Thanks for having me on, Kaylee.
Thanks for joining us for this episode of the doula tips and tits podcast. If you learned something today or had an aha moment, we'd love for you to share that on Instagram and tag us at Harad doula so we can celebrate alongside you.
If you found this podcast helpful, we would so appreciate you taking a second to leave a rating and a review on your favorite podcast app that helps other doulas find us as we do this work together. This podcast is intended as educational and entertainment.
It is not medical advice or business advice. Please consult your own medical or legal team for your own needs around your health and your business. We'll see you again soon.

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https://harroddoulaservices.thrivecart.com/doula-consultations-workshop-pod/

One of your earliest Doula decisions is where you’ll train and certify. Well if you are looking to be a birth doula I highly recommend Blissful Bellies. Today we are speaking to their founder and CEO, Lindsey Vick. She has a doula training coming up this fall and also a cohort of her fabulous Hello Birth Hypnobirthing Instructor training that she created in connection with her co-founder Jenny Bennett

Quote from Lindsey:

“ It's a four -day training and students will learn everything that they need to know to start off day one as a competent doula. They're going to learn the history of our work. They're going to learn about cultural competency in our work. They're going to learn about the history of midwifery. This is all on day one because this is important. We can’t go forward if we don't understand the history.We learn about diversity and inclusion and equity and health care, we learn of course about advocacy strategies and the role of the doula in advocating for their client or for and with, I'll say that way, for the client. We learn about childbirth education options and how to help clients think through what their options are, both from a class perspective but also from a birth plan, I put that in air quotes perspective. [and so much more!] ”

Meet Lindsey Vick:

Lindsey Vick is the owner of Sunflowers Healing and Wellness. She is a Blissful Bellies™ Certified Birth Doula and trainer, HelloBirth® Hypnobirthing educator and teacher trainer, hypnotherapist, and reiki energy healer.

A graduate of Wellesley College, Lindsey spent many years as an affordable housing consultant. But her heart was always in supporting parents and birth workers. Since 2006, Lindsey has helped over 700 families welcome their babies, instructed more than 1500 families in childbirth preparation, and mentored/trained dozens of birth educators and doulas. In 2020, Lindsey partnered with another birth professional to create HelloBirth® Hypnobirthing, a dynamic, modern, and inclusive approach to hypnobirthing that centers and honors birthing people and their unique experiences.

Today, Lindsey spends most of her time training and mentoring the next generation of birth workers. She certifies and mentors birth doulas and hypnobirthing instructors and manages a busy birth and postpartum doula agency of 12 doulas. Lindsey lives in Alexandria, VA, and when not working, she enjoys spending time with her family (spouse, two almost grown kids, two dogs, two cats, one bunny), listening to true crime podcasts, daydreaming in float tanks, cooking, puzzles of all kinds, and an early bedtime!

CONNECT with Lindsey:

Birth Doula Training: https://sunflowerswellness.as.me/birth-doula-training

Hello Birth Instructor Training: https://hellobirthclass.com/become-a-hypnobirthing-childbirth-educator/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunflowerswellness

CONNECT with Kaely on TikTok or Instagram

https://www.tiktok.com/@doulacoach

https://www.instagram.com/Harroddoula/

If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me @harroddoula

Kaely Daily is produced by Kaely Harrod of Harrod Doula Services

It is sponsored by The Birth Prep Blueprint Childbirth Class

Music by Madirfan: Hidden Place on Pixabay