The Doula Business Guide; Creating a Successful MotherBaby Business

by Patty Brennan

[2010, Center for the Childbearing Year Press, 396 pages, paperback.]

[Review first published in Midwifery Today Issue 97, Spring 2011, © 2011, Midwifery Today, Inc. Review by Toni Rakestraw.]

The Doula Business Guide is a step-by-step guide to setting up your doula business. From writing your business plan to tax issues, this book will be a great asset to doulas everywhere who need to know more about the business side of things. Let’s face it—most doulas get into this profession because they love birth and love helping women through the transition into motherhood. Patty Brennan knows this; she is a practicing doula with her own successful practice. What she has done is outlined the process to keep you in business.

Learn about insurance reimbursement, client refunds, preparing your contract and presenting a professional image. Brennan teaches you how to advertise with old-fashioned methods like flyers and how to make the most of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

She gives you ideas on how to find seed money, apply for grants and hold fundraisers. She provides a sample grant proposal and tips to hone networking skills. If you want to build a community doula program, it is all outlined in great detail. The book even covers what life is like being on call.

While it is written for doulas, anyone in the childbirth field could take the information in this book and apply it to their own business. If you are a student doula or midwife, read this book: It will give you a wonderful course in business to keep your practice running with the fewest problems.

Reviewer Toni Rakestraw is a freelance editor, writer and artist. She is a frequent volunteer at the Midwifery Today office. She can be contacted at her Web site: http://unbridlededitor.com.

Order this book from Midwifery Today!