Doula Consultations That Work: A Sneak Peek Into The Upcoming Workshop!
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Transcript
Welcome to doula tips and tips. This podcast is a place where we answer one question about doula 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 doula childbirth educator, La Leche League leader, and a doula coach. I love guiding and supporting doulas as they work out their doula business. It is a tremendous joy to be trusted in this way.
Thank you for joining us on this journey. Welcome back to doula tips and tips. Today we're talking again a bit about consultations, and I want you to get a sense of what to expect in terms of a consultation.
So this is exactly what my masterclass is covering, my doula consultations masterclass coming up September 19th, noon Eastern. If you have not signed up for that, please go do that now because why have you not signed up for it?
I want you to think about what do people want to know from you in a doula consultation, and I'm going to give you kind of a little rundown. This is like a sneak peek of that class, right? Because we're going to dig into this a bit more there, but I want you to have a sense of what we're even talking about.
So if you go to Google and Google something like questions for a doula consultation, right? You're going to get, I don't know, even know a lot of questions that you could ask. You can also do this on like AI, like chat GPT or something like that, where you can say, hey, you know, what will clients want to know at a doula consultation?
But there are some key things that every client wants to know. A, how are you going to support them and their partner or whoever else is going to be with them? B, how do you do this work? Like what does it look like for you to do this work?
C, what is your style, right? What is your kind of the way that you function as a doula? How do you show up for people? How do you communicate, et cetera? E, I should have used numbers because I'm going to lose track of my alphabet here in a second.
E, what is your experience like? Like how did you get trained? Where, you know, did you come to this work from? Why are you a doula, et cetera? And then is it F or beyond F? F or five, if I had done the numbers.
What kind of services they should expect from you, right? So like clearly understanding what you provide in your package and how that looks for them. Because what they should leave the consultation with is a very clear understanding of who you are, what you do, how and why you do those things and what exactly they are paying for.
So when you're then following up with them, they should not have many questions for you. Maybe one or two, right? I've occasionally had someone say, oh gosh, I forgot, you know, we're delivering at this hospital and they said they have some kind of doula agreement.
Have you, do you know anything about that? Do you like, are you approved by them, et cetera, right? In the DC area or a couple hospitals, you have to be like on the doula list, which I can't even, I don't know if you can hear in my voice that I'm rolling my eyes, but it's a thing.
So that is something that sometimes clients ask because they're like, oh gosh, I've heard this thing. Are you going to be even allowed to be at my birth, right? So when you're thinking about this, I want you to think about how can I craft a little spiel about my doula work that includes this information, right?
And that doesn't mean that you shouldn't have any questions from them because they will. I mean people have kind of like a few random questions that you didn't anticipate sometimes or like some people ask about this thing but not everyone cares about that thing.
Like for instance, some people are planning to be unmedicated and they're like, I really want to know what does it look like for you to support an unmedicated labor, how often do you do that, etc. Some people are planning an epidural and so they're like, what do you even do once I have my epidural?
You know, because that's something people sometimes don't understand. And so when you're thinking about coming into a doula consultation, I want you to have a very clear definition of what your work is.
And I know that maybe sounds really ridiculous. Like maybe you're listening to that and you're like, obviously, Kaylee, I know what my work is. But I can't tell you the number of times that I have said to someone, tell me why you're a doula.
And they're like, I mean, well, you know, this I maybe that. And I'm like, no, you need to have an answer for this. And it's not that you need to have an answer that's like an elevator pitch that's like two minutes and 35 seconds, so that you can super clearly articulate your vision to someone in the one sentence with, you know, 1000 commas in it.
I don't buy into all that crap, right? But you do need to have a very clear conviction of why you do this work, right? I am a doula because I think that we literally just throw parents to the wolves.
We have such a lack of support and education that that has enticed me, it has compelled me to support people in the midst of their pregnancies and birth and postpartum times. That is the exact same reason I'm a doula coach, because doulas also get thrown to the wolves, they get trained, and then we're just like, best of luck.
And nothing, like literally nothing. And they do not have the training and ongoing mentorship that they need. So you, you do not have the training. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, right? Because I'm talking to doulas, but part of what I, what I do this work for is to fill in some of the gaps that are crucial to doing this work well.
And for families, I fill in some of the gaps that are crucial to having a positive experience. And that matters. So any given day, I can tell anybody what a doula is, how we do it, why we do it, why I do it specifically, and what my work looks like.
I do not have a single hesitation in any of that. Now, I realize I've been doing this for a long time. So part of it is that, right? It's familiarity with what I say, and how I say it, and just the repetition of that.
So I fully understand that. I fully embrace the fact that I have that going for me. However, you don't have to do this clumsily and kind of falling over yourself until you're five years in, six years in, seven years in.
That's not necessary. You can do this really well, even if this is your very first month as a doula. Okay? So I'm going to leave you with that. We have a couple more episodes about doula consultations.
The first thing you're going to do right now, my friend, is sign up for that masterclass. Because why are you not already signed up for it? It's September 19th at noon. Because we are doulas, I want you to know there is a replay, but I do not ever record the Q &A section.
So the Q &A section is a section that you only get if you're there live, because I don't want people to feel like other people are going to go back and look at their questions and answers. And so we do not record that part.
We record the class ahead of time, you get access to the recording for one week, and then it's gone. So that is what you can anticipate with that masterclass. I cannot wait to see you there, and I will see you in the next episode.
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.
Don’t miss the FREE Doula Consultation Workshop: 3 Proven techniques to increase client conversions. This 1 hour workshop will teach you how to show up with confidence and ultimately get more “HELL YES” responses! Sign up today!
https://harroddoulaservices.thrivecart.com/doula-consultations-workshop-pod/
In this episode, you get a sneak peek at the upcoming Doula Consultation workshop! We will talk through how to have AMAZING consultations that make people feel at ease with you, your process, your package and ultimately say YES to your services.
Quote from the show:
“There are some key things that every client wants to know. A, how are you going to support them and their partner or whoever else is going to be with them? B, how do you do this work? Like what does it look like for you to do this work? C, what is your style, right? What is your kind of the way that you function as a doula? How do you show up for people? How do you communicate, et cetera? E, I should have used numbers because I'm going to lose track of my alphabet here in a second. E, what is your experience like? Like how did you get trained? Where, you know, did you come to this work from? Why are you a doula, et cetera? And then is it F or beyond F? F or five, if I had done the numbers.”
CONNECT with Kaely on TikTok or Instagram
https://www.tiktok.com/@doulacoach
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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
