The Doula Business Guide: How to Succeed as a Birth, Postpartum or End-of-Life Doula

by Patty Brennan

The landscape for doulas is ever changing, growing, evolving. With this new 3rd edition of The Doula Business Guide, Patty Brennan provides freshly-updated resources and insights into the business side of being a doula. As a growing number of end-of-life doulas are pioneering new approaches to compassionate support at the other end of the birth-death continuum, there will be many who can benefit from Patty's guidance. She shows both new and seasoned doulas how to go from dream to reality, step-by-step, and make their living doing work they love. Discover why this book is required reading for a growing number of doulas of all kinds."Lest it sound daunting, this book is a good read! Patty's honesty, conversational tone, humor, instructive stories and obvious expertise carry you through each chapter. She shares pearls of wisdom that she has gleaned from years of experience with many types of doula practice. This book is more than an excellent guide to business, but also a guide to the high road for each of us and to growth for the entire doula movement." - Penny Simkin, PT, co-founder of DONA International and prolific author."In her newly expanded Doula Business Guide and Workbook, Patty Brennan continues to dissolve the largest looming barrier for doulas-turning a work of heart into a professional practice. She gently companions readers through a comprehensive overview of launching and sustaining a successful business. Doulas not only learn about the ins and outs of organization and marketing, they learn about themselves-their strengths, fears and goals. I strongly recommend this invaluable resource to all aspiring and practicing doulas!" - Francesca Arnoldy, Program Director, University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine's End-of-Life Doula Training and author of Cultivating the Doula Heart: Essentials of Compassionate Care

Genres: Business

412 pages, Paperback

Published December 29, 2018

Reviews

[Karisa Totah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A requirement for both my birth doula and postpartum doula certifications, this book was a very helpful read. Large sections of it were irrelevant to me (I have zero desire to start my own non-profit doula program...), but it was largely still a very informative and helpful book. I fully expect myself to go back to it again and again when I have questions or need a motivational boost. I also have the workbook that goes along with it and have found it very helpful in thinking through launching my business. To be honest, I'm not sure what I would do without this book in the long run. I've also taken a webinar course from Patty and found it helpful as well. If you're a start-up birth, postpartum, or end-of-life doula, this is a must read. I will say there is more helpful info for birth and postpartum doulas in here, but I think that's simply because those paths are more trodden than the end-of-life doula path. This book will be helpful regardless.