Booked Doula

I got a phone call from a lady who is looking for a doula. She's due around now, and got my phone number through a doula colleague of mine. Unfortunately I had to tell her to keep looking, because I already have 3 births in the coming month.

Every lady has a window of 5 weeks in which she can give birth (37-42 weeks), with a peak in the week around her estimated due date (EDD).
I can't take on more than 3 births per month, because I want to give her the certainty that I will be attending her birth, and not the back-up doula. Of course I can never give a 100% guarantee that I will be there, and that's why every doula should always work with a back-up. Even if my births are spaced out nicely on paper, the lady in week 39 can end up giving birth on the same day as the lady in week 42. And their estimated due dates were 3 weeks apart!

The more births I take on, the higher the chance that they will be at the same time, or right after each other. I don't think that that is fair to any of my clients, because they all need me at my best.

I referred the lady on the phone to another doula friend of mine, and I told her to call me back if she really doesn't succeed to find a doula. I've already noticed that this is a very busy time of the year birth-wise. All my doula friends also already have 3 or more births lined up in the next month! But after the holidays, I have space for a few more births.

Stumble It!