When Does A Doula Need To Refer Someone?
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Kaely Harrod 00:04
Welcome to doula Tips and Tits. 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 Kaely 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 Tits. I am Kaely Harrod, and today, we are diving again into a piece that's kind of connected to referring to other professionals. So when you're thinking about referring, I want you to think about the question, when does a doula need to refer someone? And obviously, there are loads of different answers to this question, right? So one of the things that we can think about is what the scope of a doula is in the first place. So when we're thinking about the scope of a doula, I want you to think about kind of the the complimentary things that can be really helpful for you to do your job well, but also for your client to have a really good experience in pregnancy or birth or postpartum. And how other professionals really bring that together, right? Really, really kind of bring that home for your client and for yourself. The reality is that as a doula, you can add education, you can even add, I mean, some doulas are, you know, massage therapists and cranial sacral therapists and things like that, but, but really, there are other professions that you need to be able and be willing to refer to outside of your own scope. So let's think for a second about like, lactation, for instance. So I know that sometimes doulas have some kind of breastfeeding training, some kind of bottle feeding training. But unless you are an international board certified lactation consultant, you should not be making a feeding plan with someone you should not be making a plan for triple feeding, for instance, you should not be diagnosing a like low supply of breast milk, right. So these are things that are technically outside of your scope. And I would say sometimes as a doula, because you're seen as the expert, by your client, it's really easy for them to come to you like that is within your scope, but it is not. And so it's really important to have folks to refer to in scenarios where you're dealing with situations that are outside of your scope. I want to give you a few examples of professionals that I refer to really frequently these are some of the folks that you're going to hear from in July. And kind of why I refer to them rather than thinking that what they do is inside the scope of what I do, right, so one is a sleep coach. I think that while I have a lot of information about sleep norms, I have resources about how to do good kind of kind of developmentally normal sleep practices. It is not the case that I actually have information about sleep that a sleep coach would have, right. And so I refer out for sleep issues. I refer either to her class to her resources to her blog, to her program to her services and soon to her podcast because that is coming in the end of the summer. So that's, that's a professional I refer out to I refer out to a chiropractor, obviously, not within the scope of a doula to do physical manipulation and adjustment of skeletal systems, right. And so I refer out when there's pubic symphysis pain I refer out when there's pelvic pain, even when a baby's in like a breech position or transverse position. Like all of those are reasons to see a chiropractor. I refer out for massage therapy. So I refer for massage therapy, in pregnancy and and postpartum for induction for comfort, for pain for whatever people are dealing with. But also, I think it's really good to incorporate massage with infants. And so that's part of what I refer out for in terms of massage. I also refer out for lactation services when it's a more complex issue than just like learning a new position or can firming, that the latch is good, etc. So when there's a concern of like low supply or oversupply, or a tongue tie or lip tie, or maybe like an issue with transfer at the breast, then those are all scenarios where I would absolutely recommend going to an international board certified lactation consultant. And we will be talking to someone about that in July as well. I also refer for placenta services. So I just don't do placenta services. If you are trained in Placenta Encapsulation, placenta services, you absolutely can do that. I don't do that. And so that's not something that I do in my business, I refer out for that. And then I refer out for things like physical therapy, psychotherapy, counseling, those kinds of supports that are obviously other medical professionals. Right. And so I think it's really important that as doulas, we have a good sense of who and when we could refer but even like kind of what is inside and outside of our scope for these different professions, right. So part of what the conversations are going to be in July, is thinking about scope. And when would that professional want a doula to refer that a client to them, and how that would be helpful to the client, right. So that so that hopefully you have some information about when to apply the reference of a certain professional, rather than just thinking like all of these professionals are people that are that are referred to all the time, okay. Now, as a quick list, I would say I refer almost every single client to a lactation consultant and international board certified lactation consultant. So that's ibclc. If you hear me say that, that's what that means. I refer to massage therapy, I refer to pelvic floor PT, I refer to sleep information, coaching classes, something like that. Every single time. So those are some professionals that every single client of mine gets information about, oh, and chiropractic. So they don't all use that information. They don't all choose to go to those professionals. But those are professionals that I talk to my clients about every single client I have. Okay. I hope that that is helpful kind of getting you started. As a reminder, July is the month that we're really digging into all different professionals. And so I do want you to subscribe to the podcast. Keep tabs on when new episodes are coming out. I have a link below to sign up for my newsletter. So if you want to hear about the podcast, and also just other things that I'm offering classes and challenges that I have over the summer, you can sign up for that using the link in the show notes. Okay, so until next time, you will be hearing me with some different professionals who are near and dear to my heart and I'm very excited to share them with you. So come back for that in July. Thanks for joining us for this episode of the doula Tips and Tips 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 Herat 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 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
Pregnancy, Birth and Postpartum require a level of care from a variety of different sources so doulas need to have a solid idea of when and how to refer to different providers. This is especially important when doula clients look to us for answers on who they need to see or what they need to do about a particular issue they are having.
If you are a newer doula you may be thinking “okay, awesome, but seriously I don’t know anyone!” Start with your current life. Do you see a massage therapist? If so, ask them if they do prenatal or postpartum massage. Do you see a chiropractor? Same thing, ask what their experience level is with prenatal and postpartum issues.
I send information to my clients about a few professions no matter what. Those include, Counseling, Pelvic Floor PT, Massage Therapy, Chiropractic, and other forms of movement and body work. I also regularly refer to placenta encapsulators and traditional bodywork professionals who do things like bellybinding and closing of the bones.
“So when we're thinking about the scope of a doula, I want you to think about kind of the the complimentary things that can be really helpful for you to do your job well, but also for your client to have a really good experience in pregnancy or birth or postpartum. And how other professionals really bring that together, right? Really, really kind of bring that home for your client and for yourself. The reality is that as a doula, you can add education, you can even add, I mean, some doulas are, you know, massage therapists and cranial sacral therapists and things like that, but, but really, there are other professions that you need to be able and be willing to refer to outside of your own scope.”
Key Things I Consider:
Build a referral list as you grow and meet people
Consider networking with providers to be able to hear more about their approach
Ask other doulas or birthworkers in your area if they have recommendations
Start with some of your own providers who you have personal experience with
Be aware of your clients’ ability to pay/use insurance for extra services
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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
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